Newstyle Issue 11

GIYA YAKOVA

PASSIONATE DESIGNER OF THE YEAR 2017 KUNAL SUMBHOO

IT’ MY STYLE ERICA JOBE

THE GREAT ADVENTURES OF THE GLOBAL DJETTE

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@newstylemauritius | www.newstyle.mu

GOLD MODEL’S BY

LAURA MOONEESAMY KURLINE JEAN PIERRE

ART OF THE LIPS FALLING LOVE

BY SIX PACK BODY ISSUE 11 J A N UA RY 2 0 1 8

GUNG HO

airmauritius.com

Nu fiertĂŠ

CONTENTS

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PASSIONATE DESIGNER OF THE YEAR 2017 IT’ MY STYLE THE GREAT ADVENTURES OF THE GLOBAL DJETTE FALLING LOVE BY SIX PACK BODY ART OF THE LIPS TOWEL GOLD MODEL’S BY LAURA MOONEESAMY

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ISSUE 11

Director / Photographer Saachin Sagar Editor Javed Sobah Made possible with the inspired work and deeply creative talent of our make-up artists, fashion & hair stylists and models.

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iya Yakova

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Passionate Designer of the Year 2017 She has been elected Designer of the Year 2017 of the Backstage Awards. Giya is a passionate, loving, free spirited, fun & young at heart woman from Bulgaria. Here is her story. “Perfect or nothing is my motto”.

Javed Sobah Having founded Giya Yakova GIYA Fashion in 2014, she pursues her art through her brand.

Giya sort out to make beautiful pieces that flatter women of all shapes and sizes and promote beauty in comfort and freedom. Currently based in Mauritius, Giya has used the vibrant colours and natural tones of the island to inspire her stunning collection.

But Giya, from Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, is not only a fashion designer. She has tried many things in life.

Psychology, Art, Journalism, Photojournalism She grew up there, majored in Art then Photography. She has a degree in Psychology from the University of Sofia. Her Master’s degree is in Journalism. She was a photo reporter during her university years. She worked as an Events Manager for a few years. And then became a junior news reporter on Bulgarian National TV. Giya as a model, when, where…

Giya her beauty interested Cameramen Wither her signature razor sharp cheek bones, her big green eyes and her unique facial features, photographers and cameramen recommended to Giya to start spending time in front of the camera rather than behind the microphone as a junior news reporter. Giya started to become a model for a few TV commercials in Bulgaria.

Subsequently, she also started to get a few roles in sitcoms and more features in advertising campaigns in magazines. As she wanted to improve her English, she moved to London for a few years.

She also participated to the Cannes Film Festival as a PR Executive at the Palais des Festivals.

This is during her time in the Riviera that she

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met Sebastien, her future husband, in Monaco, and that she accepted to move to Mauritius, when he was appointed to renovate and re-open the Shangri-La’s Le Touessrok.

The Designer her Passion, realization and inspiration Since she moved to Mauritius, Giya has surrounded herself with Mauritian culture, colours and flavours, multiplied Mauritian friendships and discussed with many local opinion leaders. That immersion in the local psyche and DNA has allowed her to get a fresh take on her environment and inspire her collections. She managed to freelance a few models, and has developed three collections, a ‘Day Collection’ and an ‘Evening Collection’, her third collection, an Haute Couture collection, has just been completed baptised G-couture.

Future plans Giya plans to open a boutique as a consultant in Grand Baie. More exciting details to follow.

Some of her models will be featured. There will be two ranges. A beachwear collection, day and night. These ranges will also be featured in some of the island’s most celebrated 5 stars resorts boutiques. They will be featuring a range of togas, caftans and other beach friendly designs, bags and hats. She will also have a specific range of clothing ‘couture’ on appointment only, and customized for each Mauritian client.

Featuring complex stonework, embroideries and unique fabrics, these models will be one of a kind and will allow a uniquely tailored experience, with Giya seeking to understand each woman’s story prior to designing their unique dress. And for year end, she plans to work on a line of swimming suits, so we can close the circle for beachwear.

Bright 2018 After a busy 2016, Giva was featured in 5 magazines and has glossed 3 covers in 2017. With Giya’s award earlier this month as ‘Designer of the year’ at the Backstage organized competition, the future is bright for 2018 and she continues to make waves on catwalks locally and internationally.

