“Yoshinaka”- House of Nwocha Fall 12 Collection | Behind the Scene Footage of Lookbook Shoot
Posted on Wednesday, June 6th, 2012 at 10:50 AMBy Ijeoma Ndekwu
Nigerian label, House of Nwocha(HON) is out with its Fall 12 collection inspired by “Yoshinaka”, an ancient warrior princess. The collection tells a contemporary tale of strong women of old from the far east in Asia.
Capturing the exceptional beauty, charm and bravery of “Yoshinaka”, House of Nwocha “presents Yoshinaka in modern times. A strong almost goth woman, not afraid of her body and its magic.” says Creative Director, Ugonna Omeruo.
The collection features soft black velvet, black spiral french lace,sheer panels, studs, feathers, and a rich golden french sequence lace which are used to create a spiked mini dresses, long evening dresses, bootleg cut trousers and cropped tops.
View full collection below exclusively on BellaNaija.com.
House of Nwocha takes us behind the scenes of its Fall 12 collection Lookbook shoot.
Check on it!
W: www.hseofnwocha.com
B: www.hseofnwocha.blogspot.com
E: info@hseofnwocha.com, hseofnwocha@yahoo.com
Credits:
Photographer: Obi Somto | Head Stylist: Obinna Omeruo| Assistant Stylist (LL): Seun Asaju| Model: Alexandrea Nwokedi | Sleek Makeup: Jide Adedeji
Tags: House of Nwocha, Ugonna Omeruo
HOT! love the embellishments on those pieces, most are wearable too… stockists?
OMG,so classy.I cud rock any of them anyday,anytime esp the black velvet gown with a left thigh slit and a silver bow. So cool!
The girl is finer than all the clothes put together! I’m not impressed with these designs
Beautiful!!!
And well-made. I love
Was too busy looking at the model and not the outfit…hehehe….
absolute rubbish…akwaoche agai n…..yawning
there was a song back in the days about ABA upholstery fabric sellers not being able to sleep because the fabric velvet which was the main fabric for sofas was in vogue and women started using them for sewing clothes. ONYE AKWA OCHE A AGAHI ALARU URA OOOOO…. on a serious note velvet 1s back again
My thoughts exactly! Apoche na im dey reign… Lmao!
lol…that word “akwaoche”
i can see 3 dresses from thisdaay arise how can this be a new collection..who be fool..Mrs nwocha u are a joker
Poorly finished stuff, i can see the airstay on d fabrics from here, my dear why do u often use black by theway. is it to hide your mistakes, u are a creative but please use some nice pastels and be a bit more adventrous
By “air stay” , I presume you mean fusible interfacing. File that under the perils of learning fashion design from your roadside tailor with “H-factor”.
I think designers should be allowed to choose their own colours since its their collection and you might not always be available to guide them as to what’s is best. /sarcasm
i personally think these dresses are fabulous….so anyone who doesnt have the talent but can only critisize should kindly S.T.F.U ……. thank you:)
Looks 2 n 3 are my favorite…….. Simply lovely
http://personalstuvs.blogspot.com
Your designs r sooooooo beautiful. I don’t care what the haters say. Your clothes make me work so much harder at what I do so that one day, I can own some of them.
Hi
It’s not a different collection, it’s the exact pieces/collection that were shown at arise fashion week. This is the look-book.
Omg iym in luv wif evry single piece excep for one of em buh d rest of em r gorge!!!rili classy chicy n totally wearable too!!
This was our first all black collection ever. In the fashion calendar fall season is for darker colors like black, grey, navy blue etc. This season we decided to do black with a tint of gold.
Biko, how does “fall” relate to the weather in Nigeria?
FASHION calender… not NIGERIAN calendar. The fashion world has their seasons. Abi you want Nigerian designers to limit their collections to nigerians only?
Speaking of the collection, s’ok I guess. I’m not a fan of velvet. I really like the 3rd dress
Nice pieces Ugonna, do you have a training outfit or could you pls recommend a very good one in lagos. Thanks
@Ugonna you say the darker colours are for fall season. But how does that work for the person in Nigeria since we have the hot weather all year round
Fashion is not always about creating something from heaven…Lol
What we try to do is create things that are relevant to the present. Tell an old story in a new way, in new cuts, techniques and fabrics. Fashion sometimes is like the movies. Telling an old snow white story in 3D. It’s not a different story it’s jst in a more modern version.
