Dress by Ana Sekularac. Image by St Martins Lane Hotel.
Marian with guest of honour Tolula Adeyemi. Both dresses by Ana Sekularac. Image courtesy of St Martins Lane Hotel.
Marian with Hannah Almassi. Image courtesy of St Martins Lane Hotel.
Marian with Helen Jennings. Image courtesy of St Martins Lane Hotel.
Marian with Nat Weller and Tolula Adeyemi. Image courtesy of St Martin Lanes Hotel.
Tolula Adeyemi. Image courtesy of St Martins Lane Hotel.
In 2011 I celebrated the 2nd anniversary of my blog. Then I had blog called Mariankihogo.com (Kihogo as seen in title was my marital name, now I’m back to my maiden of Kwei following a divorce).
I have had many incredible moments but not many nights as memorable as this dinner.
The venue and collaborator was the wonderful 5 star St Martins Lane Hotel ( @stmartinslanesocial on Instagram) and their delightful Asia De Cuba restaurant and Light Bar. The Hotel and restaurant (were amazing to work with and we only had a month to plan) threw the dinner and pre cocktails (a wonderful custom drinks menu was made for the occasion) in my honour. This was pure joy given that this was one of my favourite hotels in the world. Asia De Cuba was one of my favourite restaurants too. I approached this hotel because of this. It is a combination of their impeccable service, the design of the space and their drinks and fold menu.
The guest of honour was actress, model, and DJ Tolula Adeyemi. My love for her is worthy of a seperate post. The muse to Vivienne Westwood is not only a friend but a joy to have collaborated with for both the red carpet and editorial fashion. She’s like a muse that inspires me to no end.
The dresses Tolula and I were honoured to wear were by none other than one of my top ten high fashion designers, Ana Sekularac. I was honoured that the lovely Ana dressed both Tolula and myself for the night (the dreamy white dress on Tolula and my scarlet red dress as seen in image two). Ana whose work shows a mastery beyond her years is just one of those wonderful people who is before her time. Her work calls to mind sculpture and architecture and much more. Her ability to tread the line between soft and hard, femininity and the other is always beautifully rendered.
The guests were extremely talented and accomplished friends from the worlds of fashion design, media, art, pr, culture etc. I was honoured to have lovely people like Hannah Almassi, Helen Jennings and Susie from Christian Louboutin, the artist Hormazd Narielwalla who presented me with a one off art piece at the event, Nat Weller who was Tolula’s date for the night, the darling Alistair Guy, celebrity stylist Nasrin Baptiste (such a talent!) etc.
The goody bag was sponsored with products across fashion, beauty etc by the likes of Mulberry. The utterly indulgent bag was proof of how supportive brands can be. I’m grateful that every brand I contacted said yes.
The press coverage was by a host of media including Glamour UK, Grazia, society pages, newspapers etc.
This is a night I will never forget and the collaboration with St Martins Lane hotel was the easiest I have ever have. They are world class. Pure class. I couldn’t have had a better venue or menu. It was an honour that this five star hotel and restaurant agreed to not only host me and my guests but to throw this event of pre dinner cocktails and an indulgent three course meal for free.
They are my favourite hotel, Asia De Cuba is my favourite restaurant and their Light Bar where the night began with custom cocktails was one of my favourite spaces.
See images from this event including the invite on the St Martins Lane Facebook page here.
Visit St Martins Lane online here and follow them on Instagram at @stmartinslanesocial
I am forever in debt to them.
I cannot wait for 21st May when they reopen.