Lagos Fashion Week, while yet to be recognised on the same scale as its international counterparts, proved itself as a launchpad for emerging African designers who have their sights set on global growth.<\/p>\n
Maxhosa Africa, Emmy Kasbit, Andrea Iyamah, Iamisigo and Lagos Space Programme were standouts during the five-day event, which brought together an audience of press, buyers and local fashion advocates to the Nigerian city. Some African heavyweight designers were absent from the schedule, including Orange Culture and Christie Brown, who showed at Portugal Fashion Week in October.<\/p>\n
In its 12th year, Lagos Fashion Week continues to grow, creating a buzz in West Africa\u2019s biggest fashion capitals. The buzz is attracting international financial support. This year the Bestseller Foundation, a private fund, which has invested in businesses with positive social and environment impact, sponsored the event. \u201cThis is one of the best known fashion weeks on the continent,\u201d says Bestseller\u2019s deputy managing director Tine Fisker Henriksen, adding that Lagos Fashion week\u2019s drive to provide long lasting support for the designers is what drew the Denmark-based organisation to the fashion week. Last year, some 1,800 guests attended the two-day showcase saw, while this year, approximately 3,900 guests attended.<\/p>\n
\u201cLagos Fashion Week might be over, in terms of what\u2019s happening on the runway, but the work still continues behind the scenes,\u201d says founder Omoyemi Akerele. As the event grows the overall goal of the event remains as prevalent as ever, which is to continuously engage with the African fashion ecosystem and develop new initiatives to generate lasting impact on the continent as well as open up these designers to the international market, she says.<\/p>\n
The fashion week is not only about showcasing the designers\u2019 collections, Akerele says. Common barriers to the international market such as financing remain, and Akerele and her team are using fashion week as a vehicle to provide workshops with leading banks, stakeholders and private equity firms in Nigeria. \u201cWe assess the pressing needs of the industry at each growth stage and identify how we can support and close those gaps with the limited resources that we have.\u201d This, she argues, is something the team would not have been able to offer without collaboration and partnerships from the wider industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a need for a consistent platform like Lagos Fashion Week to not only consistently showcase the collections,\u201d she says, \u201cbut to be able to shift the conversation from fashion as entertainment to fashion as a business, and provide useful tools for commerce and creativity across the continent.\u201d<\/p>\n
A key theme this year was sustainability. The 10 Green Access designers, who are shaking up sustainable fashion in Africa, took to the stage during Saturday night\u2019s showcase, each presenting three pieces. Off the runway, The Swap Shop, a pop-up that has been working with Lagos Fashion Week for three seasons, promoted sustainable consumption by giving customers the chance to exchange a donated item for another one.<\/p>\n
Traditional versus contemporary
\nBoth traditional and contemporary fashion were seen on this season\u2019s runway in Lagos. From male abayas to cropped quilted bomber jackets, the schedule highlighted the nuances and variation of African fashion. Many of the designers brought a new flare to the runway such as British-Nigerian designer Abigail Ajobi, founder of her eponymous streetwear brand, who first showcased her Spring\/Summer 2023 collection during London Fashion Week in September; other designers are putting a modern spin on traditional textiles and silhouettes.<\/p>\n
Traditional patterns and textiles speak to the luxury African consumer, says Emmy Kasbit designer Emmanuel Okoro. However, it\u2019s the trendy silhouettes such as a tailored cropped blazer, or popular materials like wool or sequins, that help his brand break into international markets. \u201cWhat we are trying to do is tell our own stories through the fabrics we use even though the designs are a bit westernised,\u201d says Okoro, adding that 90 per cent of the fabric used in his SS23 collection is Akwete \u2014 a traditional Nigerian textile that originates from the Abia state.<\/p>\n
Image may contain Long Sleeve Clothing Sleeve Fashion Person Adult Coat Dress Sandal Footwear Shoe and Suit<\/p>\n
Okoro \u2014 who won Lagos Fashion Week\u2019s Fashion Focus fund in 2018, and whose pieces have been worn by the likes of popular Afrobeat musician Davido and Theresa May, former UK prime minister \u2014 showcased part of his collection in Portugal during Portugal Fashion Week in October. This season he was keen to produce a larger collection \u2014 30 pieces \u2014 which he explains was a significant jump from his previous collection of 18 garments. \u201cThe goal is to take this craft from a small town to the centre stage, which for us is the European market,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
A similar sentiment is shared by designer Ajobi, who is cementing streetwear\u2019s place on the Lagos Fashion Week schedule. Expressing both her British and Nigeria heritage through her garments is important, she explains, with pieces featuring her father’s handwriting in Yoruba, a language spoken by one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa, of the same name. \u201cI\u2019m using bits of my culture that are important to me,\u201d she tells Vogue Business backstage. \u201cI\u2019m using the Yoroba terms on the T-shirt, but still keeping it very true to myself and my London upbringing with the designs.\u201d This is her first time showing since London Fashion Week, where, like many other young designers, she was forced to postpone her presentation to 21 September due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II back in September. Ajobi\u2019s pieces are currently stocked in luxury department store Selfridges in London and Machine-A.<\/p>\n
