Muguette
Goufrani: Portrait of a Globetrotter
Award
in Africa: Born
in Casablanca, Morocco, Muguette
is
Africa Travel Magazine's Associate Editor and a
member of Vancouver Canada's Francophone
Community. She prompted the decision to make our
two travel magazines bilingual, extending their
worldwide reach and influence Aside from our own
publications and web sites, Muguette has been
featured on African television, radio and print
media, both English and French. Her first
assignment was the 1996 ATA Ecotourism Symposium
in Marrakech, Morocco. This was followed by a
National Geographic - American Airlines
sponsored project in Haiti, plus ATA Congresses
in Benin, Tanzania, Ghana, Ethiopia, Zanzibar,
Guinea, Zambia, Morocco, South Africa, Cameroon,
Kenya, Nigeria, Djibouti and Egypt (several
locations more than once).. Travel Agents
wishing to join her are invited to e-mail
airhwy@smartt.com
Muguette's
background as an airline agent, tour guide and
travel agent has been the key to her media
success, resulting in an ATA Travel Industry
Founders Award in Cape Town, South Africa. As a
"career globetrotter," Muguette's articles for
Africa Travel Magazine have an authentic,
multicultural flavor, thanks to painstaking
research and the confidence of having lived the
experience (walked the walk).
Her
career positions have included Royal Air Maroc,
Cica Citroen Automobiles, UTA
Airlines,
Air Afrique, Matson Lines, Palm Springs Resorts,
Club Med, Tahiti Tours, Messageries Maritimes
(Shipping) and Noumea Tours. Upon graduating
from College du Paris, she launched her career
in Casablanca, Morocco, where the Goufrani
family has operated a tour company for
generations.
Quick
Now? Why is Africa Magazine always at the top of
the list when readers do a search for Africa
Fashion or Africa Travel Fashion on North
America's leading search engines? Much has to do
with the magazine's Associate Editor, Muguette
Goufrani, her determination, imagination,
perseverance and sparkling personality. Thanks
to her effort,
we're
#1
for Africa Fashions
on
Google, MSN and Yahoo.
Click
on above page for larger
image;
African
Fashions and Designers Win World Acclaim
By
Muguette Goufrani
Did
you know our website is #1 on Google and Yahoo
for
Africa Travel
Fashion?
That's
why we are devoting a special World
Edition
of Africa Travel Magazine to this timely topic.
Africans are painting the world in a
kaleidoscope of bold, vibrant color combinations
and dazzling patterns. The rich fabrics and
virtually unlimited selection of turbans and
other festive headgear, bright scarves, colorful
wraps, wearable art and elegant gowns that
brightened our days and lit up our evenings in
Morocco, Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Cameroon,
Cote d'Ivoire Uganda, Benin, Ghana, Zambia,
South Africa, Tanzania, Guinea and other African
destinations, were simply outstanding. What's
more, so were the creators. During the past
decade as publishers, we've had the privilege of
meeting several of the brightest stars in
Africa's fashion galaxy, and thanks to the magic
of serendipity, more will surely appear in the
near future. As I've learned, in many African
societies, the choice of colors and textiles has
special significance to the wearer. For example,
hats often tell stories of everyday life, with
its struggles, spiced by uplifting periods of
joie de vivre.
While
I have lived and worked in various North and
West African countries as an airline and travel
agent, my media involvement has brought the
importance of African fashion into sharp focus.
How did this love affair start? Perhaps it was
at the first Africa Travel Association Fashion
Show, organized by Chief Margaret Fabiyi of
Lagos, Nigeria. The 'Chief' has supplied many of
my favorite wardrobe items ever since. Here are
some brief comments about her and others in this
fascinating field.
We're
#1 for Africa Fashions on Google and
Webtrends
Dubai:
World's Leading Air Hostess Training
Institute
Nigeria's
Chief of
Fashion:
At
Mrs. Fabiyi's fashion affair in Arusha,
Tanzania, we decided on the spot that fashion
would play a leading role in our magazine. The
exciting thing about this particular show, was
the fact that our own delegates from the USA and
Africa participated as models. That simple but
effective format set the pattern for future ATA
fashion shows at congresses and symposia in
Ethiopia, South Africa, Cameroon, Guinea,
Morocco, Zambia and Zanzibar
We
met Chief Margaret Fabiyi at a conference in
Cotonou, Benin, West Africa in 1997. One year
later, in Arusha, Tanzania, we were treated to
the first of a series of fashion shows this
talented lady has organized for Africa Travel
Association conferences. While enjoying luncheon
at Arusha's Impala Hotel, it was suddenly
announced that a fashion show was about to take
place. To everyone's surprise, the models turned
out to be our own delegates - and the variety of
fashions for men and women, large and petit,
young and not so young - was superb. Chief
Margaret has staged encore presentations at ATA
venues in Ethiopia and Cape Town, South Africa
She resides in Lagos, and her company, Webisco,
combines fashions and textiles with cultural
tours, including her annual Black History Month
series.
More
Fashions
from the Spice Island: Zanzibar is an exotic
East African paradise of balmy beaches, fragrant
spices, Swahili lifestyle and rich cultural
treasures. It was here during the ATA's Seventh
Cultural and Ecotourism Symposium, hosted by
Zanzibar Tourism, that Editor Jerry Bird and I
had the good fortune to meet and get to know
Farouque Abdela. Each of the many fashion items
on display at the Zanzibar Beach Resort Hotel
that day was an individual work of art, featured
side by side with his partner's latest creations
on canvas. An international fashion designer,
Abdela has worked with Iman, Donna Karan,
Christian Lacroix and other names in the world
of fashion.
Alphadi
brings African Fashion to Europe: While
returning to Paris after an exciting month of
business, conferences and touring in Cameroon,
we spent some quality time with Seidnaly
Alphadi, whose African- inspired creations have
taken Europe by storm. It seemed like half of
the Cameroon Airlines plane was filled with
models from a Fashion Show our friend had just
staged in that Central African country. We
continued our fascinating interview at the
Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. Born in
Niger, Alphadi's credentials include: Founder -
Festival International de la Mode Africaine and
President - Federation of African Creators. His
global recognition includes the Chevalier de
l'Ordre de Mérite de la France, Kora
Fashion Award - South Africa, and Meilleur
Styliste Africain - Fédération
Française de la Couture et du Prêt
à Porter.
Vanessa
Ngango of Uganda, (right) a close friend is
wearing a Kinyadwanda attire. Vanessa has
launched an important cause for environmental
cleanup and mobilized the ladies of her native
country. It is Genesis Initiative. Also worth
visiting is Afromix,
the Portal of African and Caribbean Cultures.
News, music, arts and culture, society, travel,
events.http://www.afromix.org/