Hi Ugonna. I want to congratulate you on your collection, velvet can be a challenge to work with. I also want to applaud you for the humility and grace you have exhibited when responding to comments that are on the wrong side of polite. It shows a professional attitude that is bound to be reflected in the way you treat your clients.
Editrix made some points that I think maybe helpful to you and all I want to add is that while you seem to love gowns, you cut trousers beautifully which is no small thing, so it would be great to see a few more examples in the next collection.
Keep pushing, you are on the right path.
Lovely!!!!
@Ayo la Everyone needs a black evening dress, weather in Nigeria or else where. We are lucky here in africa cos we can wear any colour at anytime but when ur designing a collecting it has to be up to date and in season internationally.
I love the collection, hse of nwocha any day, but i have a bone to pick with the blond girl speaking, why is it so difficult for igbo children nowadays to say igbo words properly. I feel that our generation is losing greatly and i blame our parents. Like her pronouciation of somto- dreadful. #justsaying learn your native tongue proper, we are letting westerners steal our language and culture and without your language you cannot understand you culture to the fullest.
love the designs but poor tailoring/finishing
VERY TACKY AND CHEAP FABRICS TOO
Ugonna can design,but execution not quite sure of.
Lovely designs with good execution. The combination of black and gold is appealing to the eye too.
Pros- With the designs, the collection should sell well, and most likely will have imitations of it, in native wear.
Cons- The fabric may need rethinking. With the way, some Nigerians have bastardized that fabric, there may be some reluctance to buy it. A foray with these same designs on a different fabric might work.
Tres chic:)
tobechidaniel.blogspot.com
whoaaa alex you are really rocking those dress tight…..this is the kind of person that can represent us for Miss Nigeria outside, luckily Sleek got ya, kudos to the designers but my eye on the lady….hahahahahah
Lovely embelishing. Simple and not too much.
HOT! Can’t wait to rock your pieces on the Red carpet. I be shining my teeth like an absolute fool! Hahahhaa! Awwww I soooooo love. Ugonna call me! Sending my boys to arrange u if u don’t send my dresses! LOL.
Fab collection..ammmaazinng
I love the collection and wont mind owning a few pieces
SICK! Forever a fan of Miss Omeruo
Pls you guys encourage this had working lady!
the hardworking lady needs to fine tune her own skills. for a beginner in the business, we can evaluate “potential”. for someone like ugonna, who has been around for a minute we are forced to evaluate her performance, which is just blah!
D babe is jst a joke..she shld mayb b a stylist
house of my A$$$$$$
Copy of andrea iyamah
Yaay Alex is rockin this dreeses to think she’s neva modeled b4 she won face of sleek.
In general the collection is okay and a vast improvment from the last one.
Word of advise, Ugonna: Invest in a steam iron. Some of the outfit would have turned out a lot better if only they were properly ironed. Secondly, you need to work on your finishing and thirdly, accessories – the lift up an outfit and generally improve a look. The black shoe the model wore is uninspiring. It’s a Fall look and we get it but no need to to weigh the collection down with sullen, black shoes.
Overall, well done and kudos!
Gurls! Stop hating! This is someones hard work. Why do Nigerian hate this much! Ugonna well done! I’m in Yankee how can one order from your store?
I wonder why nobody noticed the header ““Yoshinaka”- House of Nwocha Fall 12 Collection | Behind the Scences” as wrong. Is it just me, or is it supposed to read behind the SCENCES?
I assume you mean Scenes!
Problem: There was NEVER any warrior princess named Yoshinaka.
Japanese princesses (and Yoshinaka is a Japanese name) from the Imperial line NEVER left court for ANY reason (except to go to temple / shrine and to get married )
Even if / when a Japanese princess married into the Shogun’s family (the Military ruler ) she became the Midaidokoro and had to permanently stay in the Ooku (the inner court of the Shogun’s fortress) and NEVER came out much less fought anybody or went to war. (except again, to go to the temple or the shrine)
Even among the warrior Samurai upper class of Japan, the O-Buke Hime (a.k.a. the princess of each Samurai family) NEVER went to war or fought anybody. Granted, each princess carries a dagger or short sword with her wherever she goes but the purpose of this sword is to defend her life in a situation of personal attack, or in a situation where her honour is in greater danger (e.g. if she is about to be raped), she is supposed to use that sword to commit suicide in order to preserve her family honour.
