Designed by Damilola herself, the collection featured bold, vibrant prints and colours ubiquitous on the African continent. The clothes, which ranged from long, flowing gowns in tie and dye prints to casual brightly-coloured two-piece sets hit the runway alongside eclectic, afro-themed streetwear from Ethnic Attitude in a collaborative effort that proved that African fashion can be very much at home anywhere in the world as it is on the continent.

Guests at the event included fashion industry experts such as French fashion entrepreneur Eva Louves, fashion trends specialist Jessica Duarte, actress Aohod Al Nowais, TV presenter Lara Thabet, African media producer The Lady Mayowa, investor Abdulla Salem, and fashion stylist Bandar Algarmoushi.

Speaking at the event, OSalu Couture Founder, Damilola Salu, expressed her excitement saying, “I was thrilled to showcase my latest designs at the Network of Fashion Show alongside Ethnic Attitude. It was an incredible experience to see our unique vision come to life on the runway and to witness the audience’s positive reaction. I am pleased to showcase my work alongside other talented designers and to celebrate the beauty of diversity in fashion.”

Ethnic Attitude Founder, Oloyede Oyebanjo Ariyo, was just as ecstatic. “Our latest streetwear collection celebrates the richness and diversity of African culture in a trendy and modern look that any global citizen will love,” he stated. “We created a range that is both stylish and meaningful, with designs that reflect beauty and heritage. I am very pleased by the results of our collaboration with OSalu Couture. I believe we did the continent of Africa proud.”

Both the OSalu Couture and Ethnic Attitude brands started their design journey in the bustling city of Lagos, Nigeria, and later established their global headquarters in Dubai, UAE. Since then, they have expanded their international reach and continue inspiring and empowering individuals to embrace their cultural identity.

The collections received high praise from fashion critics and enthusiasts present, with many applauding the brands’ unique and innovative approach to fashion, as well as their commitment to sustainability and ethical fashion practices especially in their use of locally sourced materials and the brand’s dedication to supporting local artisans and craftsmen.

To view their newest collections, visit their websites at osalucouture.com and ethnicattitude.com.

The post OSalu Couture and Ethnic Attitude bring African Fashion to Life on Dubai Catwalk first appeared on Aspire Luxury Magazine.

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This year’s edition of the Lagos Fashion Week (LFW) which kicked off on the 26^th of October came to a grand end four days later with presentations from creatives like Andrea Iyamah, Banke Kuku and Imad Eduso. Throughout the week, new and returning designers from all over the continent and beyond showcased their collections to thousands of guests ranging from head buyers to fashion enthusiasts, members of the press, and industry experts.

Since its inception in 2011, LFW has worked tirelessly to provide a global platform for indigenous African fashion designers and others of African descent who normally, might have found it extremely difficult to generate the right buzz around their designs, talk less of gracing the runways of major, international fashion shows.

LFW is growing, and the world is paying attention. Except for the country where the annual fashion show takes place.

There appears to be no formal data yet, but, from all visible indications, everything that happens at the Lagos Fashion Week stays at the Lagos Fashion Week. Which, while disappointing, is not entirely surprising.

Why does fashion week even exist?

Historically, fashion week was born out of a desire to influence the fashion of the day and satisfy people’s desire for newer and better ways to express their individual tastes. Designers would put together a collection influenced by the society and the environment they had access to, in the hopes that their target audience agrees with their work and deem them worthy enough to become an expression of who they are or at the very least find them useful enough to adorn their bodies.

Fashion week is how many trends over the years caught fire and spread throughout the world. Like the bandanas and bell bottoms of the 90s or the chunky belts and platforms shoes of the early 2000s. The loungewear trend that started in 2020 may have had its roots in the pandemic and the resulting lockdown, but as major fashion houses started to offer their own versions, it become wildly popular over the world.

Sadly, we cannot claim that this is the case in Nigeria (at least) where LFW holds. No one can deny the sheer talent that is on display year after year, or the fact that some of the pieces that make an appearance on the runway reflect emerging or past fashion trends in the country and continent. However, once the curtains come down on the show, it appears to come down on everything else: the beauty and fashion expressions; trends; decor – even the participating brands are not spared as their names seem not to resonate beyond certain circles nor do their creations influence everyday fashion or make appearances in the media after the event.

There appears to be a lack of robust representation among celebrities and influencers

One reason why the designs at the Lagos Fashion Week are not ubiquitous may be because they are not largely worn by celebrities and influencers, whose followers and fan base are always eager to copy everything they do. If there is anything brands from out of the continent understand, it is the power of representation. It is why they choose ambassadors in markets and groups they want to dominate. Maybe this is not a job for the LFW organisers, but, one of the ways to get Africans more invested in the show is to feature designers whose work they care about and have interacted with before the show.

