Music Behind the Process...

The following is a sample list of what we were listening to while putting together 3wb. If you listen to them too, it'll be like you were right there with us!

Paper Planes - MIA
Brooklyn - Jay-Z
Empire State of Mind (feat. Alicia Keys) - Jay-Z
When will my cheated heart - (Yeah Yeah Yeahs vs Diana Ross)- team9 vs. Stereogum
Cybeles reverie - Stereolab
Ping-pong - Stereolab
Summer Song - Jupiter One
Countdown - Jupiter One
Unglued - Jupiter One
Wild Young Hearts - Noisettes
Never Forget You - Noisettes
A Teenager In Love - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Young Adult Friction - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Music Is My Hot, Hot Sex - CSS ( Cansei De Ser Sexy)
Alala - CSS (Cansei De Ser Sexy)
August Day Song - Bebel Gilberto
Jabuticaba - Bebel Gilberto
Samba Em Preludio - Esperanza Spalding
Runaway - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

explore!

xx

What Went into 3WB - Part 2

So, we did a couple of new things with this collection...

First off, we spread out from solely printing on American Apparel shirts when we discovered a strong alternative that was called, funnily enough, Alternative Apparel. We love their extra soft fabrics and their extra eco consciousness. They are like positivity in t-shirt form and we thought we'd love to wear that!

We also did cool buttons (or badges depending on where you get your lexicon.) See them featured on the back of the denim shirt in the 3wb photo shoot images.

That said, here are the pictures we promised and the video again so you can see them in motion!

Feel free to tell us what you think and thanks for all your support so far!













(See Complete Photo Shoot Here! See the shirts in motion below!)



xx

What went into 3WB (Part 1)

Many things happened on the way to the 3wb collection. Maybe that's why it took so long to come out? Lol! Sorry about that! We're already working hard on our next dream so hopefully there won't be such a long gap this time.

The inspiration behind the concept of 3rd world beautiful was varied. Cee had been doing a bit of traveling about the African Continent and I'd been doing a lot of my usual pop culture browsing but particularly in non-western culture.

When we regrouped we found we were both tripped by what we saw as new and contemporary things coming out of non-western traditions and areas usually designated as "Developing". Things springing up from the young people which while built upon the old were completely separate from them and their own thing.

These things showed up in music, art, fashion, in slang, in the way we wrote, in the way we saw and described ourselves. There are new Africas, Asias and Middle Easts coming into being right now in our language, on our computer screens and even on our handhelds.

We thought that was the coolest thing in the world so it kind of made us want to be one of those things!

3WB is a sort of happy ode to that as well as a way of striking a new note in design and tshirt fashion. I'll leave it at that as I am over defining it as it is!

Look out for Part II of this post - Pictures of the Collection!


xx

Imekura <3 Nosa likes :)

Especially for the kind mention!

Nosa Garrick, the scribe behind this column is an image clubber. She's been clubbing since the Nostalgia Collection which was our first.

We love her lots and her blog and twitter feed are what we call, "Good Pop Culture."

Make sure you discover her today if you haven't.

http://nosalikes.wordpress.com/

xx

Introducing "3WB"; A New Imekura Collection.

We did it guys!!!

We have a new collection and it's called 3WB!!!

And finally the answer to our earlier question, "What is 3WB?"...((drum roll))...

3rd World Beautiful!!!!!!

It encapsulates what was in our imagination when we were designing these shirts. New arts, new culture, new Pop, all coming from new perspectives, new minds, a new world!

To our perspective, the contemporary world stage has been dominated by ideas from all the same places for too long. To us, third world is not a socio-economic category. It means things unseen and unheard before now. New colours, new notes, a new modern.

3rd World Beautiful is our ode to the new aesthetic in all its forms and now, we'd like to celebrate it with you!

Thanks for riding this out with us!

Now check out the loot!!!

xx

EXTRA! EXTRA!

Read all about it!

Imekura's newest collection to hit the interwebs on Monday, January 18th 2010, following intimate reveal @ Mad Hatter's Tea Party. Imekura has a new bag of tricks for you and all will finally come to light on Monday. Have you figured out the secret behind 3wb, yet? Keep guessing! xx

Catch us on Facebook!!!

Guess who just moved to Facebook?

We did!!!

Now you can see everything Imekura has to offer from the comfort of your facebook space and even throw in your two cents!

We're still moving in so all the content isn't there yet but we're working on that even as I type so stick with us.

We're so very happy to be here, one interweb step closer to our darling image clubbers!

Come visit us lots, okay?

xx

And a Happy New Year!!!

And so 2009 has rolled to an end and we find ourselves in the first double digit year of the 2000s! I'm not sure if that's significant at all but it's still kind of cool.

Update on our preparations for the new collection: There is still so much to do!!! But we are going to go for it. There will be a launch event in early January 2010 after which we will upload a lot of content for your perusal: videos and photos galore and of course the new collection!

The mystery of 3wb will be unveiled at last so stay with us!

We're almost there...

xx

Merry Christmas 2009!

It's Christmas again and all I can think is "I'm not ready!!!!!!"