So….. I’m not really sure where the inspiration for this collection came from but good try.
The clothes are absolutely lovely though.
Yoshinaka was a warrior, but not a princess and not a woman, but a general. Maybe she was channeling that. Cut her some slack???
Getting historical facts wrong is a big deal. Hopefully the correction is noted and corrected
loooooooooooooool
FLACID,BORING,ORDINARY…….NO CONCEPT…..This is fashion!!!think outside the box or (outside your head in this case)….lol
Ugonna, ignore all them hateful comments. I don’t know when we developed this culture of relating rudeness to constructive criticism. I’ve seen your work imporve overtime and hope to be able to buy your designs pretty soon.Well done!
u guys are so bitter why would u run down someones hard work like dis ……its not fair……
If you listen to these pple you will never be able to do anything, carry on doing your best. Well done and be strong.
I like these actually. Well done Ugonna
gosh! so much hate! did ugonna offend you guys. oya design your own lets see now!
I think the designs are fab and the dress Nse wore is just WOOW!
Keep it up, girl! i love the female warrior theme.
I can see myself rocking all d long gown.my perfect size.A careful search wil reveal dat most of the haters are orobo’s,they can’t see their self in these design.Carry go,well done
@sugabelly I see ur into Japanese culture absolutely amazing. However not all epic stories of ancient times make it to the headlines. If u want to knw more about her pls email me on info@hseofnwocha.com
There is no way Yoshinaka could even be a princess. Yoshinaka is a male name. If this person was actually a princess, the name would be Yoshiko. (Yoshi for peace, calmness, balance, etc, and Ko for child).
@sugabelly, gee, how smart you are in Japanese history *bad eye* mtchwew!, if u see an Alexender McQueen piece now, you will rave about how creative and ‘high-fashion’ it is. Ugonna, good job and more power to your efforts. pick the constructive criticisms and better your skills. BTW, that long dress with the sheer panels down the front and feathers at the shoulders that Nse Etim wore at some event some months ago is definitely one of your best works to date! its fierce!
Actually, a few years ago, I wrote a blog post criticizing McQueen, Dior and other foreign designers. So there you go. If you’d read my whole comment you’d see I said the clothes were nice. The story behind the clothes however was pretty inaccurate.
I love your work…nice
I like most of the designs, akwa oche or not. I actually think velvet is a Royal and Sexy fabric. Meanwhile, Nse Ekpe Etim rocked the “feathered shoulder” black long gown recently. Those with negative comments are actually spoil sports in my opinion!!
black,gold and all things bold….i love
Everybody is now a designer in nigeria..as long as u can patch things up,ur gonna get props for it…I weep!! … Good luck ugonna.
@Sugarbelly or bitterleaf belly:
Capturing the exceptional beauty, charm and bravery of “Yoshinaka”, House of Nwocha “presents Yoshinaka in modern times. A strong almost goth woman, not afraid of her body and its magic.” says Creative Director, Ugonna Omeruo
D essence of d collectn is bout a woman’s beauty,bravery(bn able t take her life to avoid danger comn to her via a sword accordn t u),d sheer magic of a woman’s body not warfare aunty! We shl learn from n b inspired by others or we wld get no where. Jeez!
You missed the part where she claimed Yoshinaka was a warrior princess??? That can be classified as misrepresentation of Japanese history. But anyway who cares?? the collections are beautiful.
Gotta say, I like the collection. HON seems to have its client clear cut, I’ve seen some of the pieces on the red carpet and they seem to translate well. Also the photoshoot is on point – model, photography, makeup, styling. It is not easy to pull all that off. Congrats. My faves are the architectural pieces.
Awesome collection! Great craftsmanship.
Ugonna, you did a fab job, keep up the good works and “keep the haters at bay”. Really no need trying to explain as some people would never understand the true definition and Creative side of Fashion. The great storytellers are the controllers of the Industry. Alexander Mcqueen was a great example. Keep the Nigerian flag flying gal. More Grease, YOSHINAKA BABY!!!!
love the playsuit!! really nice.