Fashion week is more than the catwalk. LFW does not appear to have evolved to this point

This paragraph from Fashion United explains this point best.

“[…] Successful fashion weeks need foreign buyers and foreign press. Fashion weeks also need critics to decipher the looks and to make it cohesive. To give us the context in terms of the current zeitgeist and to extend its meaning beyond the immediacy of social media and front row celebrity.”

Every year the Lagos Fashion Week holds, the only reports in the media appear to be comments on the designs and designers, how the show went and prevalent trends on the catwalk. For some reason, no one appears to give a balanced critique of the show and the designs, what worked well and what could be improved upon to make the show bigger and better, and help the designers create pieces that resonate more with their local communities and a wider global audience.

Again, this may not be so much the fault of the organisers as it is of the media and industry stakeholders. However, if it is the case that the fashion show is not open to these sets of people, it may explain why balanced reviews are scare year in, year out.

Welcoming critques and experts who have no affiliation with the show, and can therefore produce balanced, non-biased reporting, would be a step in the right direction towards making much-needed improvements and creating even more buzz around the show on the the continent, especially if these people are locals.

The disconnect between the fashion at LFW and what is considered fashion in Nigeria and Africa is huge

And this perhaps is the most important point.

Back in the day when we did not have these kinds of shows in the continent, and because the industry itself was largely fragmented with little mass production of everyday clothes taking place, it just made sense for designers to look at what America and Europe were doing and incorporate it into their designs. This was worsened by the thriving preloved market that is still prevalent to this day.

It is why when bandanas became mainstream in America and possibly Europe, they trended in Nigeria. When bootlegs were the in-thing, they were also the fashion of the day back here.

If the Lagos Fashion Week were looking to make more of an impact in Nigeria (at least) beyond its runway, an apparent course of action would be to feature designers who fill in a missing gap – African fashion for Africans by Africans. Yet, 11 years in, and LFW is still full of designers showcasing Spring/Summer collections, two seasons most African countries do not experience. Designers are creating pieces that are not practical for the continent or representative of our values and belief systems.

The fashion industry as a whole in Nigeria and other African countries is not very developed

In Nigeria at least, we still rely heavily on pre-loved fashion while ignoring production/manufacturing.

Perhaps a reason why fashion week is such a big deal in other parts of the world is that production (of fashion items) takes place within these countries and even when it is outsourced, it is usually by businesses domiciled in these places.

Therefore, while not everyone in America or Italy, for example, can afford an Oscar de la Renta or a Caroline Herrara, because there are smaller local fashion businesses who take care of everything from production to distribution,  it is easier for them to make affordable look-alikes of the beloved  designs of larger, more established fashion houses for the masses.

It is impossible for LFW to establish small fashion businesses to create affordable look-alikes of the designs that appear on their platform, but maybe using this same platform to engage stakeholders to influence policies that help to regulate and develop the industry might be a feasible solution.

The 2022 Lagos Fashion Week has come and gone and with it an opportunity to influence and revolutionalise the Nigerian/African fashion industry. Thankfully, there would be many more fashion weeks. The time has come for the LFW organisers to do things a bit differently for the sake of the future of African fashion, and with the kind of global platform they have managed to build over the years, they appear to be the best people for the job.

The post 2022 Lagos Fashion Week: It is Time to do Things Differently first appeared on Aspire Luxury Magazine.

The post 2022 Lagos Fashion Week: It is Time to do Things Differently appeared first on Aspire Luxury Magazine.

We had just exited the worst of a global pandemic and, for Africans living on the continent, an additional uncertainty heightened by protests and economic instability. We daresay almost everyone approached the new year with some level of positivity, as to do otherwise would have been near-fatal.

It is against this that we decided to launch a special feature, the ASPIRE Ones to Watch. We had hoped that by highlighting the fantastic achievements of the young men and women on whose shoulders lie the future of Africa, we all can look forward with some assurance that indeed, tomorrow is brighter than today.

And it appears you shared our sentiments going by the feedback we received. For 2022, we have once again put together a list of young people whose work, businesses and achievements are an inspiration to everyone.

Shamim Kaliisa

To kick off this feature, allow us introduce you to the 26-year-old powerhouse whose innovative approach to the management and eradication of cancer has seen her save thousands of lives. This she has done on a continent where the disease can often be a death sentence, due to a lack of awareness, inefficient government health policies, equipment, specialists and more importantly, a lack of health insurance adoption needed to see treatments to the end.