Seriously, it feels like Christmas this year came out of nowhere! Trying desperately to keep up! Keep you eyes on this spot clubbers to know when the new loot is finally ready!

Have the merriest Christmas possible!

xx

Photoshoot!!!

God we love an imekura photoshoot!

Since that first one in Miami where we just ripped open the box of shirts as soon as it came in from our Printers and rushed outside with Cee's digital camera each one has been more and more out there and this one was definitely in keeping with this tradition!!!

We had a great time! There was wine and really amazing sandwiches and music and friends and pizza...fun. I really hope that feeling comes out in the final images.

I just want to thank our models, Tola, Ere and Ayo who were actually just amazing! So cute and so patient and so just exactly what this collection needed! We felt very blessed to do this with you guys and we really hope you like the end result.

We'd also like to thank our friend Chooms who graciously lent us his apartment and some very precious instruments. We love you Chooms and that's a fact.

K, enough with the love-dovey. I have several sleepless nights ahead of me so adios for now my sparkling clubbers!

xx

Of Cobwebs and Websites

Wow.

Just looked out our website again (now that I'm back on the interwebs! 0(><)0) and I think its time for a change! I mean, I love our stuff and our style, but we're going to have a lot of new stock soon so its time to blow out some of those cobwebs.

Truth is we have a whole new mind working on it already (our darling coz from TX). We really want an interface for our international clubbers that is eezy peezy and intuitive but we also want to stay true to our spirit which is playful and free.

Please let us know any cool suggestions you might have!

Ahhhhh! Really excited about all this new stuff! Change is ah-coming, folks and we can hardly wait!

xx

Girls @ Work

So, we're in the last lap towards this long in coming collection and that means a lot of work!!!

The good news is we are closer to the end than ever. The bad news is there might be postponements. We will try and make them short ones though. Sorry for being so obscure, but it's still necessary right now!

Can't wait to share what's been in our minds all this time! Really hope you like it when you see it!

xx

Aaaaaaaaaaaaa -

-aaaaaaand I'm back....

After almost 6 months internet free, I can't tell you how sweet it is to be back online!

I missed you all and I'm so backed up on stuff to tell you that I don't know where to start.

I will therefore leave you at this point with a mysterious acronym to clutch to your hearts. It will all become clear by and by. Don't forget it now:

3wb

xx

Jupiter One has a new album!

So just found out today that Jupiter One has dropped a new album 'Sunshower'. We are ecstatic because we are one of their biggest fans. Loving the song 'Unglued' right now, it's actually been out for a while now as a single so it's good to finally see how it fits into the whole album. Good album, great band!

Nneka on the Green!

Last night was Nneka's live gig at Ember Creek, it ended up being a big affair, there was a huge turn out (free admission will do that, heeeey!) and she was ready to amaze with her very sincere lyrics. We got to hear our favorite song 'Heartbeat,' so was definitely a night to be remembered. Listening to her live is special 'cause you never know what she's going to do with the music, so you end up hearing a bunch of remixes that aren't on the album! 

Congrats on your win at the MOBO's and we hope you keep giving us great songs! 

The Boss

So I had to share what I discovered while leafing through the pages of the most recent Clam magazine, Bibi (one of our team members) had a whole page dedicated to her titled 'The Boss', we are overflowing with pride. We are also very happy she managed to plug in some IMEKURA tee's. As our good friend Nnenna said when I showed her the article 'Yay Bibi'...

:-(

Sayonara, King of Pop.
You will be missed.

xx

The Teaser is Here!

Relentless is still due out at the end of the year but they managed to bang out a Teaser on time for Cannes!

Rumour has it that it has gotten a lot of positive response and is even generating some excitement! It will definitely be doing the festival rounds when it is done.

If I am able to upload this it will be a miracle but I must try cos I'm so excited about it. I think it is a sign of the coming of the aesthetic that will come from our side of the world and our side of the mind (the so called third world).

Check out Gideon Okeke, Nneka (the chanteuse), Jimmy Jean Louis (The Haitian), some faces you know and some intriguing new comers.


And check out our shirts which show up in it! Hehe!





loves ya!
xx

Sharing is caring

When searching for inspiration you come across sometimes the weirdest things or the most amazing finds. In this case we drooled when we found the Noisettes, their music is definitely on our playlist('scratch your name') as we design our new line. Shingai Shoniwa (who is half Zimbabwean btw) is our new heroine and we see her rocking the new IMEKURA! enjoy!!!!

Made in Africa

We were very impressed when we came across Yodit Euckland. She studied environmental economics at the University of California, Berkley, she's multicultural(Ethiopian, French, American & Sweedish), but most importantly she is earnestly supporting Africa's economy. 

Yodit and her brother Yohannes started Bantu, an exclusive African surf brand, churning out swimmwear, surf gear, decals and the works with an African twist. They designed the swim wear in Ivory Coast, using the vibrant West African print (Ankara) while promoting Africa's textile industry and then all the cutting and sewing was done in Ethiopia (watch out China!), this makes Bantu a truly African brand. So major cool points go to the duo that bring us Bantu.