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i am a designer and i can say this collection absolutely “wowed” me!!! well done babe! e no easy to get inspiration in this our economy!
I can see artists and actresses like tiwa savage, genevieve and omo, in some of these pieces and they will rock it well, i love the designs, they aren’t over the top amazing, but with good styling someone can rock the look well, good job to the designer, and i look forward to seeing more of your designs in the future ^_^
i personally think the collection is nice but i think its the photography that washed out the beauty of the fabric ..the video brings the garments out more perhaps if the background was white or yellow and the studio was lit up a bit more it would have looked better
…. lovely collection congrats 
The dresses are nothing short of awesome,perfected more by beautiful Alex..I’m so proud of you girl,you rocked these dresses flawlessly.Nigerians,unfortunately,are given to hate and condemnation..we never seem to appreciate our own.If these dresses were tagged ‘Calvin Klein’ or ‘Vera Wang’,I bet these myopic individuals would have nothing bad to say.Therefore,ignore,ignore and ignore some more!Black is a universally accepted colour..spring,fall,winter or summer,black rocks it big time!Your wardrobe isn’t complete if u don’t have a black piece in it,and I sure as hell would recommend these to anyone with good fashion sense.Alex,I’m short of words..the sky is ur starting point.HON,more grease to your elbow.Ugonna,well done and Congratulations.These are all statement pieces..anyone with half a brain would see that.Fabulous is the word..I rest my case.
too be absolutely honest i wasn’t really a fan until i saw Nse wear that fabulous dress and i was like kudos to the designer, i totally love 90% of this collection and it has some of her best work till date… a huge improvement and she’s def gonna wow us with future collections:)
some pics are errrmmmrmmm???? while others are hot. wait a minute! wasn’t this dress nse Ikpe wore for an award show? (look down) LOVE IT!!!
http://www.bellanaija.com/2012/06/06/yoshinaka-house-of-nwocha-fall-12-collection-behind-the-scences-footage-of-lookbook-shoot/07-2/
No, I don’t like her designs at all but she has her own market. So go ahead Ugonna!
Obviously all the people claiming I’m hating missed the part in my original comment where I said the clothes were lovely.
The clothes are gorgeous but it still doesn’t change the fact that the “inspiration” behind the clothes as it was presented by the designer is completely inaccurate.
Chances of Yoshinaka being a woman = practically zero.
Do yourself a favor and shut thee entire fack up! Damn! Yoshinaka/yoshinoko, the bitch put her heart into her line.
These are beautiful designs. There’s no perfect designs, even all those designs people drool over on the runaway are not always well put together. Congratulations, Ugonna, what a great collection, is there a website to order from?
its beautiful. I agree the ironing could be better but i love it. especially the first one and the one nse wore
Amazing collection. People need to relax and give helpful criticism instead of just putting up hateful comments, bella naija is not for you to air personal grievances, pls be adults, anonymity is not for consistent anger. Well done Ugonna, all black, who doesnt need a black dress?
B
THe question is how many of u will buy? How many of u have ever bought 4rm her? Apart frm celebrity wear and return? Lol
are u surprised at d negative comment??? Nigerians are bittered naa, they spend so much time hating and looking for little mistakes to criticize when they ve got no talent or when they are not better of…….you can hid behind d mask!!!!
Whether or not yoshinaka was a male, female, warrior or fighter or amphibian or bisexual is totally irrelevant. Dis woman came into the fashion scene and has achieved this much a feat and ol u can do is criticise her on the origins of yoshinaka. Its her inspiration, its her idea, its her fashion and its a privilege for you to see this. Its a look book everything is not supposed to be “ironed” for your benefit.. Its repeated, get your facte right about the house of nwocha before saying a ton of bull in desparity. U criticize works, how many have you done, what have you achieved and who knows you. Stup hating and relying on rather inconsistent unnecessary facts and get a book on how to constructively criticize a person of the person’s sweat and tears.. Jesus christ. These dresses are a must av and can be worn anywhere. Since ab initio was , still is and remain a fan of the HON..