For other designers, challenging the stereotypical attitudes toward African fashion is the impetus behind fresh and innovative collections. \u201cI\u2019m trying to remove the stigma of what African fashion is meant to be,\u201d says Taju Ibrahim, creative director of the menswear brand Tjwho, talking to Vogue Business backstage after the show. His goal is to become the most innovative menswear brand to emerge from Africa. \u201cI try to focus on silhouettes without prints and I try to work with blank canvases.\u201d He presented his first womenswear collection, using his background in architecture to create tailored, military-inspired pieces, which he says is inspired by different African countries.<\/p>\n
Elie Kaume, whose heritage spans the Middle East and African continent (Lebanese, Belgium and Ivorian), says his customers want traditional garments and silhouettes. Kaume, who spent five months building this collection, worked closely with his clients, who informed the research and development process decisions and helped determine new materials for the collection, he explains. There was no business or personal drive to lean into trendy garments. Instead, Kaume says he is bringing African fashion into the couture space, which is uncharted territory for many emerging designers on the continent.<\/p>\n
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\u201cMy style is very modern, it\u2019s very futuristic,\u201d says South African designer and founder of Imprint Mzukisi Mbane, whose pieces featured brightly coloured prints. He argues that despite the contemporary silhouettes, \u201cyou can immediately see that this is African and inspired by Africa.\u201d He adds: \u201cAs much as we want to be a part of the trends and create our own aesthetic, you also want people to be part of that and that\u2019s where aligning with trends helps us.\u201d Mbane also showcased his collection in Milan in September.<\/p>\n
For Jzo founders Olamide Akindeinde and Joseph Ike, the focus was on creating a regal and celestial collection that told the story of Africa. \u201cWe are an Africa-centric brand and that is where our inspiration always begins,\u201d says Akindeinde. \u201cWe have to take traditional ideas, traditional themes and try to modernise them as much as possible.\u201d Designer Paolo Sisiano also echoes this. \u201cAs a designer of African origin, I am trying to stay as global as possible\u201d says Sisiano, who adds that he is attempting to do this by experimenting with colourful prints and a mixture of tailored and loose designs.<\/p>\n
Supporting designers pre- and post-fashion week
\nSecuring orders before the end of the buying season is a common pain point for many young and emerging designers, particularly those who are only showcasing in Lagos, says The Folklore founder Amira Rasool, who held a buyer preview 11-14 October, ahead of the fashion week. \u201cWe recognise that Lagos Fashion Week comes later in the buying season,\u201d says Rasool. \u201cSo we want to be able to do it earlier before retailers run out of budget and could no longer bring people on for SS23.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Since expanding beyond its multi-brand website, The Folklore, now part of The Folklore Group, is connecting designers with national and international buyers. Brands such as Orange Culture, womenswear brand Onalaja and gender-neutral brand Cute Saint were among brands chosen to virtually present their then upcoming collection to buyers. Rasool says the team were given a deck with information on how to present their collections; guidance on what type of questions to ask buyers; and helped them build line-sheets. Upon reflection, she notes that the preview should have taken place earlier, ideally straight after Paris.<\/p>\n
Rasool says this is the direction wholesale buying will gear towards in the near future. \u201cNot everyone is going to be able to make it to Nigeria or South Africa,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd that’s why the Folklore Connect exists, so that we can try to make it as efficient as possible, and still give [buyers] as much of that in real life experience as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although New-York based retailer Moda Operandi was not physically present at Lagos Fashion Week, the company says it will continue to support designers this season \u2014 albeit through a tailored trunk show. Moda Operandi first launched its Lagos Fashion Week trunk show in 2020 during the pandemic. \u201cFollowing our trunk show last year featuring Lisa Folawiyo, Banke Kuku, Studio 189, Onalaja and Abiola Olusola, we were able to write an order for an in-season curation of Lisa Folawiyo,\u201d says Moda Operandi\u2019s contemporary buyer, Kelsey Lyle, and adds that sales for its 2021 Lagos Fashion Week trunk show were up 100 per cent compared to the first Lagos Fashion Week trunk show the year prior. She says the retailer plans to host another curated trunk show for brands including Tia Adeola, Abiola Olusola, Odio Mimonet, Banke Kuku and Imad Eduso, plus a standalone show for Lisa Folawiyo.<\/p>\n
Beyond securing buyers and stockists, finance support is needed to support the influx of demand for young designers. The Bestseller Foundation is providing the financial support to help improve the infrastructure for designers as well as the overall fashion week. \u201cWe are working quite significantly to see how we use our competences with Bestseller corporate to support the value chain to make sure that Africa and Nigeria doesn\u2019t just become cotton producing but also about high fashion,\u201d says Bestseller Foundations\u2019s Tine Fisker Henriksen ahead of the day two shows<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Vogue Business went backstage at Lagos Fashion Week to hear from African designers about what styles work and how they plan to play on both local and international levels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":21435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,36],"tags":[7,37,38],"class_list":{"0":"post-21438","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fashion","8":"category-lifestyle","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-fashion","11":"tag-lifestyle"},"yoast_head":"\n