Zinkata’s Styling Adventures: A Journey Down “WOW!” Lane
Posted on Monday, March 5th, 2012 at 6:20 AMBy Ezinne Chinkata
Slowly as the month draws to an end, the pressure creeps up and steadily gathers intensity, fever pitch excitement. I, nervous as a wired rabbit, fear, adrenalin… Arggghh, I love this! As the fashion editor of Wow, I also double up as the stylist, and this entails constantly churning out editorials and covers. I have a running joke when I disagree with a cover concept,” oh hell no, please that will send me right back to my village”. In other words, it will be the death of my career. I have styled quite a number of covers for Wow and I wonder which of the covers intrigued you the most? I am totally unbiased and have no favorites.
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This was my very first cover, featuring Uche Jombo. Kelechi Amadi-Obi and I had a blast at the shoot!! We doused Uche‘s crisp white shirt with water!
Eku Edewor’s cover. I was very particular about the hair! Bridget Awosika saved the day in sheer black.
Then goes the Tiwa Savage Edition … Sexy, Sassy, Bold! Toju Foyeh designed the body suit.
Ini Edo’s Cover.. Meena designed the pieces all from the scratch!
Tonto Dike. Super fun shoot. Amazing dress made from chains and mesh from Warda Haute couture.
Nike Oshinowo and Damilola Agbajor … Interesting pieces from Designers Club.
Nse Ikpe Etim and Bryan Okwara, sexy bathing suits! Nse’s one piece is from Tiannah’s place.
Chika Emmanuel and Mo’Cheddah.. Viv La Resistance came to the rescue!
Mercy Johnson, “O Lord have Mercy”. Red dress from Tiannah’s Place
And Goldie Glittered……. Toju Foyeh’s dress sealed the deal!
I channel all my creative juices from scratch till the realisation of each cover. Of course, the fashion industry is severely hindered and hampered by a narrow selection of quality pieces to work with. It is getting bigger and developing greatly every day. However, we all have to put our thinking hats on and create with the products readily available. It has been a fun ride so far, I am very thankful.
Here comes the million dollar question, which was your best cover? “Best cover o”. I did not ask for “worst cover”.
Please do not feel the need to tell me which cover almost sent me back to my village 
Thanks. Let us keep it interactive and positive. Suggestions and input will be very much appreciated. Who else would you love to see on our covers?
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Are you a designer with stunning pieces to showcase? Are you a stylist or an aspiring stylist or a fashion writer? Come on! Let’s all come together and further develop our Nigerian Fashion Industry.
Thank you for the kind words and constant support. We all love you at Wow and we shall keep striving to do our best.
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Ezinne Chinkata is a leading Fashion Stylist/Image Consultant/Writer/ Fashion Editor in Nigerian Fashion. She has styled numerous lookbooks and editorials and is the current Fashion Editor at WOW! Magazine. Follow Zinkata on Twitter: @Zinkata1; Contact: ezinnechinkata@yahoo.co.uk
Tags: Ezinne Chinkata, Zinkata's Styling Adventures
tonto for best cover…they made her look different in a nice way
My best is uche jombo ur first cover! Now that’s a WOW cover I love tonto and mercy johnson covers too
Zinkata rocks! Keep up the good work.
I love ini Edo,mercy,n tonto cover…I wil love to c genevieve n Queen nwokoye
LOL at Queen Nwaokoye. but as for Genevieve? I can only dream…lol. I know it would be FIERCE!!!
I luv chika and mocheddah’s cover,dat chika girl kills it all da time
Tiwa Savage’s the worst for me…..being too sexy doesnt make you sexy…and the best is Ini and Tonto….I know we had to say the best but hey…there is no good without bad…Bellanaija pls post this…thanks!
……..and eku looks effortlessy classy and sexy
Ezinne but u know you can only grow further when we give you both best and worst. It helps you figure out what went wrong. So let me go back and view again. . . . . . . Okay So i thin all but two looked great. Tonto had d most striking, Uche was saltry, Ini warm and beautiful, the beauty queens looked serious (which i liked), Mocheda & Chika exquisite, . . . . Now for Nse and Brian hmmmmmm, nne ebe ahu ka okwu daghalilu, the hair was not fixed right (both their hairs o) maybe it should not have been for the cover page. Goldies’ was not bad but it didnt catch me ( U know dat edgy Goldie was not seen). So my best is Tonto & the one i feel shld b improved is Nse and Brian
Uche jombo look almst unrecogniz.luk too young nd inocent.wish she s lik dat n real life.best cover
How could i have forgotten Mercy, That hair did justice to her eye and d dress. Well done
I absolutely looooooooooooove ini’s cover..nt overly sxy et al..rili ‘wow’..dint realise dat woz goldie..she luks amazin wen shez normal plus dtz my 2nd best cover too!gr8 work zinkata
Tonto and mercy’s covers are just really nice. Really really nice.
I think Ezinne is the BEST STYLIST in Nigeria. I love all the covers.
She basically put into consideration the characters and profile of her models to create a perfect cover for each one of them.
I can never get enough of WOW just coz of her fab styling.
