What is fashion in Nigeria and why it has become interesting to the world
In the fashion world, now more and more they are talking about African brands of clothing, and designers are increasingly taking first places at international competitions of young fashion designers. Lagos Fashion Week is also becoming very popular and in no way inferior to European. Why is the Nigerian fashion industry becoming so popular?
The city of Nigeria Lagos is the economic center of the country and one of the largest cities in the world. Nigerian GTB Bank every year holds event GTB Fashion Weekend, attended by the world's top editors. Immediately after Milan and Paris - Lagos is now the next destination.
With the exception of Lagos Fashion Week there are also Arise Fashion Week, gathering young designers. This event is much brighter, bolder and attracting world stars as guests and speakers of discussions - for example, Naomi Campbell and Pyer Moss designer Kerby Jean-Raymond.
This year in the final of the French LVMH Prize (one of the most prestigious awards for young designers) - this year was Nigerian Kenneth Icedonmven, founder of Kenneth Ize. His signature style was laconic cut from aso oke fabric weaving: it is woven manually. Things Kenneth Ize already wear celebrities like the same Naomi Campbell.
One more nigerian designer Nkwo Onukva uses her patchwork sewing techniques for her name brand Nkwo, creating items from old jeans, remnants of fabric and rag trimmings.
Another well-known nigerian clothing brand Mark Emmy Kasbit specializes in strictly tailored suits, which could be called formal if it weren’t for the integrated parts of bright fabrics with geometric patterns - these are partly vintage, sometimes hand-woven fabrics.
Nigerian fabrics are one of the most popular among world designers and generally give designers a lot of room for work. There are a lot of unique hand techniques and a completely different culture, and this is not enough for the modern globalized world. The main quality of Nigeria is multinationality and multiculturalism. Young creative people in Nigeria have many topics to comprehend: postcolonial development, civil war, gender inequality.
