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mumesone · 3 years

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A night with Chivas was, for sure, a memorable night from start to finish. Held on a fairly warm, Thursday evening at Latitude 15. Thankfully this made it easier to pull together a comfortable yet stylish look, as the invite had stipulated that the dress code would be trendy chic. As the invite had promised, it was a very eventful night. From the whiskey tasting, to a lovely dinner, all capped off with an exclusive look at a capsule collection collaborative by one of Zambia’s most prolific fashion designers, Chiza Ngulube of Esnoko.

The event was scheduled to start around five thirty in the evening, and I arrived slightly after, due to a considerable amount of outfit changes. The fact that I was not too sure I could trust the Lusaka weather for that day did not help, but I managed to get myself there in good time. Upon arrival I was greeted by two lovely hostesses and a photographer who was capturing the guests as they arrived. I quickly posed for my picture and walked down the red carpet to the official entry point into the event.

I confirmed my credentials, and thereafter I was ushered into the event, before being handed an interesting welcome drink that happened to be a champagne and Chivas whiskey cocktail, from what I could tell. Needless to say, it was pretty good, and helped with calming my nerves. The initial vibe as I was shown around where everything would be held was very chill but vibrant. The décor was centred around highlighting the Chivas brand colours, as well as incorporating African print designs which truly brought to life the Afro Blend aesthetic.

After a bit of light hearted banter with a few familiar faces, it was time for the dinner to start, and we were asked to move to the dining area. Once everyone was seated, we had opening remarks from the songstress Wezi, one of the local brand ambassadors for Chivas, alongside Macky 2 and Peter Mwansa, who were also present that evening.

While we waited on our starters, we got introduced to Mini the South African Brand ambassador, who gave us the story of how the scotch whisky we were celebrating came to be. She was going to guide us through the night and educate us on how to smell, as well as pair our drinks with our meals. Fun fact; to better identify the notes in your whisky, it was better to place it under your chin, one of the more interesting things I took away from that evening.

I was lucky enough to catch up with Mini for a short interview, and she spoke about how she had enjoyed her stay in Lusaka and that we as a people were very warm and welcoming. We also somehow spoke about Kanye West, who happens to be her favourite artist. Back on topic about Chivas, her recommended personal favourite (which was a tough choice for a would-be Chivas drinker) had to be the twenty-five.

As the festivities progressed, the cocktails were flowing, conversations were peak, and just like that we had gone through our main courses. Soon after, it was time for what would be a fitting closing event of the night, which was the highly anticipated fashion showcase by Chiza of Esnoko.

We were introduced to the collection with a speech and short video from the designer, elaborating on his brand and the journey to create what we were about to see. The collaboration between Chivas and Esnoko was one that would deliver a very luxe, athleisure capsule collection. I caught up with Chiza, and asked him a couple of questions to better understand his collection and creative process. It shockingly took them two months to create, and the end result was a collection that was impressive and perfectly represented both brands. The collection was assembled in Zambia, and included bomber jackets, track bottoms, bucket hats, poor boy caps (which I might mention are a must have and a fashion staple for the designer), and a variety of other athleisure pieces. The collection showcase allowed the guests to get a closer look at the garments, and everyone was thoroughly impressed.

The evening ended on a high note, with everyone taking in the collection and discussing what pieces they wanted to own from the limited edition while enjoying dessert (which I unfortunately missed. 🙁) Regardless, it was still an amazing night. All the guests were gifted a goodie bag that contained some of the merch we had just seen from the collection, a very pleasant reminder of the evening that was two brands coming together to give us a truly, Afro Blend night.

#ChivasAfroBlend #Chivas #Lusaka #Zambia #Fashion #Esnoko

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