Lydia's Weekly Lifestyle blog is for today's African girl, so no subject is taboo. My purpose is to share things that may interest today's African girl.

This week's contributors: Lydia, Pépé Pépinière, Titi. This week's subjects: NYFW 2026: The major fashion weeks are there again, New York Is Serving, Accra Is Watching!, Fashion Weeks here back Home, Babies born to anaemic mothers have smaller brains, and Lebanon Mountain Restaurant

The major fashion weeks are there again. The world’s biggest? Upcoming Fall 2026 / Spring 2027. New York Fashion Week: September 10 – 15th, 2026 London Fashion Week: September 17 – 21st, 2026 Milan Fashion Week: September 22 – 28th, 2026 Paris Fashion Week: September 28 – October 6th, 2026

NYFW 2026: New York Is Serving, Accra Is Watching! New York Fashion Week is back, and honestly, our bank accounts were not consulted. From September 10 to 15th, designers are serving looks, celebrities are serving faces, and the street-style crowd is serving serious outfit anxiety. Over here in Accra, we’re watching everything like it’s our personal fashion group chat: “Hmm… nice, but can I wear this in Osu without melting?” Here are 10 NYFW moments and names currently making fashion girls pay attention: Diane von Furstenberg: Henry Zankov opened the week as the new Artistic Director—NYFW said, “We’re not easing into this thing!” Henry Zankov Tommy Hilfiger: Classic American cool is back. Meanwhile, the Accra girl is already thinking, “Okay, but can I wear this to the office?” Ralph Lauren: Timeless, polished and effortlessly expensive. Basically, “I’m going to the office, but please address me as Madam.” Coach: Cool bags, cool clothes, cool energy. Because sometimes the handbag is the outfit—and Accra girls understand a good bag. Michael Kors: Manhattan glamour is doing what it does best: polished, sophisticated and giving “meeting at 10, cocktails at 7.” Tory Burch: Feminine, effortless and chic. The kind of look that says “I woke up like this” after 45 minutes of getting dressed. Monse: Tailoring gets a little rebellious. Because apparently the blazer has decided it no longer wants to behave itself. Threeasfour: Fashion gets experimental and artsy—perfect for the girl who wants her outfit to start a conversation before she says hello. Street Style: New York’s sidewalks are basically one giant fashion show. Accra, meanwhile, is asking, “But can this survive our 32°C heat?” Thom Browne: Thom Browne closed NYFW on September 15. After five days of fashion drama, we can finally breathe—and start saving those screenshots for our next shopping trip.

Fashion Weeks here back Home. And here, back home? Major African fashion weeks scheduled for late 2026 include Glitz Africa Fashion Week from November 10–13th in Accra, and Accra Fashion Week: December 15–20th, 2026. Dakar 12-6th December, 2026, Africa Fashion Week Nigeria: December 2026 (Lagos). Sadly as I am writing this, there is no clear calendar for all African fashion weeks, we seem not to be able to put ourselves on the map, as they call it. Though we’ve fought successfully for a new world map where Africa is shown more or less at it‘s true size. The previous maps were drawn by those who “discovered us”. And we’re still trying to present them the bill. Anyway, this blog is about fashion and lifestyle, not about world politics, but maybe we should try to be more part of it so our wishes and desires are better heard. The majority of Ghanaians does not even know the names of the Presidents or Prime Ministers around us, it seems we are happy in our little corner.

Babies born to anaemic mothers have smaller brains. You feel your anemia is not very important because you are not feeling sick? What is anemia again? Insufficient red blood cells, mainly as a result of too little meat and too little green veggies. Red blood cells transport oxygen to where it is needed. Typical anemia symptoms are fatigue, shortness of breath and dizziness. And if you can't afford the meat and the greenies which contain the iron you need to build red blood cells? There's blood tonic for around 85 GHC for 40 doses, that's 2 Ghana Cedis a day. How much do you pay for a sachet of water? Anyway, anemic mothers produce children where brain areas linked to movement, learning and emotions are affected, leading to cognitive problems later on (how you react, how you learn), and this really starts to show at primary school. More than a third of pregnant women worldwide have anaemia with highest occurrence in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Researchers from King’s College London in the UK, and the University of Cape Town in South Africa, followed more than 300 mothers and their babies in Cape Town, scanning the brains of the infants several times between the ages of three months and two years. On average, the total brain volume of babies born to anaemic mothers was 4% lower than that of babies born to non-anaemic mothers – despite all the anaemic mothers being diagnosed with only a mild version of the anemic condition. Social factors such as household income and food security were very similar for all of them. The gap between the groups of babies widened over the first two years of life from 4% less brain volume at 12 months to 6% at 24 months. “These aren’t children who are catching up, where the brain differences are disappearing over time,” said the researcher. “The differences are still there when the children are six years old and going to school, and when these things then translate into more noticeable cognitive difficulties” (poor school results). Some suggest we should be screening for anemia and iron deficiency particularly during pregnancy, but remember it takes about 6 months of good food to reduce anemia.

Lebanon Mountain Restaurant, Blohum road, next to Fidelity Bank, Dzorwulu, Accra. We decided to go for a Saturday afternoon mezza (a selection of small Lebanese dishes meant to be shared followed by a main course). The place was a bit deserted at that time, the owner or manager was sitting outside with I guess his wife. The moment we got out of the car he got up and welcomed us, his wife got up as well. Did we want to sit outside or inside? Inside. He let us choose the table, then one of the staff brought the menu. At ordering, the man himself attended and made suggestions, half way the meal he came to check if all was alright, and again at the end of the meal. We can learn a bit from the Middle Eastern hospitality. We had hummus-GHC 100, tabbouleh-GHC 150, baba ghanoush-GHC 50, kebe-GHC 10 each but we skipped the assaulted rice (is it really impossible to have menus printed without silly spelling mistakes?) and took 500g of grilled meat, (beef and chicken), at 300 GHC. Fresh pineapple juice for GHC 50, mini Club for GHC 35. I recommend it.

And on the 20th of this month there is an unusual fashion show.

Lydia...

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