From Russia and Ghana with love, and designer funk

DAKAR - Designer Beatrice "Bee" Arthur's creations are as eclectic and mixed as her Russian-Ghanaian heritage, and she is proving at the Dakar Fashion Week that African fabric and design can be "funky and fun".

The flamboyant 41-year-old has mixed linen with Malian mudcloth, African wax print with net and sequins into modern, cosmopolitan designs that can be worn on the streets of Accra, or in the world's fashion capitals.

"The fabrics are a complete mix of everything. I am a very open-minded, free person, I don't like to limit myself to anything. I pick motifs from everywhere," the designer says.