Africa Fashion Week is just a day away, the excitement is palpable and everything is literally set at this point. If you need more incentive to get your tickets to check out the three day showcase, let’s help out with the definitive list of designers showing at Africa Fashion Week Nigeria.
THE HEAVY HITTERS
ADE BAKARE
British based couturier Ade Bakare is the headlining designer for this year’s showcase. He is the main attraction and will debut his 2017 cruise collection at the closing gala of the event. Bakare has turned his eye back to Nigeria (and Africa) in general in the last few years, but this is the first he will debut a cruise collection at an African showcase. Big stuff people.
AGATHA MORENO
PJJD by Agatha Moreno is fairly new to the game, with only two collections in their portfolio, but the label has attempted risque clothing in ways conventional Nigerian labels wouldn’t even dare contemplate. On a showcase this big (the last time Moreno showed was at the Ecowas fashion week in Warri in 2015,) we expect them to come out guns blazing.
TUBO
Tubo creations is also a newbie, but man has this label got clout. Designing several bridal looks for the celebrity wedding of style influencer Noble Igwe to his wife Chioma Otisi helped elevate their profile, but their debut collection was what really solidified them as a proper player in the game. We expect TUBO to surprise us with a great second collection at the showcase.
NIPO SKIN
Ghanaian design label Nipo Skin has been very, very busy in 2016. Showcasing at the Accra Mens Fashion Week and Kumasi Fashion Week and collaborating with fabric Maker DaViva on two collections, plus releasing a Spring 16 collection that blew us right out of the water, Nipo Skin has the right amount of creativity and marketability to make them a true threat. And they’re definitely going to break into the Nigerian market with this showcase.
HOUSE OF TANGERINE X DNA ICONIC INVANITY
Yemi Alade’s first foray into fashion licensing with Bland2Glam was a disappointment, the pieces looked cheap and gimmicky and didn’t last the season they were debuted in. But we are still optimistic about Yemi Alade’s full on foray into fashion, mostly because it is in collaboration with Nancy Nwadire’s diffusion label DNA. Anything Nwadire touches turns to gold.
THE NEW SCHOOL
BANKOLE THOMAS
Classic menswear and traditional pieces is Bankole Thomas’s trademark. But the label is in that awkward phase that all Nigerian menswear labels go through where they are not quite sure they want to be mass market or bespoke. Perhaps Africa Fashion Week Nigeria will be the platform where Thomas decides.
TIANNAH STYLING’s SCHOOL OF FASHION
Toyin Lawani is the underdog of the Nigerian fashion industry, providing fashion for starlets and other upstarts before they make it big and move on to shinier labels. The Tiannah’s Styling School Of Fashion is her chance to change that, prove once and for all that she and her mentees can be on the cutting edge of fashion.
AFRIK ABAYA
Hauwa Liman’s Afrik Abayas is the only modest fashion brand showing at the Africa Fashion Week Nigeria showcase. Following oin the heels of House of Kaya at LFDW 2015, she has big shoes to fill and a mantle to prove that modest fashion can be just as cutting edge as anything else.
COZ DESIGNS
The only label on the books that is showing a purely accessories driven collection, Coz Designs is sitting pretty. But they’ll have to bring it to truly get noticed.
FARIDA ATELIER
Farida Atelier’s got international exposure (she debuted her 2015 collection at Africa fashion week London) and a rack of awards celebrating her prowess at design, but she also has never shown at any Lagos based showcases. So in a way, this is a homecoming, and a debutante ball all rolled in one for her. The label will either wow us, or sink under the pressure.
EVERYONE ELSE
- Yomi Casuals
- Yoti0 Ahma
- Vivian Bennet
- Veba Textiles
- Victoria Grace
- Trish ‘O’ Couture
- Tasha Gillies,
- Tiannah Styling and Elegante Kids
- Somandra Stitches
- Silverbest Designs
- Signature Secret
- Rois and Reine
- Salem Clothing
- RikaOto
- Pacciro
- Nugo’s Clothing
- Nikki Kay
- NiiFFe
- Modela Couture
- Login House of Fashion
- Lanre Lagos
- McStell
- JPKouture by Haddassah
- Eve Design Online
- Emminence 1129
- Elawe Couture
- El Amanah Clothing
- Ekaz Signature Designs
- Dozzy Couture
- Cynthia and Angel
- Colour of Cue
- Beryl Qoture
- Asake Oge
- Apex Clothing
- Bello Edu
- Latriea Designs
- Neopele Concepts
- O’Saunders
See you all there.