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Giya Fashion Make-Up Hans Dax Model Giya yakova and Youne kidzy Liinnet Designer GIYA fashion Stylist Giya yakova Location Shangri-la’s Le Touessrok Resort & Spa Mauritius

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Kunal Sumbhoo

It’s my style Model & Styling Kunal Sumbhoo, Photographer Sachin Sagar

The multifaceted artist He is on almost all fronts where art matters. Kunal Sumbhoo is a Fashion Designer where he is his own Model, Graphic Designer, Interior Designer, a Painter and a former actor very well-known for his interpretation of late Sanedhip Bhimjee, the famous Kathak Dancer and Choreographer in Mauritius, in a musical show, A Tribute to Sanedhip Bhimjee. He lives in a beautiful world of art, beauty and extravagance also. As he says, “The world of art, fashion and design is humongous and I intend to explore it to the fullest and take alongside with me as many people as possible in this journey”. Let’s enter his universe.

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Adopting his flamboyant style and daring to stand out Decades ago, Fashion in Mauritius barely existed and Art and Design in all their glory were underrated. Kunal Sumbhoo took the challenge to become a reference and set off to become one. Being known for his unique style, he is someone who takes the ordinary and gives it an unusual perspective. What makes him special is his ability to stand out by his own design and trend. His desire to get the viewer’ s thought process to extend beyond the natural order of things and to accept what is ‘weird’ as extravagantly simple is unassailable. Indeed his dressing sense screams to standout.

This artist has the specialty of always developing his own style and distinct himself among the masses. “Nowadays the world of Fashion is undeniably being given its due respect and to be able to be strikingly distinct is everyone’s wish but hard to conceive” he attests.

The versatile Kunal Sumbhoo is a Mauritian graphic artist/designer residing at Quatre Bornes. Being an ex-student of Saint Esprit College, he completed his graphic design course in Mauritius and later pursued his degree in Computer Applications in Bangalore, India, where he also embraced his passion- modelling and fashion. “There i entered the world of glamour and did various fashion shows including a show with the famous Bollywood actress, Deepika Padukone. After returning to Mauritius he completed his Masters in Educational Technologies. I

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was also relentless in my passion for Art and Fashion” he relates. He continued to explore his talent and did myriads of fashion shows and art expositions. “ I implemented my art to my own lifestyle, from my paintings to my home décor and undoubtedly to my dressing sense” attests Kunal. He thrives by making himself a place in the world of art by adopting his own talent of always adding a personal touch to all of his work, never hesitating to explore the outrageous.

Plans and Ambitions It is difficult to draw the line between overly extravagant and fashionable and this is precisely what his style is about.

As a multi-talented being and a versatile designer, he believes that “fashion needs to be an integral part of any individual’s life and to go a step further to personalize any style is my forte”. He plans to further explore the world of fashion and art and to encourage everyone to adopt their own style and to expand their own talents to be able to stand out. He wants all the hidden talents out there to be come forward and to create a world of beauty. “I also look forward to do so by conducting some shows of my own in the future by combining my work of art, design and fashion together” reveals the Artist.

Expressing his art through his shows to bring awareness to people will be his next quest. He believes that “the world of fashion in this twenty first century needs to be exploited and given its rightful place in the society” he concludes.

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Erica Jobe

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Make-Up Hans Dax Location long beach RESORT MAURITIUS

The great adventures of the global Djette

She was here to rock the New Year’s Eve at The Long Beach Hotel. Feel the Energy is the Big Show for which the New York City Djette Erica Jobe, formerly known as Erica Rhone, came for. She grew up in a tiny town of Greensboro in North Carolina (USA) riding horses, playing in the woods she would never have expected all of this. Through her job, she has travelled all continents and around the globe, even in Mauritius as resident Djette. She is celebrating this year her decade as an accomplished Djette. And in ten years she did visit and worked in at least 20 countries up till now.

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Dj

Jobe

on the Beach

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Where Erica leaves her traces Two contracts in Mauritius at Lakaz and Long Beach Mauritius where she rocked the Feel The Energy night, 35 contracts in USA, two in the Middle East, three in Thailand, two in Australia, one in Singapore, one in India, 10 in Bali, two in Montreal, two in Panama, two in China, one in Paris, two in Spain, one in Greece. Loads of Private Parties Jamaica, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Bangladesh, St Barth and Maldives. Here is the exhausting list of her travels and contracts of Resident Djette.

Erica Jobe, is one we can define as one who lives life to the fullest. “I live in New York City, but spend half the year having DJ residencies in other countries. Mykonos this past summer and here in Mauritius until January 2nd. It’s a great way to see the world. It is a bit different than just visiting. I get a good taste of the local culture wherever I stay” she say. She also lived in the Maldives for four months as the resident DJ at The W hotel there and lived and worked in Bali a couple months.

