A girl for all seasons

Liz Ogumbo is multi-talented. She is a fashion designer, model, writer, and musician. Her music seems to be trending now as she has signed a record deal with a major record label. Buzz caught up with her in Malindi last week:

Buzz: Who is Liz Ogumbo?

LIZ: Liz Ogumbo is the creative soul/spirit/inspiration from Kenya. I’m a fashion icon who like Stella, just got her groove back musically.

We know you for fashion and modelling.

Music is my untold story.

Has music always been in you?

It is a part of me that I almost let fade away as I have always been more indulged in my fashion element.

What is your sound?

My sound is the new, fresh, crisp sound of the globe. Heavily influenced by jazz, blues, Ohangla, Taarab, Reggae and Ndombolo. I sing in Luo, French, Swahili, and English. I call it Ken-soul”.
Most of your concerts are always in South Africa why?

I am blessed and I will never take my opportunity for granted.

I thank God for the opportunity and all the close people around me who have seen what lies within me and have helped expose me into the right places where finally people hear and see and believe in me enough to invest in my music career.

Tell me about the hot 8-live- girl band?

I am woman enough to put together a girl band because I think it’s a hot and rare way to celebrate women.

As a fashion designer, I like change and therefore instead of showcasing pieces on the runway all the time, I have showcased my designs on the girl band and then pulled off a performance.

It’s a two-in-one; you get to enjoy the new collection on the band, and you get to enjoy the good music concurrently. The girl band also highlights different talent within the girls.

Musically, where do you draw your inspiration?

My inspiration comes from my five passions in life that is fashion, Music, Africa, Love, and Life.

You are working with South Africa’s hugely celebrated artistes like Bheki Khoza, MXO, and Octave Couplet. How did you connect with them and what are you working on?

I connected with these amazingly talented artists through my project; South East Soul!

South East Soul is a concept I host, own, present and intend to preserve. I am using this concept as a platform to present collaborations with great musicians initially from South Africa – I plan to bring South east Soul to Kenya in the near future.

Besides gaining more exposure and opportunity within this industry, South East Soul’s objective is for Liz the performing artist to come to SA to elevate her sound, explore, create and collaborate with South African artists to bridge the gap between Africans and different cultures.

This is meaningful to me to enable Africans to celebrate their creative energies together without cultural and regional boundaries.

My first collaboration which took place on the 27th Feb 2010 at Cantare, Monte Casino in Joburg represents East meets South, MXO represents Timeless African Funk, Bheki Khoza is a true veteran and I being the new fresh exotic buzz.

Together I believe we are stronger and ‘South East Soul’ is testament to that.

Where are you showcasing your fresh collection next?

I look forward to showcasing my next collection at Africa fashion week in June this year. In the meantime, my latest collection is the “Less is more; say It in black.”

Tell us more about the less is more say it in black collection.

I just launched this collection at Malindi show last weekend and this line is important to me especially in this year and time as 2010 is the year for bold, self-expression.

Bold, timeless and elegant, the Say It in Black collection presents a series of dresses are the perfect attire from the office work day to the evening cocktail party.

A must-have for the modern African woman, the Say it in Black collection invites women to embrace self-definition through sleek cuts, provocative design and attitude that comes from the inside.

‘I believe less is more. When you ooze confidence, few people will disagree with you. Through the Say It in Black collection I have minimized fuss and accented the beauty of our individuality as African women. My philosophy is that every day should be celebrated as an opportunity to make our mark.

Say it in Black says it all.

Does your entry in music mean an end to fashion?

No…not at all. If anything it marks the beginning of fashion. Nothing ends until my life ends. In the meantime, I will juggle the two and grow with music and fashion.