Making your Orders

Hey beautiful people,

So I’ve been getting queries on how to get a hold on some of the pieces that have been showcased.

Before I do so, a few things that I may need to point out are:

     ·         If you have been following my blogs, you will realize that I’m on a journey, and I haven’t quite reached the destination yet.  This means, that I work on an order at a time;

     ·         The clothes that I have been showcasing, are not exactly for sale, however they are an SI unit for making your orders. I have indicated how much it would cost to make a similar outfit per picture;

     ·         The fabric industry in Kenya is as slippery as an eel. This means that a fabric can be here today and gone tomorrow, and since I haven’t yet started sourcing for my own fabric, I have to work with what’s in the market. This means that you may not get the exact fabric print, or sometimes type, because of this; however, I look for the closest to the SI unit outfit. (hope that makes sense).

So with that said, this is the structure that I work with:

• Orders are to be made minimum 2weeks in advance of the desired date. (First come first serve basis). At the moment, I work per order;
• Outfits can either be made with clients own fabric, or fabric purchased by HoV. Garments made from clients fabrics will be cheaper, than garments made from fabric purchased by HoV;
• If the order made, is not in reference to any of the showcase outfits, (i.e you want something different), then I as the Head designer will further discuss with you, the client, your preferences, and the occasion/event that you intend to dress for. A minimum of 3 sketches will be done and shown to the client for selection. After selection, the garment construction process begins. After the garment is ready, a fitting will be done to correct any adjustments.
• Payments are made 50% deposit before work on the garment begins and the other 50% after garment is complete.
• Garments once sold cannot be returned.
• House of Valentcia will take responsibility for damages caused on our part, and may result in a refund or re-make of an outfit.

Disclaimer: House of Valentcia strictly DOES NOT make clothes that are NOT original HoV designs. (Simply explained: It’s like going to Coke Co. and asking for Pepsi.J) 

                                                        Animal print dress- Ksh 2,900/-

                                                     
                                                         White semi-linen embroidered dress- Ksh 4,200/-

                                                        Skirt suit - Ksh, 4,700/-

                                                        Office dress - Ksh 4,000/-

                                                        Office dress - Ksh 4,000/-

                                                         Khanga Print dress - Ksh 3,500/-

                                                        Khanga Print dress - Ksh 3,500/-

                                                         Khanga trouser - Ksh 3, 200/-

                                                        Semi-khanga Cocktail dress - Ksh 2,800/-

                                                        Semi-kitenge green dress - Ksh 3,700/-

                                           Kitenge dress with flower detail - Ksh 4,500/-

                                                        Kitenge dress with flower detail - Ksh 4,500/-

                                                         Velvet tvening dinner dress - Ksh 5,000/-

                                                       Khanga Jacket - Ksh 4,000/-

IT'S HERE :D

Hey guys,

Finally, the first ever ad campaign for HoV is here. I've never been this excited.I worked with my very close friends whom I've grown up with, (and so i call them my sisters), and it was soooo much fun.
The shoot was almost not happening, cause the photographer I was to initially work with did not show up. But I'm glad to have people like my friend Bijoux Sharon, and my mother for pulling a major stunt and it all worked out well.

I call this collection 'THE AFRICAN PIN-UP GIRL'. It's my interpretation of the pin-up girl. Inspired by the 50's all through to the 80's era, with a modern day African twist.
So without further a do, may I have the honor to present to you all, 2012 Collection, "THE AFRICAN PIN-UP GIRL". :) Enjoy.

