Nigeria Fashion Week 2008 Gets An Upgrade

Nigeria Fashion Week has definitely seen an upgrade. The producer of the show Lexy Mojo Eyes must have heard our criticism from Nigeria Fashion Week 2007 because they definitely stepped up their game this year. The event and the designers who showed give us hope that Nigeria can be competitive both locally and internationally on the fashion scene.

We make no apologies for our strong stance that Nigeria MUST and needs to lead the pack as far as we are concerned when it comes to African Fashions.Nigeria, the heart of Africa, MUST be a force to be reckoned with in fashion locally, intercontinentally and globally. No "ifs," "buts," "ands". It MUST be 1) the #1 spot in Africa for fashions, 2) the #1 trading partner with the world's larger fashion markets, with an eye towards making sure there is substantial export of the works of its industry; and 3) the government must make it its #1 priority to stay highly committed in action, investments etc. in creating jobs and opportunities for its citizens through its fashion industry.

We applaud the hard work Lexy Mojo Eyes continues to do for Nigeria. Several things though: Lexy consider switching the name to "Lagos" Fashion Week. Beyond the obvious branding for Lagos, with its millions of inhabitants, most fashion hubs New York, Milan, Paris, London etc. name the fashion weeks after the city not necessarily the country. It also makes sense when you think how big the country is and the many fashion hubs emerging within the country including Calabar.

Also, can the divisiveness that is so glaring within the industry stop, already?! It continues to make no sense why the big names like Deola Sagoe, Tiffany Amber, JD7 Couture etc. show at the many South African Fashion Week events but not Nigeria's Fashion Week. It is indeed amazing the overwhelming number of individual efforts with no one willing to work collectively for a common goal. If South African designers, during their ten years plus history of fashion, stayed very divisive and ran to Nigeria or other countries to show rather than putting their differences aside, to work together, we doubt very much they'd be where they are to even provide the platform for Nigerian designers. How can Nigeria ever lead the way if all do not come together with the goal of improving their industry?

In any event, enjoy the pics of some of the brilliant fashion-forward at the event and we will bring some of the looks we adored at the recently completed event. Photos courtesy of Pure Foto.