In her second year in medical school and barely in her 20s, Shamim developed pains in her breast. A medical check revealed she had cancer and tuberculosis, a result made more terrifying by the fact that she had lost her mother to cervical cancer about 7 years prior to her diagnosis.

Thankfully, Shamim survived, although she lost a breast to the painful disease. Following this experience, she founded Community Dental and Reproductive Health Ltd which later evolved into Community Healthcare Innovation Lab or CHIL AI.

In the beginning, CHIL AI offered mobile cancer screening to women in rural Uganda as well as mobile dental services to school children in Uganda. Today, through its mobile app, Keti AI, the technology-driven medical company offers related services like consultation, test results interpretation, referrals, radiology reports, and, automated drug ordering to more than 700,000 women from over 10 countries including South Sudan and the DRC.

Shamim is looking to expand her reach within the continent and beyond – she hopes to offer her services in  Asia and Latin America. With everything she has achieved so far at such a young age and in such a short time, it is safe to say that we have not heard the last of Ms Shamim Nabuuma Kaliisa or CHIL AI.

Laetitia Ky

When it comes to art, there is usually no general definition of what is good or bad, since art appreciation can be rather subjective. However, if you have ever encountered the work of Ivorian artist, Laetitia Ky, it is hard not to immediately appreciate what you see. Laetitia’s art is unique.

Rather than working exclusively on typical surfaces like cardboard, wood or canvas, she often uses her hair to create elaborate sculptural pieces. And not just any kind: more often than not, her creations tell a story about the kind of women Laetitia sees and knows – their struggles, dreams, fears and the challenges society burdens them with.

Laetitia’s work stands out for several reasons. First, she isn’t just beautifying hair or making aesthetically-pleasing styles. Every hairdo is a creative and visual representation of the socio-economic challenges women (mostly African women) undergo.

Secondly, she works with afro-textured hair that has received a lot of bad press over the years. Using it the way she does not only proves the versatility of our hair, it also showcases its literal and metaphorical beauty.

As an artist, Laetitia is constantly growing. Only recently, she added the title ‘author’ to her name. Her body of work is so niche, yet rich and robust that we believe it is only a matter of time before she becomes a truly global force to be reckoned with.

Aristide Loua

At a time when the world is beginning to notice African fashion, Aristide Loua’s Kente Gentlemen is yet another example of how rich and multifaceted this aspect of our culture really is.

For Loua, Kente Gentlemen is not just another fashion brand: it is a sartorial ode to traditional African fashion that he feels compelled to tell after his travels all over the world.

“In such an interconnected world, Kente Gentlemen is a means to discover, value, celebrate, and foster our diverse socio-cultural heritage and identities through fashion, aesthetics, photography and other visual arts,” he says of his brand.

Aristide aims to keep traditional practices alive while celebrating his love for art, social good and fashion. Working with local handweavers, tailors and other artisans, he creates mostly modern suits and shirts for men and women based on intricate stories and concepts that reveal some of our innermost emotions.

The fashion label was part of the Birimian x IFM accelerator program and has been featured in different publications and on different global platforms. African fashion is beginning to take its rightful place on the global stage, and Aristide Loua’s Kente Gentlemen is sure to be one of the key players driving worldwide adoption.

Heba El Dessouky

Sustainability is more than a buzzword, and Heba El Dessouky understands this all too well.

Shortly before the 2020 lockdown, when the fashion industry was beginning to contend with its high levels of waste and its contribution to the climate change crisis, the  Egyptian actress and model, Hébà El Dessouky launched AGAN. (As Good As New)

AGAN is a response to a global challenge with a straightforward idea: get people who have unspoiled luxury items they no longer use or have never used to advertise on a trusted platform where there are eager, interested, paying customers.

Sustainable practices are not as strange to Africans as most people think, even though the concept in itself is relatively new. However, it is almost unheard of to find someone like Heba actively running a business for pre-loved luxury fashion items. She has definitely set a standard for other celebrities to follow, and, whether or not they do, her name is sure to make the list of personalities on the continent that made a substantial impact in sustainability at a time when it mattered the most.

Setsabile Mkhabela

There are many e-commerce brands dedicated to fashion retail in Africa, but not many offer the same services as Setsabile Mkhabela.

Like Heba, Setsabile launched her business in 2020, but unlike AGAN, Boast-ID focuses on emerging fashion and lifestyle brands, not just from Africa, but from all over the world that put sustainability at the heart of their operations.

Boast-ID currently features over 20 brands from Africa, Asia and North America. But for Setsabile, there is still a lot more to be done for emerging fashion and lifestyle brands. Her goal is to create a thriving community of retail fashion businesses in the luxury space that live and breathe sustainability. If her track record is anything to go by, we will be hearing much more from the E-Swatini entrepreneur very soon.

