INFLUENCE - Roots of Style: African Ancestry Fashion Influencers

Roots of Style: African Ancestry Fashion Influencers SPRING 2017
Meet stylist to the stars
GERMAINE HILL
and hear about how this
@TheFashionFixr loves
working with male models and
misses designing Prince!
FAMILY AFFAIR
Hollywood Costume
Designer Rita McGhee
shares the fashion load
with her sisters and
dishes on styling Cookie!
#ROOTSOFSTYLE
What does your African country of
origin reveal about your personal style?
Join us on AfricanAncestry’s Instagram
and Twitter at #RootsOfStyle to
share your ‘African-inspired’ looks too.
ACCESSORIES!
APPAREL!
BODY BALMS!
Nubian Hueman owner and
curator Anika Hobbs
brings trendy, world products
to the streets of America!
Cover Page Credits: Photography: Photography by Hamilton Styling: Germaine Hill Model: Michael Kimani

CELEBRITY STYLIST
@TheFashionFixr
STYLING FASHION IDENTITIES
…ONE SUPERSTAR AT A TIME!
AFRICAN COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
MENDE PEOPLE OF SIERRA LEONE
& FULA PEOPLE OF GUINEA-BISSAU
GUINEA-BISSAU
SIERRA LEONE
“Black people have always been the
most innovative in fashion with color,
pattern and boldness. There’s just
something about us that’s fearless.”
- Germaine Hill

Los Angeles-based stylist and costume designer Germaine
Hill is a 20-year veteran with an intuitive approach to
fashion and style. A self-described clotheshorse, from
a long line of quilters and sewers, she was coined the
nickname –The Fashion Fixr– for her gift for enhancing
her clients’ assets and concealing their challenges.
For more than a decade, Hill styled and traveled the world
with artists including Prince, Seal, Kenneth “Babyface”
Edwards, Natalie Cole, Julio Iglesias, Whitney Houston,
Toni Braxton and Mya. She has also worked with
television personalities including Maggie Q, Roseanne
Arnold, Regina King, Julia Ormond, Tichina Arnold, Jason
Alexander, Chandra Wilson, Isaiah Washington, James
Pickens and Iyanla Vanzant. Hill credits the start of her
celebrity styling career with working in the wardrobe
department on the cult classic Love Jones.
Hill recently coordinated looks for NBC’s Last Comic
Standing and OWN network’s Herlarious. She also works
with corporate clients such as Beauty Company and
Kiehls, and has a special passion for working with up and
coming talent like Keith Stanfield, Lucien Laviscount,
Andre Hall and Andy Allo.
A closeted artist, Hill has been free-hand drawing since
childhood and went on to graduate from Columbia
College majoring in writing. She draws from her creative
background to tell fashion stories that bring celebrities
alive on and off camera.
Hill has been featured in various domestic media outlets
as well as the international publication –Vogue Italia. Her
personal philosophy is that self-confidence is the best
outfit you can ever wear. She wants all people, especially
women, to understand the importance of self-love and
the expression of your “true” self though clothing.
“Looking at the way the women of my home countries put things together with
different colors and textures is something I plan to deliberately explore in my work.”
- Germaine Hill
Credits:
Photography:
Photography by Hamilton
Styling: Germaine Hill
Model: Michael Kimani

RITA McGHEE
COSTUME DESIGNER
@RitaMcGheeOfficial
www.RitaMcGhee.com
FASHION! FILMS! FAMILY!
THE McGHEE SISTERS DESIGN
A COSTUMING EMPIRE!
McGHEE FAMILY
AFRICAN COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
MENDE PEOPLE
OF SIERRA LEONE
“As a costume designer, I tell
the story and help shape the
characters through the clothes.”
- Rita McGhee
SIERRA LEONE

