Billed as THE event of the year to celebrate talented and entrepreneurial women of all walks of life, the annual Divas of Colour Women’s Festival certainly lived up to the hype!
Crowds of women from diverse backgrounds and different careers and professions all came together on 18 March 2017 at Kia Oval to experience sisterhood and female excellence. The event showcased a busy exhibition/stalls area where guests could buy fashion items, hair products and much more from 20 women-owned businesses.
Other highlights were a fashion show featuring women’s wear brands from five skilled designers and a highly informative conference focusing on the serious issues of gynaecological cancers. In all, it was a perfect way to acknowledge Women’s History Month.
There was no shortage of entrepreneurs and celebrities were also in attendance, including World Remit’s (the event’s major sponsor) Chief Executive and Co-founder, Catherine Wines who delivered a speech encouraging women to take on entrepreneurship as a career. Lesley Owusu, British 400m champion and Channel 4’s Gogglebox star, Sandra Martin, who provided the humour, were also in attendance.
Speaking after the event, CEO and founder of Divas of Colour, Faustina Anyanwu, said:
“I’m still speechless at the huge amount of support that we received. I’m most grateful to all the women who came out to share their stories and celebrate with other women. Our amazing designers, exhibitors, models, and our team behind the scenes. Not forgetting members of the media; editors, photographers, bloggers. The message and vision of Divas of Colour is gradually and steadily beginning to make the impact that we expect and we are only starting.”
Melanmag.com, in our capacity as one of the media partners, attended the event and we were impressed by the skill of the designers in the fashion show, but was most struck by the underlying serious message of the conference that women need to pay more attention and care to their gynaecological health. This fact was confirmed as we discovered that the event was tinged with sadness as a result of the loss of Dr Nkem Ezeilo, one of their original partners and biggest sponsor who recently died of breast cancer.
A roll call of experts in the medical and healthcare fields, including Prof Rotimi Jaiyesimi, a gynaecology and obstetrics Professor and Dr Brighton Chireka, a GP partner and Clinical lead for child health and maternity services at Manor Clinic UK did their best to enlighten the crowd about preventative measures, ongoing care and the importance of seeking help early.
Looking forward to next year’s event!
Image credits: PicturePlus