Debuts and evolution She has been the resident Djette at Long Beach Mauritius. She lived and worked at the resort for a two month contract which ended on on January 1st. “But Burning Man holds a near and dear spot in this tough cookie’s heart. DJing at Robot Heart and Bubbles & Bass, my face lights up. My feet didn’t touch the ground for the whole gig! This is probably the highlight of my career thus far. Music is my life, and it pulsates through every cell of my body” she says, and till the very start, Erica spent her early childhood years mixing her mom’s R&B & hiphop tapes for friends. Inspired by the ability to move people through sound and vibration, Erica is firmly rooted in the belief that music is a worldly language we all ‘speak’ without moving our lips.

The very first adventure or test was in 2007 where she played at the well-known Cielo in New York. The ‘girl DJ’ was not yet trend in this male-dominated industry, but, as she attests “We have a way of nurturing the crowd. The female DJ spreads her

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feminine energy throughout the space in the way she moves and feels out the room. It’s so inspiring!”

“We are all artists and that’s the beauty of music, there are no boundaries to creativity and it’s incredible to see all the new talents coming though the scene” she says. Since she is been playing as an accomplished Djette, that is in 2008, she has got the chance to play alongside with all her mentors. And over the years among all the Djs and Producers she had “my favourite DJs and Producers at the moment are Solomon and Dixion” she says.

Multiple passions, spiritual and crazy dreams She is but a passionate and a real dreamer. When she’s not busy dreaming about being a unicorn, you can usually find Erica pumping iron at the gym, cycling in a sweat-drenched spin class, or catching her breath with yoga, usually all within the same day. “Scuba diving, travel, cycling, laughing, eating clean foods, plant medicine like Ayahuasca and enjoying Cinema with popcorn” she reveals.

In Mauritius she enjoyed doing some exploring, scuba diving, hiking Le Morne Mountain and eating local food…

She not less spiritual. She meditates long hours, do yoga and even did a retreat where she also lived in Kerala, India for a month in an Ashram. “Got my 200 hour teacher training certification, had only two vegan meals a day eating with my right hand on the floor, sitting Lotus position in silence. Was awesome!!” she reveals.

Besides, Erica is fascinated by the Space. She even has the universe motive tattooed on her back. Her obsession is rather cute when she says “I want to DJ on the moon one day haha!”

Erica lets life surprise her. She does not give us news about her future plans for 2018 and leaves us saying “I’m excited to see what 2018 has in store for me!”

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DORETHANE Falling love With Six Pack Abs Photography Sachin Sagar Model DORETHANE Emile Agathina

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Art Of The Lips

by Kurline Jean Pierre Model Kurline Jean Pierre Photography Sachin Sagar

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Towel Series IN SPIRES SAACHIN SAGAR

Make-Up Hans Dax Model Giya yakova and Youne kidzy Liinnet Designer GIYA fashion Location Shangri-la’s Le Touessrok Resort & Spa Mauritius

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Laura Mooneesamy

Director of Gold Models

The Midas Touch!

M a k e -Up L au ra b y I Glo w Be aut y L o unge an d Ac ade my

Gold Models Agency is one of the most renowned modelling agency in Mauritius. For the last eight years, Laura Mooneesamy has been the kingpin around which Gold Models revolves.

Whoever she touches, becomes a Gold Model! “There is no secret ingredient behind the success of Gold Models. The agency has been fueled with my hardwork, my motivation, my guts and my careful attention to client’s needs. It all started eight years ago with an open casting call! One casting led to another and so one. That’s how I picked the models” explains Laura.

It has been two years now since Gold Models is associated to Ice Model Management. By so doing, Laura organises shootings for the models of this South african agency in Mauritius and vice-versa. Laura reminds us that Gold Models has a portfolio of models from 0 to 80 years old for adverts, hostesses for corporate events and ambassadors to promote products.

The director can rely on four employees working with the agency on a full time basis for its different partners, production companies, advertising agency and so on.

laura Laura remembers flying to Belgium after high school, to study accounting. She stayed there for two years but did not complete her studies. She came back. “I always wanted to progress rapidly even if it means leaving behind my comfort zone and not sticking to whatever was granted to me. I am constantly fishing for new challenges. I am now thinking about expanding the agency and to lengthen our list of services. Maybe Gold Models can try making a name on a international level” says the director.

Besides Gold Models, Laura is a doting mother. Her son is just 14 months old and he is the apple of her eyes. “I do my best to find the right balance between profession and motherhood.

Family holds a special place in my life. That said, I am never bored. I am always keeping myself busy even if I am not working” she says. Laura also likes to travel. She has visited many countries in Europe and has been to the United States. She is looking forward to travel to new places with her son. “I am eager to make new discoveries with him” she concludes.

M ak e -Up f or all m od els Hans Te lvav e

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