{"id":5385,"date":"2018-10-31T19:44:32","date_gmt":"2018-10-31T19:44:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/magazine.associationsadio.org\/?p=5385"},"modified":"2018-10-31T19:44:32","modified_gmt":"2018-10-31T19:44:32","slug":"designer-steeven-kodijia-talks-fashion-line-and-his-award-winning-film","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.associationsadio.org\/index.php\/2018\/10\/31\/designer-steeven-kodijia-talks-fashion-line-and-his-award-winning-film\/","title":{"rendered":"Designer Steeven Kodijia Talks Fashion Line And His Award-Winning Film"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steeven Kodijia\u00a0<\/a>is a visionary, creative director, and the founder of the Parisian-based fashion line,\u00a0French Deal.<\/em>\u00a0For French Deal\u2019s lastest collection, Volume 4, Kodijia released a fashion film that looks into his heritage and inspiration for his clothing brand. The film explores a culture that\u2019s long been overlooked and brings attention to the region\u2019s native wear and indigenous materials and fabrics. \u201cIt\u2019s very important because I wish to share my history, my roots, my values, and my vision through my creations. I am blessed to be able to do it with a lot of passion and love,\u201d Kodija told ESSENCE.<\/p>\n

The result is a story that not only celebrates Africa\u2019s rich Ivory Coast but also challenges preconceived notions of Africa with colorful imagery that positions the country as a\u00a0fashion\u00a0force to be reckoned with. Volume 4 has gone on to win the \u201cbest fashion\u201d award at the international fashion film festival La Jolla, and nominated for the London fashion film festival in the \u201cbest major brand production\u201d category.<\/p>\n

ESSENCE got a chance to chat with Kodijia about his award-winning film, his heritage, and the black influence in fashion. Read below.<\/p>\n

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What is a distinct memory you have when shooting this film?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kodijia: Shooting this film was really magical because it was a return to my roots, and I lived each moment to its fullest. I felt connected to my ancestors, my culture and my people. The overall experience was very emotional, and will remain engraved in my memory forever, as this cinematographic work marks a great step in the history of French Deal.<\/p>\n

What did you want to tell viewers about Africa through this film?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kodijia: We have a magnificent history, a rich culture, and an incredible heritage that we must share with the world \u2013 because the history of Africa is not well known and I wanted to highlight our country\u2019s expertise. Through this film, I aim to position the French Deal as not only a leader in the fashion industry but as a brand who is bringing awareness and visibility to Africa as a fashion force that has a unique and authentic DNA, specific to our homeland. I wanted people to be aware that Black culture is stylish, and the French Deal was created to represent it on an international level. Africa is the foundation of our vision and our evolution.<\/p>\n

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What is something people do not know about fashion in Africa?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kodijia: Fashion in Africa is still not well known internationally, but things are really evolving there. There is still a negative image when we talk about Africa, but the continent is full of resources and is self reliant with regards to their own cultural and fashion identity.<\/p>\n

How do you feel the black community contributes to fashion across the globe?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kodijia: We must support the entrepreneurial initiatives of every member of our community in fashion and other sectors. Consuming from each other, promoting our designers, our models, and all those who are part of the creative side and the production chain to create a real ecosystem so that our talents are well known to all. We need to have our own representatives so that we can share and showcase our talents and creative works through other communities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Steeven Kodijia\u00a0is a visionary, creative director, and the founder of the Parisian-based fashion line,\u00a0French Deal.\u00a0For French Deal\u2019s lastest collection, Volume 4, Kodijia released a fashion film that looks into his heritage and inspiration for his clothing brand. The film explores a culture that\u2019s long been overlooked and brings attention to the region\u2019s native wear and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5386,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[62],"tags":[72,73],"thb-sponsors":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.associationsadio.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5385"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.associationsadio.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.associationsadio.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.associationsadio.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.associationsadio.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.associationsadio.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.associationsadio.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.associationsadio.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.associationsadio.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.associationsadio.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5385"},{"taxonomy":"thb-sponsors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.associationsadio.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/thb-sponsors?post=5385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}