PRESH U… Can i marry u…you are too sound abeg. Miss Achiever…..lmaoo rotfl
errmmmm!!!!!! sugabelly, u sound really bitter. im sure she has heard and would correct dat mistake in the nearest future. Meanwhile dont commit suicide over the matter. its like u took it personal
I have never really been a fan of Ugu but today after reading her responses to comments here, I am crazily in love ith her. Your humility and politeness is amazing. Responding to opinions of people on such a social network ain’t a small thing o! i hail thee Ugo…..
Na wa for u people. Leave Sugabelly alone abeg. She was just pointing out something which may be factually incorrect. If we must aspire to be on the international scene like HON wants, then we need to eschew mediocrity, inaccuracies and always be on point. If she took this out internationally someone who knows will point it out to her and make her look incompet
(contd) incompetent, foolish or both. Better for her to hear it now and make correction. Its not hating, its helping her put her best foot forward.
And can we pls just stop with the hating label once anyone says anything that displeases us? that’s one of the reasons Nigeria is where it is today. Someone says something that really should be investigated for its veracity and neccessary corrections made, we ascribe it to pettiness and hating a la it is because he is from a different tribe, religion, class, etc… and things keep getting bad…
Absolutely stunning.. A+ modelling too.
I want the 3rd n 7th dresses. What are the prices??
visit stylebyjulz.blogspot.ca
dunno bout anybody..buh i love d collection and dey re totally wearable! keep churning dem out.
Sugerbelly I hope u know Nigeria history like this o
Lollllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll. Abi O!!!!
Very Creative. Elegant collections.
see http://www.nigerianewsnetwork.com
Ugonna nor mind them Jare, just remain focus. Rome wasn’t built in one day. I run a business too and I must say that its not easy coming up with ideas. Whether ” yoshiko or Yoshinaka” me I like the designs…. Why can’t we encourage our own for once.? Mschewww @ all the haters!
Well done HON am not a fan of velvet but the dresses are absolutely STUNNING, haters just need to zip it coz u have no idea the hardwork she has put into creating a collection only for you to sit behind a computer and slag it. Your work will not be everybody’s cup of tea but the ppl who like it will buy it,i’m a designer myself and ppl made all sorts of comments about my work i just ignored the hateful ones and carried on and its totally paid off so who’s laughing now.
Apo oche !!!
Pls change your professional team!
Editor for video spelt Copyright WRONG at the end of the video
Hire Alistair Englebert Preston for a more creative photoshoot
#nuffsaid
Hi Ugonna, very lovely pieces, i actually loved the one Nigeria’s very talented actress Nse Ikpe-Etim wore to the AMAA ‘s ; really gorgeous…well done and great job!
H.O.N………Classy & Elegant!!!
Keep up the good work Little Sis!
I’m usually a hater of this designer, and find her collections tacky, but this collection I actually like. The showing at the ARISE fashion show didn’t do justice to the collections. I can’t hate, still not a fan of the disigner, but some of these clothes I want.
@ Sugabelly
Okay, Japanese teacher, we don hear all the history about Japan o. Books closed.
Congrats Ugonna, you have potential. Continue to work hard, and improve to be the best.
Beautiful collection, I love them a lot.
a lot of the comments here fall under ‘cyber bullying’. some people feel that because they are sitting in front of a monitor or phone, as the case may be, they can run people down without caring how they scar them. people who have a dream and a prayer understand what it takes to go after your dream. people who don’t, run those who do down.
sweetheart, carry go. it’s all about making sure every collection is better than the previous one. as one designer to another, keep your head up girl.
The outfits are lovely. I liked the second, third, eleventh and twelfth.
I must agree with Sugabelly. Things like historical facts must be checked, it’s not an insult or is it meant to demean your work. It’s just what it is. And it will make you look bad on the international scene.
Secondly, just because someone doesn’t like your designs does not make them a hater. The designs may not appeal to everybody, although Nse rocked one of your dresses beautifully at some event. That’s a part of life. It’s not “hating” and this is constructive criticism.
If you can’t handle the ones that are only on BN, and online, imagine when you do blow up when everything is under scrutiny. I wish you all the best even though “fall” irks me to hear. The designs are quite lovely, and some smoothness (with a steam iron as someone suggested) would help. Good luck.