Rita McGhee is a 20+ year, Emmy
nominated costume designer. She
is best known for her works on
notable television programs and
movie projects including the first
season of the award-winning series
Empire, for which she was nominated
for an Emmy. McGhee is credited for
establishing the initial looks and the
character’s fashion foundation for
all cast members including Taraji P.
Henson’s Cookie. McGhee has also
costume designed for Spike Lee’s
Indy blockbuster Chi-Raq, as well
as Zoe Ever After, Let’s Stay Together,
Martin and many more.
"The New Edition project was very
memorable and exciting for me. We
love the music and the working with
wardrobes through the decades. It's
very much who we are."
-Alita Bailey, @FashionAlita
McGhee has worked with some of
Hollywood’s top directors including
Spike Lee, Lee Daniels and John
Singleton, and actors including Denzel
Washington, Lawrence Fishb urne
and Terence Howard.
Learning under some of the best in
the industry, McGhee credits costume
designer Ruth Carter as her mentor. She
first worked with Carter in the nineties
on Mo Better Blues, and has continued
to work together on Hollywood’s best
projects to date.
McGhee works as a team with her
sisters, costume designer Alita Bailey
and costumer Elaine McGhee. They
recently worked on BET’s New Edition
mini-series and Marvel’s Black Panther.
"Knowing my roots erases all doubt
and gives me unshakable confidence
in who I am. We're from a long line of
strong women, which is very Mende."
McGhee has been featured in Essence
Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Los Angeles
Times, VH1, New York Post, Yahoo,
Fashion Bomb Daily and Pacific Daily
News (Guam) among others. Born
in San Francisco, she was raised in
Guam, where she credits her flair
for fashion and passion for breaking
through in Hollywood. She is a
graduate of Howard University and
lives in Los Angeles.
- Elaine McGhee
Credits: Photography: Photography by Hamilton, Styling: Rita McGhee | Alita Bailey | Elaine McGhee, Designer: Yair Agu-San Bailey

ANIKA
OWNER AND CURATOR, NUBIAN HUEMAN
www.NubianHueman.com
HOBBS
CULTURAL GOODS,
ENTREPRENEURIALISM AND
GOODWILL COME TOGETHER!
AFRICAN COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
MASA PEOPLE OF CAMEROON
CAMEROON
“Knowing my roots has brought
me closer to what I’m selling,
talking about and teaching.”
- Anika Hobbs

Anika Hobbs is the owner and lead curator for Nubian
Hueman, a cultural goods retail store based in the
heart of Historic Anacostia in Washington, D.C. and at
NubianHueman.com. Nubian Hueman opened its doors
in 2013, delivering cultural goods and art of various
mediums. Hobbs aligns Nubian Hueman with a talented
team of select designers that bring ethnic influences to
modern silhouettes and products by using traditional
patterns and ingredients.
While not exclusively, Nubian Hueman seeks to support
brands and artists that provide growth opportunities
and/or a portion of its proceeds to not-for-profit
organizations, fair-trade and/or socio-developmental
causes. The space serves as a means to promote
collective interaction, community development, and
global responsibility through a fresh and artistic
platform.
Voted Washington D.C.’s Best Boutique by Washington City
Paper, Nubian Hueman has been a hot spot for Grammy
Award winning artists, celebrities and D.C.’s political
elite. Hobbs has been recognized by President Barack
Obama and Maria Contreras-Sweet of the Small Business
Administration and been featured in the Washington
Post and Essence Magazine's Black Businesses to Shop.
A sought-after speaker, Hobbs has appeared at Anacostia
Community Smithsonian Museum, Bowie State
University, various radio programs and podcasts as well
as panels. She also created The @BlackLoveExperience
-- one of D.C.’s most popular events for Black Creatives.
Leveraging an Environmental Design (interior) degree
from Syracuse University and a successful career as
a corporate executive for a global fashion retailer,
Hobbs has established a booming enterprise that blends
architecture, entrepreneurialism and fashion. Her
personal mission and work experience, along with her
global travels have helped fuel her commitment to
community, customers and design.
Credits:
Photography: Dreamlife Media Group
Goods/Fashions: NubianHueman.com
Designers: Olivia Taliaferro, @brwngirlwildhair | Onyii Brown, Onyiiandco.com | Yair Agu San Bailey, @TriiiUnityClothing

MODEL
Michael Kimani
MUSIC
AFRIQUE KANE, Will Calhoun (Darkology Music) Motema Records
STYLING
Alita Bailey, @FashionAlita
Anika Hobbs, @NubianHueman, NubianHueman.com
Elaine McGhee
Germaine Hill, @TheFashionFixr
Rita McGhee, @RitaMcGheeOfficial
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Shared Vision Marketing, @sharedvisionmkg, www.shared-vision.net
VIDEO AND PHOTOGRAPHY
Dreamlife Media Group
Nature Boy Productions
Photography by Hamilton
PRODUCERS
AfricanAncestry.com
Taylor Communications Group, @prTCG
Share Your African-inspired
style on social media by tagging
#RootsOfStyle.
© 2017 AfricanAncestry.com
| AfricanAncestry.com