Kanga Kulture

I mentioned in my come back post that, one of the things I was doing with myself while I was away was an internship. It’s a requirement that one does an internship (or a project) in order to graduate. Though I've done a BSc in International Business Administration, I chose to do my internship in a fashion house so that I could broaden my understanding and perspective of the fashion industry and what it takes to run a fashion house.
Very fulfilling experience it was and I do not regret going there. I learned a lot, especially regarding the technical aspect of fashion. I interned at a place called Kanga Kulture for 3months. It's a growing fashion house, which has been in the fashion scene since mid last year to date. They do make made to measure outfits in African fabrics; the kanga, and kitenge. They make pieces that are wearable in our day to day lives. The first thing I took home with me was that there is more to fashion than just drawing an idea on a piece of paper. A design should not only look good on 2D, but should also make practical and functional sense in reality. Another point I took home, Kenyan fashion, is still very conservative. A lot of people are not really bold at taking risks, esp. when it comes to what they wear. I began to question whether Kenyans are really ready for creativity, and whether they are willing to pay for it. The bad news: the creativity idea hasn’t relly caught on. The good news: It is slowly working its way up, and so there is hope for the industry. Being, the thrill seeker I am, of course I had a number of moments where I would get drop dead bored because there were no clients to work with, but I think the lessons learnt beat the number of times boredom crept up its head. LESSON: take every opportunity you get to learn, no matter how small it may seem. It doesn’t have to be in the creative industry, but even for professionals. Life is an infinity book, and success presents itself as opportunity; opportunity comes to the prepared; prepare yourself by learning something new every chance you get.

 ‘Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.’ Henry Ford

ACKNOWLEDGMENT: Grateful to Kanga Kulture staff ESP. my supervisor, Lorna Abwonji for her support and for allowing me to take the lovely photos. :)


For more on Kanga Kulture, visit http://www.kangakulture.com/ or check out their facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/pages/KangaKulture/109164832496860

A Blue Affair

Blue pencil dress with ruffle neck detail. For my friend, Faith Mwau. :)

Coming Soon :)

Hey guys. Hope you all have been keeping it fab. So yesterday we had a major event at my church which was beyond words amazing. We were dedicating the expanded sanctuary, and it was a blessing i must say. For this once in a life time event, I had the privileged to do some dresses for my friends. These are pieces from my latest collection, of which, will be released soon. So here's a sneak peek of whats to come. Enjoy. And here is what I wore for the day.

The Launch of Sarakaray Fashion Line

I came across this article; the launch of Sarakaray Fashion line. This is a beautiful collection, and I applause her work. I dint attend the launch (unfortunately), but, from the pictures, this is how a collection should look like; Cohesive, and leaving you wanting more. These are the designers who will take this industry far.
Good job Sarakaray. :)



The Launch of Sarakaray Fashion Line

Still figuring it out, by Tavi Gevinson - my interpretation

I came across, a very interesting video post by the infamous fashion blogger Tavi Gevinson, and I think my whole perspective about her has completely changed. There’s a general tendency and feeling that fashonistas (generally people in the fashion industry) are a bunch of superficial shallow and snotty human beings. Well to some extent I think that is true (I am yet to know why), but lisening to Tavi, made me smile, and made me rethink a bit about my opinion of her.

Still figuring it out; - a talk given at a Tedx Teen seminar (TEDx an NGO devoted  to creating forums of sharing great ideas), was addressed mainly to teenage girls, but I think her talk is relevant to today’s woman. Exploring the idea of who and what a strong female character is today, I liked the way she laid her idea on the table.

A strong female character is not what you see in magazines or movies. The key to a strong female character is flaws. And the key to being one is being the proverbs 31 woman.

I don't want to spoil the the story, but will let you watch listen to the video, and we can pick each others brains on who we think this character is.

Guess whose back... :) me.. yay.. wow it has been a pretty long time since I was up in this space and i'd just like to point out that I have good enough reason for that. I was focusing on finishing up with uni, trying to tie up loose ends. So that's done, now just waiting for graduation. Totally looking forward to it. :). I was also involved in the organisation of my schools beauty pageant, which ate alot of my time. I was also doing an internship, which was a fabulous experience (and i will be sharing about that). The silence hasn't been in vain too. I have been trying to really get my head into figuring out what House of Valentcia is truly about and where it is going. I am still figuring that out, but so far, I have a pretty good rough idea, and I will be revealing this with time as well. Many of you have been asking me how my fashion is doing. Well, here's the drift. Its my baby that I want to nurture with care. I don't want to rush it into growth, and i want to develop a firm foundation for it. So right now the next few years is about developing and grooming her for her exceptional future. :). So in case you see/notice long periods of silence, just know good stuff is cooking in the kitchen ;). I have much to share so I woun't say much here. This is just my "I am back" post. :) Keep it HoV. Mad love.

This is a one of the pieces I worked on when I was away. (see I haven't entirely been dormant)