The Lagos Fashion Week 2022 held from October 26 to October 30 at the Federal Palace Hotel, Lagos, Nigeria. As usual, it was a grand event attended by fashion icons in Nigeria and Africa.
It’s no longer news that Lagos State is the centre of commerce in Nigeria. Indeed, the state is the home of various industries, from multinationals to SMEs. The best of Nigerian fashion and entertainment comes from Lagos, and the recently concluded Lagos Fashion Week has proven that beyond every reasonable doubt.
However, a lot of people don’t know what Lagos Fashion Week is all about except for the obvious – it’s a fashion event. If you’re a fashion enthusiast, you should pay serious attention as this article unveils important things you need to know.
What is Lagos Fashion Week?
According to Google Arts and Culture, the Lagos Fashion Week, also known as LagosFW, is an annual multi-day fashion week held in Lagos, Nigeria. The event creates a platform for African designers to showcase their collections to buyers, media and fashion enthusiasts through the platform’s activities.
Two platforms run concurrently during the fashion week – Fashion Business Series, Fashion Focus Africa, Fashion Focus Funds and Lagos Fashion Week Presents. Fashion Focus Africa gives industry master classes, while Fashion Focus Funds provides cushioning support for emerging talents in Africa. Fashion Business Series advocates for support for the industry from the private and public sectors. The Lagos Fashion Week has cemented itself as the leading event that drives Nigerian and African fashion.
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History of Lagos Fashion Week
Lagos Fashion Week was founded in 2011 by Omoyemi Akerele, the CEO of Style House Files and special advisor to the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC). The fashion week aims to attract buyers, investors, fashion enthusiasts, and the media to African designers and their collections. Also, note that Style House Files exclusively produces the Lagos Fashion Week.
The inaugural event in 2011 was held in Lagos and presented more than 40 designers, including Lisa Folawiyo, Nkwo, Maki Oh and Bridget Awosika. Also, the Fashion Focus Fund (formerly Young Designer of The Year) was established as an annual competition to develop emerging talents in the industry. Heineken Nigeria has been the official sponsor of the Lagos Fashion Week since 2015.
In 2017, Akerele was on the advisory committee for the exhibition Items: Is Fashion Modern? at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). The exhibition featured African designers, and Akerele also spoke about the global impact of African fashion at the accompanying MoMA Live conference.
In 2019, the event attracted more than 30 designers worldwide. However, the event took a slight shift in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Woven Threads initiative focused on driving the industry towards a circular fashion economy in Africa. Orsola De Castro, Bandana Tewari, Dana Thomas, Jumoke Oduwole, Nike Ogunlesi, Sarah Diouf and Yegwa Ukpo held expert sessions which addressed how the continent can embrace traditional textiles, waste management, and the role technology plays in a new creative and sustainable fashion industry. There was also a physical showroom
In addition, Heineken sponsored a Design Challenge which allowed designers to engage with the creative community from home, celebrating innovative and sustainable design in Africa. In 2021, Akerele received a five hundred million Naira grant to support thirty Nigerian brands in the fashion industry. This was after she was named Zero Oil Ambassador for Nigeria by the CEO of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council & President of ECOWAS TPO Network, Olusegun Awolowo.
In 2022, the recently concluded Lagos Fashion Week was featured in the Victoria & Albert Museum’s exhibition Africa Fashion. Several African designers, photographers and creatives were exhibited. Also, Akerele gave the keynote address at the private view and was an advisor to the curatorial team. Besides Heineken, other sponsors are Bestseller Foundation, TECNO, Lush Hair, Sunlight Nigeria, Austrian Lace, MAC and Lagos State.
Meanwhile, the event has featured more than 60 designers, and over 12,000 people visit each session.
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Importance of Lagos Fashion Week
- Lagos Fashion Week gives the Nigerian and African fashion industry international recognition by bringing together media, buyers, manufacturers and consumers.
- The event supports emerging talents through the Fashion Focus Funds platforms
- It is also a platform to solicit support from the private and public sectors through the Fashion Business Series to develop the fashion industry in Nigeria and Africa.
- Lagos Fashion Week puts Nigeria on the international map as the country with the leading fashion industry in Africa.
- Most fashion models are young men and women who support their families and pay for their studies and other needs.
- Lagos Fashion Week also promotes the tourism, hospitality and restaurant industries, as many participants come from all over the world, and they need clothing, food and shelter.
- By promoting Nigerian fashion, the platform also contributes to the nation’s economy. As we already know, Nigeria is way overdue for economic diversification.
How to participate in Lagos Fashion Week
Lagos Fashion Week 2022 is already done and dusted. But there is still next year and, hopefully, other years ahead. If you’re interested in participating as a designer, follow the guidelines below.
- You should have a registered business and must have been in the business for at least two years.
- Only men’s and women’s ready-to-wear (not accessories) are considered.
- Provide evidence of stockists, produce collections for sale in-store, or offer made-to-measure services.
- You should be able to provide evidence of community-building initiatives (i.e. a social media presence, online communities, etc.)
- If you have met all the requirements, contact [email protected]. Make sure you include evidence of all requested requirements + your most recent lookbook.
- Your application will be reviewed internally by an anonymous panel. If yours is successful, you will be notified.
If you don’t have all or any of these requirements, apply for the green access program of the Lagos Fashion Week.
Conclusion
Lagos Fashion Week is not just a show, it’s a viable platform for economic activities. The platform has helped many to develop their skills and their pockets. However, more still needs to be done to push Lagos Fashion Week to rank alongside famous international fashion weeks like Paris and Milan. The journey has already started, and just like Nigerian music has broken into the global scene, Lagos Fashion Week will do so and possibly even better soon.
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