The runway shows which ended each day's flurry of activities, featured collections by ten international brands and three well respected Nigerian desig
The runway shows which ended each day’s flurry of activities, featured collections by ten international brands and three well respected Nigerian designers. The well coordinated shows offered guests artistic insights into the modern world of Nigerian and global fashion design. Unlike past years, this year’s edition had more runway designers.
Day 1
Ituen Basi: The Nigerian designer opened the show with pizzaz, paying homage to Afro beat, a genre of music created by the late Fela. Her collection which was a kaleidoscope of colours which Fela was known to love. It featured a lot of fringes, bell bottoms, ruffles and a bit of layering.
Sukeina: The Senegalese’very impressive feminine collection was a mixture of bold colours juxtaposed with white and black stand alones all complemented with partially sequined headbands and a heavy dose of fringe.
Romeo Hunte: His collection would be aptly described as fun, youthful, sporty with a huge dose of fur.
Gozel Green: Made up of two sister designers, Sylvia Enekwe and Olivia Jude-Okoji their collection was as eccentric as it was uninspiring.
Clive Rundle: He made extensive use of very light see through fabrics which helped with the flowy nature of his designs some of which were mostly kimonos. His designs were bold and fearless.
Adama Paris: The Senegalese designer is truly the queen of pastel as she has never failed to incorporate the ‘saccharine’ colours in her collection which had a lot of palazzos, lace, ruffle and see throughs, all in simple clean cuts.
David Tlale: The South African designer ended the show on the first day in his characteristic dramatic way. Monochrome, Cleopatra –like head pieces, sequins, dramatic hair styles, featured prominently in his collection.
Day 2
Lanre Dasilva Ajayi: One of Nigeria’s favourite designers, Lanre opened the runway show on the second day. Famed for her vintage style, Lanre didn’t disappoint as she flooded the runway in pieces made of velvet, silk, chiffon, sequins, metallic on a large scale, all in vintage silhouettes. The addition of hair pieces added character to the collection.
Ji Won Choi: She lavishly depicted her Asian heritage in her fun looking collection which was simply avant garde.
Taibo Bacar: This would be the third time Taibo Bacar will showcase at the fashion event. His collections have made quite an impression on fashion enthusiasts who looked forward to what he had to offer this year. And he didn’t disappoint. The dress and bag designer from Mozambique had quite an impressive collection which was old Hollywood glam and accessorized with his leather handbags.
Idma NOF: Not many had heard about her but the Nigerian designer made an impression by playing a lot with very flowy fabrics and solid palettes of colours. Hers was an easy breezy collection.
Gert Johan Coetzee: The South African’s pieces was a collection of youthful looks, floor length red carpet looks, laid back casuals in floral, sequins and laid back colours.
Laquan Smith: The New York based fashion designer ended the show on the second day of the fashion event in a switched up tempo when he sent a model in daring floor length pieces, heavily sequined party looks, fur and a large dose of attitude. His collection was to say the least, risqué and he proved that his designs were not for the faint hearted.