Nike Oshonowo & Damiloa Agbajor and Mercy Johnson are the BEST covers for me. Tiwa’s looks tacky, I love Uche Jumbo’s from her shoulder down but a NO from her neck up. Chika & Mo’ Chedda and Ini’s are cool but the least are Goldie, Nse and Tonto, they didnt catch my attention. Kudos Ezinna!
i cant stop looking at MERCY JOHNSON’S cover especially the make up. infact everything is in sync!
I love tonto’s, uche’s and eku’s,I wud wanna see omawunmi, genevieve,and if its possible gals not dat popular
I would like to see fashionable Business, Public officers, Bankers, Older women on your covers as well as Northerners. Please………These are the ppl that need stryling the most and would help with your career.
Best covers goes to Tonto and Ini edo..worst cover goes to Tiwa Savaga..I know,I know,..no worst covers but I couldn’t help myself..sorry!
Mo’C and Nike for me. Not really feeling Tiwas
http://personalstuvs.blogspot.com
tonto dike n mercy nailed it 4 me……………
uche jumbo and tonto are my best, fabulous pix, honestly dunno why peeps re hating on tiwa, she is sexy naaaaaaaaaaaaa, lol
Uche, Tonto and Mercy……. WOW!……Love the cover pix.
For me, Tiwa’s cover and Chika/Mo’Cheddah’s cover are the best.
Thumbs up Ezi. I totally vote for Uche Jumbo’s cover style. There is this look of fierceness that is subtle yet authentic. I love whites at all time. You can never go wrong with a piece of white at all times.
@ Bella Naija….whatever happened to the MyStyle column…..I miss it!!!
i like most of them but gotta say as much as i like tiwa ….the cover of her is the worst
Tonto and mercy are my fav! Nne ɑ̤̥̈̊ṁ̭̥̈̅̄ S̶̲̥̅Ơ̴̴̴̴̴̴͡ proud of Ɣ☺ΰ!kip the good work up
tonto dike and mercy johnson are the best….. i would love to see omotola jalade and modupe ozolua on the next cover…two hotties
Good job Ezinne…Tonto Dike’s cover was it for me…Wont criticise here..Can we see well achieved but not so popular faces? wont be such a bad idea.. Anyways,keep expanding your horizons. The sky is not even the limit.
Tiwa: NO!!!
tonto is the best, but mercy and Nse Ikpeetim are also good
Great job styling. The best cover would be Chika Emmanuel and Mo’Cheddah. It looks more like a Vogue cover than the rest. If Tonto had just a couple accessories and if her pose was more intense her shot would have been my choice.
I love Chika’s and Mo’Cheddah’s cover, it’s colourful, eye-catching, fun and playful. It would be nice to see more portrait type photos, photos from the torso/thigh up as opposed to full length ones, which are cool but they are more for editorials as opposed to covers. Covers should be ‘flirtatious’, they should draw the reader in without giving too much away, for example if some of the cover photos were from the waist up, I’d wanna pick up those issues even more, have a flick through, take a peek at what exactly the celeb/model is wearing ands see the look in full. Never underestimate the reader’s curiosity, Nigerians are nosy people, exploit that, lol. I do love your work btw, you’re very very talented at what you do. I appreciate that you asked for our opinions, it shows that you are humble, that you listen to your readers and that you’re willing to learn, which is probably why you are one of the best at what you do. You’re always seeking to improve your game and that really inspires me x
http://www.emblemofbeauty.blogspot.com/
The Tiwa cover is nothing to write home about. I guess I could blame it on the makeup and bad photoshop.
Mo’Cheddah and China’s cover….LOVE LOVE LOVE. The best thus far…
*Chika
i love mercy”s, uche’s and inedo’s. i would love to see omotola styled!
i love ini edo, mercy,tonto dike’s cover they are so charming!!! ure good a wat u do. kip it up jare
Hey Ezinne!
I’ll start by saying that the line: ” I said best ooo, not worst” killed me. You know BN readers too well.
Okay, I love and appreciate your handy-work and the effort, zeal, creative juices that goes into each look. That being said, I love the Eku Edewor look. I think it stands out and I’m able to identify the era immediately. The hair and make was spot on, the garment is a modern rendition of the 20s and 30s era, the statement neckpiece and even the pose immediately says what era and look you were going for.
The next cover is the Mo Cheddah and Chika cover. I like it because it defines the phrase and term that I would like to believe that I coined, called the hybrid-African. I like MoCheddah’s hair, it has that jungle like feel (that stone age, pre-historic era feel), but well complimented with the dark make-up. I would have preferred it, if the backdrop was very green (lush green) and forest like, you know with Mo sitting on a big fat giant tree branch (Maybe an Oak tree, in the middle of the forest) and Chika leaning agaisnt the trunk of the tree with one arm stretched out and pressing agaisnt the trunk of the tree. Alright, I know you probably didnt have anything to do with the direction of the photography; I think it would have been nice to see that.
I Love Lord have mercy cover, Tonto’s cover and Uche jumbo Cover worked it for me.
