The decision by L.F.D.W Fashion Focus alumnus Wana Sambo to not show at the 2015 Lagos Fashion and Design Week raised a lot of questions, especially as she had just opened her flagship showroom in Lekki and tapped Eva Alordiah as model and muse for a collection campaign to celebrate the store. So it was indeed a surprise, and a relief when Wana Sambo released a 2016 Holiday collection.
It seems somewhat hard to understand that the Holiday collection comes at the tail end of the 2015 holiday season and is thus far only a pre-order only look book but we are glad to see her working and taking her brand in a new direction.
Damilola Attoh serves as face for this collection, and this is also a comeback for her, seeing as she has spent the better part of the year out of the limelight in Ghana with her husband and newborn. The collection targets a much curvier woman with layered pleated skirts, oversized shirts and blousy jackets. Sambo also continues her exploration of accessories with simple leather sandals that come in black and white.
While there are few misses in the collection, an oversized dress shirt that comes off as a misuse of excess fabric than a design quirk, Wana Sambo is at her best when she simplifies. An oxblood square blouse dressed down with charcoal grey slacks and black and white sandals is so perfectly paired, it would sell out based on the strength of the editorial styling alone. That right there is why Ms Sambo’s eponymous line has stayed relevant this long.
Photography: Bernard Okulaja (Instagram: @sleekben)
Makeup: D’artiste by Dodos (Instagram: @iamdodos)
Model: Damilola Attoh (Instagram: @adedamee)
Brand: Wana Sambo (Instagram: @wanasambo | Website: www.wanasambo.com)
For enquires, reach out to Wana Sambo on [email protected] or [email protected]