GTBank Fashion Weekend
The last few weeks in October the first few weeks in November are arguably the busiest in the Nigeria creative calendar. You have have Lagos Fashion Week , AKE book festival, Lagos Photography Festival, Art x Lagos and GT Bank Fashion weekend all taking place in those 4 weeks.
Now, we don't want to speculate on why this happens but, we can only assume this has something to do with keeping occupied before the influx of IJGB's which happens from the the start of December.
Over the last 4 years the GTBank Fashion Weekend has become known for attracting international talent to the commercial capital of Nigeria. This includes Vanessa Kingori - the first female publisher at British Vogue, Jay Alexander of America's Next Top Model and Dapper Dan.
This year saw Roksanda Ilincic taking centre-stage at the GTBank Fashion Weekend Masterclass along with Kim Kimble, renowned make-up artist Sir John Barnett and the man behind Celine Dion's stylish transformation- Law Roach.
Why is this important?
What GTBank's Fashion Weekend does is, it not only brings these international stars to Nigeria to experience and explore the creative talents but it also allows aspiring creatives to learn from these individuals who would otherwise be inaccessible.
What makes the GTBank Fashion Weekend so popular for brand owners in Africa is its focus on SMEs. It is a free event which encourages a higher flow of traffic in the most populous city in Africa while also providing a platform it calls the "marketplace" where creatives from all sectors from food to fashion, horticulture to architecture can showcase their work.
That, combined with the informative Masterclasses from not only local but international, highly respected individuals in their field make the GTBank Fashion week a huge attraction.
In our Lagos Fashion Week highlight post, there was a little too much focus on Nigerian brands - even though there were several other countries represented - so we want to rectify this by highlighting some of our favourite intercontinental brands shown at the 2019 GTBank Fashion Weekend.
Imane Asiyye.
We first came across Imane at Paris Fashion week in 217. Stinking block colours underpin his work. Here are some of his best bits
Tassels took centre stage for Imane's collection...
...in different shapes, colours and sizes.
Imane wasnt the only brand who stole the show.
SUKEINA
The New York based fashion designer came through with some beautiful wardrobe favourites - just in time for the festive season.
Viviers Studio by Lezanne Viviers.
We didn't think we needed a blue leather suit until this showed up!
The strong lines with soft colour play will make for a very interesting Summer 2020
Ethiopia is fast becoming the home of outsourcing for international fashion brands with likes of H and M and Stella McCartney now manufacturing in Ethiopia as well as promoting home-grown talent.
MAFI MAFI
MAFI MAFI is one of these Ethiopian brands. A sustainable fashion brand which incorporates traditional hand loom and craft by Ethiopian artisans.
Beautiful and uncomplicated. This yellow co-ord set with contrast lapel detail had us dreaming of long weekends spent along the Italian Riviera, eating focaccia bread and fresh pesto.
And something with a bit more spice - with a touch of relaxed minimalism.
This is just a snippet of the African brands represented. Find even more African brands shown at the GTBank Fashion Weekend on Schick Magazine