Lord have mercy
My favorite is Tonto Dike’s !! Would like to see Omotola Jalade, Rita Dominic, Annie Macauley…
tonto ,mercy and mocheeda wit chika
For me , uche’s cover is the best. Then Mercy johnson, Tonto and Ini.
Tiwa’s cover is not it at all for me. Goldie is a NO NO too. But generally, u guys are doing a good job . Thumbs up
Nice work Ezinne…a lot of the covers are good and even the faulty ones like Tiwa’s were catchy…but my best vote has to be Eku Edewor..so captivating…i simply love it.
Tonto and mercy nailed it for ♍€!ezy ure. The best stylist i knw!ɑ̤̥̈̊ṁ̭̥̈̅̄ so proud of Ɣ☺ΰ i swear!
Nse Ikpe is the worst
The two best covers are 1)Mocheddah and Chika which is more “VOGUE” magazine and 2)Mercy Johnson which is more “SEVENTEEN” magazine.Sorry to say but the rest are either tacky or unkempt or tasteless or bland!Nse Ikpe’s own is surely the worst and its a pity cuz she is my best nigerian actress!…
JESU!!!!see how they made my tiwa look!
I will not lie i like these spreads, but why are the women dressed like this? i honestly hate how women are used as sex symbols, just a thought!
Mercy Killed it and NO ONE in her genre will be able to top that. NO ONE. I put my money on that
make a Gene cover happen…..like amaka,it will b 100 percent super-fierce
UCHE JOMBO that’s all. As the best,Tonto and mercy too. Ini cover is boring, what the hell is Nike doing sharing a cover with a new queen? Let the girl shine you had your ‘time’, didn’t know thats Golden.I love wow, you are trying more power to you and your team.
Tonto ,concept was lovely because fashion as grown beyond what u can imagine.
MERCY does it for me. I can remember the first time i saw the pic. Couldn’t stop staring (no homo pls). Her cover is just beautiful
but damn Mercy does look HOT HOT HOT!!
people that i would like to see in the future. GENEVIEVE NNAJI, GENEVIEVE NNAJI, & GENEVIEVE NNAJI. LOL
My main complaint is with the fake hair really. Give us something natural: plaits, dreads, no weave-ons/attachments/glue-ons. Just once, biko.
Uche–If only the hair was pulled back or in some plaited style. I do love that white shirt.
Eku-I like the 80s or is it 70s theme you played with here, except the outfit didn’t go well with it. I’d love her in a frilly dress, like the theme but with a Naija twist.
Tiwa Savage-her hair pulled up would have made this a great cover because I just want to see those cheekbones. It’s more of a pin-up for me.
Ini Edo-looks regal and it’s one of the best I have seen her.
Tonto Dike-Favorite #2. I can see her face, no hair in the way and hse is lovely. The pose and the attire is very militaristic and I love it.
Nike Oshinowo and Damilola-something about hair away from face attracts me. And Nike’s nose is just too Michael Jackson for me. I wish Damilola had been more fierce ’cause Nike is absolutely dominating this cover.
Nse and Bryan-Bryan needs to get a haircut, Nse’s wig/weave is not fitting. The blend makes her look so one-tone/one-shade. I want that bathing suit and while I like her expression, I would have loved to see more of her eyes. Shey you know sey the eyes are the window to the soul.
Chika and Mo’Cheddah: Favorite #1. This cover is amazing and I would purchase this particular issue just for the cover. chika is gorgeous. Her face, her pose, her eyes are strikingly beautiful. Mo’Cheddah is a darling but more fierceness in eyes and hair pulled back. The attire is beyond gorgeous. The scenesry, the Greek and African in the clothes and Chika’s wow! factor nails this cover.
Mercy Johnson-Favorite #3. The haircut accents her face so well. The dress fits her figure and this is just a winning (in the words of Charlie Sheen) cover for Mercy Johnson. And I spotted the red and black pattern you had on the cover ;
Goldie-I love how fit this lady is. Her arms encourage me to keep fit. This cover does not really do well for me because Goldie is like a little fish in a big pond. Her eyes are expressive but maybe more of a close-up.
They all look stunning! thumbs up
For me the best cover is that of Uche Jombo, Tonto and Mercy.
uche jombo, tonto dikeh made the word ‘sexy’ jealous… loving nike oshinowo’s page too… Tiwa always look tired to me…maybe cos she’s working too hard… thumbs up ladies… Well done!
Tonto’s one and Mo’Cheddah and Chika one also
Look at how these people have been held up to ridicule just so Mrs. stylist can showoff her wares
Uche and Mercy did it for me. It would be nice to see Genevieve Nnaji, Kate Henshaw , Rita Dominic and Monaliza Chinda.
nt really feeling Tiwa, its Tonto 4 me
These 2 covers are nice: 1) Tonto Dike and 2) Chika Emmanuel and Mo’Cheddah. The rest kinda look tacky. It will be nice to see the women in sexy looks that don’t look tacky. Genevieve will def make a hot cover…
Tonte and Eku by far the best. Very Creative, different and cutting edge.
Wow, I love zinkata’s works . Really outstanding