Noxolo Fani

Do you remember what you said you would be when you grow up?

Chances are that your current reality does not match any part of your childhood fantasy. This is not necessarily because, as a child, you had no idea what you wanted, but because you may have gotten confused along the line and had to switch to a career path that felt safe and looked like something you could live with for the rest of your life.

This is exactly why Platform Excel, founded by South African Noxolo Fani, exists.

Using gamification and robotic process automation, Noxolo guides students from grades 8-12 on their career paths. “I lived through not having the right advice at the right time as a young woman. As I grew in my own profession I embarked on a journey to help those living through the same experience,” she explains of her decision to found Platform Excel.

Noxolo Fani continues to seek out opportunities to assist young people discover who they are meant to be, whilst opening doors for them by helping them secure scholarships, internships and positions in different companies.

Sisqo Ndombe

Like Setsabile, Sisqo Ndombe has developed a thriving online platform for creatives, only this time, the e-commerce site is for artists and art lovers looking to invest in works from the African continent.

As an artist living in the DRC, Sisqo Ndombe quickly realised how difficult it was for upcoming African artists to sell their work. He decided to do something about it, and after saving money from a side hustle, Bandombe Galerie was born in 2018.

His first sale happened 8 months after the online art gallery went live but today, it boasts 800 registered artists from 30 African countries and more than 3,000 artworks in its catalogue.

Like other entrepreneurs, Ndombe dreams of more growth, even though he knows that this means more work. He is committed to growing his client base while pushing for the adoption, appreciation and acquisition of African art by Africans and not just the global community. With all he has achieved in the last four years, we dare say he is on the right path to achieving his dream.

The post ASPIRE Ones to Watch, 2022 first appeared on Aspire Luxury Magazine.

The post ASPIRE Ones to Watch, 2022 appeared first on Aspire Luxury Magazine.

This second occasion would have been the perfect moment to meet Lagerfeld, a judge at the competition. Sadly, he passed away a few months before the candidates were to assemble in Paris. “I really have to say that was definitely the one person that I was really, really looking forward to meeting during that time,” explained Ize.

While a meeting with the legendary Lagerfeld never happened, Ize would have another that would birth an experience close to what he had always wanted: at the LVMH Prize showroom, he met with French stylist and fashion entrepreneur Carine Roitfeld who had been named style adviser at the Karl Lagerfeld brand in April of the same year. It was she who approached the designer to work with the Maison as its first Black designer collaborator.

Ize accepted, and the result is a capsule collection that would be available on the Karl Lagerfeld website and other select stores from the 7th of July 2021.

Roitfeld explained that working with Kenneth was almost the same as working with Karl, even though she admits that “they’re not the same generation, so there’s a lot of difference coming from that.”

“Kenneth told me, let’s play with the clothes, do what you want. When you have the designer next to you it can be a bit difficult. But Karl was the same, he said, do what you like, surprise me. Mix the clothes. Kenneth is the same way. He wants to be surprised at what someone else is doing with his collection. They have the same attitude. They’re very open,” she said in an interview.

The collection features a range of genderless styles and accessories that marry the brand’s signature shades of black and white with Ize’s Nigerian background and the African culture. as well as striking pops of colour inspired by traditional aso oke cloth.

“When I was designing the collection I was definitely thinking about the man himself because he’s the one in the picture. But I knew that it was very important for me to express where I’m from because it was like introducing myself to him. And that was really what I tried to do: How can I incorporate my own background and my own story into this collection? Every single outfit was based on African imagery, Malick Sidibé imagery for example,” said Kenneth.

Pieces include tailoring, knitted tops and pants, as well as flowing silhouettes and more casual looks. Stand-out pieces arrive in the form of head-to-toe silk swirl-print looks, while a selection of more relaxed merino wool sweaters rounds out the versatile collection.

How did Kenneth feel about this collaboration? “I’m so honoured: Carine has given me such a space to be able to express my own creativity, to have a voice. Just giving someone a voice is so powerful.” With regards to what he has learned, the Austrian-Nigerian designer explained, “I’m coming from a space where I’m not as structured because I’m not as big, you know, so learning how to be structured from such a brand was very important.”

As for Carine, working with Kenneth was “good … because he has a lot of energy, and we need energy now.” Asked if she would love another opportunity to work with him, her response simply was “Just ask me, Kenneth.”

The post ASPIRE Pick of the Week: Karl Lagerfeld x Kenneth Ize Collection first appeared on Aspire Luxury Magazine.

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