I think people can discern the difference between a constructive criticism and “this designer is a joke” and ” house of my A$$$$$$$”. I think a comment like that is pretty hateful.
As for the “fall” thang, our designers are under so much pressure to maintain “Global” game with look books, and resort collections and a whole heap of other stuff that is barely relevant to the reality of their business, that not labeling the collection “fall” will have the same people calling you ” local sturvs” in 2 minutes flat.
Nah, some people can’t. Sugabelly’s comment was constructive but yet so many folks missed it. Those examples you gave are hateful and hurtful, and those are the ones you need a tough skin for.
As for the “fall” thing, I do not buy that belief that our designers are under pressure to maintain any “Global” game. Their audience, their market is Nigeria, is it not? Please clarify it for me, who is their target audience? The look books are to entice prospective customers over a social website, right. There is no Global game here. And not labeling it “fall” would actually be a good thing. I would love to see a Nigerian designer not use “fall” to describe a collection. If you have the time, take a look through any “fall” collections BN has in its archive and you are bound to see a comment that is irked by the use of the word “fall” and no comment about how great the collection is because of the word “fall”.
@turayo I agree that a lot of people have a problem with “fall” but I also don’t imagine that designers who show their look books on Bellanaija, which is read globally, are praying for it to only be seen by Nigerians.
If a designer chooses to ignore the international fashion calendar I don’t think it will affect their business in Nigeria one way or another but it will have the potential to limit opportunities that might come from abroad. If you look back into Bella’s archive you will notice “fall” started around the time everyone started killing themself to show in London-Paris -New York , and this is the pressure I’m speaking about. A look book on Bella is not where most people’s ambition ends. Everyone, regardless of capacity seems to want to go global, and they have every right to try.
As for sugabelly, I personally have no problem with her taking the time to educate us all about the intricacies of court life in feudal Japan as I like to learn, but I also don’t have a problem with the designers inspiration being less than historically accurate. I consider it creative license, but I’m happy to agree to disagree.
But the report is more than being historically inaccurate. It’s like, let’s see, in the US when Fox news had a picture of Frederick Douglass up for the Lincoln/Douglass debate. That was historically inaccurate (and a lack of knowledge about history) and that adds to Fox’s reputation for not being a trustworthy news-site. Frederick Douglass was a slave and the debate was during times of slavery, racism and discrimination and he would DEFINITELY NOT have been having a presidential debate with anyone.
A better example would be if someone decided to draw inspiration from Sango (which is also a Japanese name) in the Yoruba culture. But instead made Sango a female–That would have pissed a lot of people and definitely made that person look really really incompetent. It’s the same thing. You can’t mess up things like that. And I looked up Yoshinaka and Sugabelly is right, but the company still has that fictitious story up. It’s not an insult to House of Nwocha but it is an insult to the Japanese people. Altering history is not “creative”. The clothes they have designed from that inspiration, is creative.
I don’t think a fashion designer and a national news agency have the same duty of care when it comes to the representation of historical facts .
HoN wanted to represent an image of a warrior woman from an ancient and foreign culture and clearly took some creative license in naming her. Poor fact checking. Yes. An international incident. Not so much.
The works of William Shakespeare are full of too many historical inaccuracies to mention and while certain purists grind their teeth over it, most people accept his position as one of the greatest artists of our time. It is his good fortune that Bellanaija didn’t exist in his day
HoN can be happy they have stirred up so much debate as all publicity is good publicity, so clearly what some (and I don’t mean you or sugabelly) might have meant for harm has turned out for good.
FAB……
@ugonna,ur a very classy lady and I must commend ur work and please strive harder for d best.quite creative.
wow Gorgeous! beautiful……i love it all! wow again!
Bottom Line: The collection of clothings by House Of Nwocha is undeniably stunning. I can pull off any of these, anyday, anytime. Some people are just too scared to take risks in fashion, so they prefer to get stuck in their comfort zone. Taking risks in fashion is wat makes ones style fun, exclusive and eye-catching. I’ve once worked wit a designer and believe me wen i say E NO EASY OOO. Ugonna, my people will say jisike, meaning more Olive Oil to ur elbows and brains.