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TheStyleHQFASHION WEEK DAILY

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TheStyleHQStreet Style

Beauty Insider

Runway Highlights

Designer SpotlightTsemaye Binitie

Buyer’s Eye

Inside LagosArt Cafe

Yagazie Emezi

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FASHION WEEK DAILY

Creative Director

Editor-In-Chief

Business Development

FASHIONAssistant Creative DEBS FARIDAH ADEBIYIStyling Assistant AISHA BELLO

PROJECTSProject Manager SEUN AWOGBADEProject Assistant TONI ALADEKOMOProject Assistant BIDEMI ADESANYAProduction Manager IBRAHEEM JUNAID

PHOTOGRAPHYOBI SOMTO

BERNARD OKULAJATOPE ADENOLA

DEMILADE ROBERTSIMOLE “TOBBIE” BALOGUN

GRAPHICSKOSOKO ADEKUNLE

EDITORIALBeauty Editor LOLA MAJAContributing Editor NOBLE EZEALAContributor-at-Large AISHA KAZEEMEditorial Assistant ELOHOR OMONENUEditorial Assistant DAPHNE OMONENUEditorial Assistant OLURANTI ADEGBOLAAssistant to Editor in Chief CHICHI OMOLEBELE

BOLAJI ANIMASHAUN

MARYAM KAZEEM

DEYI DIPEOLU

Table of Contents

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StreetStyle

Photography: Bernard OkulajaTobbie TCD Maguire

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Due to unreasonable traffic on the island I missed a lot of the early shows and to be honest, I do not believe it is pos-sible to give a well-rounded review of a show from runway pictures alone, so my review of this day is going to be in-complete.

Orange Culture added neoprene and denim to his fabric arsenal and showed a collection that further sharpened his aesthetic proposition, but I feel may have at the same time also served to remove a lot of the rawness that made him such a revelation to the international press last year. The prints were just a bit too clean, the neoprene too space age and the organza a bit too flowy and it made it seem like maybe it was not enough any more. The introduction of

new cropped trousers with a flap on the side was a wel-come sight and I wish he did more with that direction as it seemed to hold a lot of promise. The use of denim was also welcome, but I was not a fan of the introduction of the print panels to the wide trousers which were otherwise another welcome entry into his pool of shapes. I am more excited to see where the brand goes next than with this collection itself, but I guess that is the weight of expectations and the burden a transition collection bears.

Lisa Folawiyo’s collection further cemented her position as one of the premier designers in the country. Not necessarily because of the clothing itself, but because with this further iteration of her brand, she has shown that she is able to pro-vide clothes that not only look natural on a runway, there is clearly a Nigerian woman that wants, wears and inhabits the propositions that she has been sending down the

runway all these years. To be able to capture the spirit of a group of people like this in such a contemporary manner is something that elevates her line above a lot of other wo-menswear brands. The fact that she is one of the few wom-enswear brands that worked with fabrics other than chiffon silk and organza is also something that I enjoyed seeing.

There’s something to be said for committing to an idea and exploring it thoroughly. Endlessly iterating on a single theme can yield some amazing results and I think too many designers feel they have to constantly come up with new things in order to be relevant and/or interesting. I think in this case, they took it a bit too far though and crossed over into monotony.

In a way, the Iconic Invanity show seemed to be more about the craft of beading and embellishment than it was about the clothing itself.

This could have been interesting if it was even more elaborate, if they showcased various styles and techniques, using the clothing as some sort of blank canvas. Unfortu-nately, all we got was a mildly interesting collection. Inter-esting by virtue of its design restraint in this day and age of more and more, but also let down by not really explor-ing anything more interesting than different bead arrange-ments.

Words by Yegwa UkpoPhotography: Tope Adenola

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Lagos Art CafeInside

Yagazie Ledi Francisca Emezi is a Visual Curator, Cartoonist, as well as a Video Blogger with a dual degree in Cultural Anthropology & African Studies. With full hair that makes us turn all shades of green with envy, Yagazie’s great inter-est and passion for Black African culture, history and creative arts is shown

through her involvement in various projects as she aims to provide a platform that showcases Africa to the rest of the world.Dressed in a two piece black mesh outfit off the ultra-cool sporty-chic Spring/Summer 2015 collection by CLAN, with bronze bangles and coral beads, Yagazie is all smiles rest-ing against a wall at the Art Café. It’s a perfect mélange of Afrocentric girl meets vintage. As she sits with a coffee drink and a plate of delicious moist cookies and chocolate cake, the atmosphere is relaxed and tranquil. The quaint retro interior of the Art Café makes it a cozy spot to hang out. The Art Café is not just like the ordinary everyday café you find around every street corner. It is a “Home store” which offers some of the best coffees, tea, home-made cakes, toasts, fresh orange juice, sandwiches and Castle draft beer in Lagos.

Words by Elohor OmenemuPhotography: Obi Somto

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The décor with vintage lamps and portraits hanging on the walls gives the place an artistic feel.

Art Café is located at No. 282 Akin Olugbade Street, Victoria Island.

Yagazie can be found on YouTube at www.youtube.com/yemezi and on Instagram at @yagazieemezi.

Backstage

Photography by Demilade Roberts

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TheBeautyInsider

LOLA MAJA

Beauty expert Lola Maja gives us the inside look at runway beauty for today’s shows.

Today, we are going with a black smoky eye but we are changing it up by making it glossy. We’re using Maybelline black eye shadow and finishing it off with the baby lips to give it a really nice glossy finish. We are not using any lashes today because the eyes are already smoky and very sexy. We are keeping the skin dewy and we are launching the Maybelline Mac Moose foundation, which is totally awesome. It gives their skin really nice beautiful coverage but leaves it really soft at the same time. We are also doing a nude lip using the Maybelline mac moose foundation as

a primer and putting some Maybelline lipstick over it. Last but not least, we are giving the skin a really nice glow with beautiful highlights on the cheekbone but some of the designers are going to have different lip colours. IAMISIGO is going with gold striped lip and ICONIC INVANITY is going to have red lips, so we are changing it up a little bit depending on the designer.

We also have the Maybelline showcase today, which is going to be awesome. We are going to have a whole color bust of shades on the catwalk and lots of different statement colors, so look out for that.

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Designer Spotlight

Nothing says success like Washing-ton Roberts who went from being a graduate of the Igbogbi College, Yaba to an international renowned

fashion designer. His interest in fashion stemmed from his grandmother, a seamstress who taught him how to sew and pay attention to detail. And it comes as no surprise that his grandmother is his source of inspiration. His ‘fashion moment’ came as a result of him deciding to design a blazer for himself for his 23rd birthday party. This marked the begin-ning of what is now the “Washington Rob-erts” fashion label. He’s shown his designs throughout New York City, several issues of Hype Hair Magazine and on Envision Style & Substance during NYC Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. His label which is purely for women and can be described as ‘modern and edgy’ has featured an eclectic mix of dark solid colours, stripes, pastels and other fab-rics.Roberts recently showcased his SS15 collec-tion at the New York Fashion Week (NYFW). Of his new collection, Roberts says his in-spiration comes from the structure of the “Aomori Nebuta House Museum in Japan”. The buildings’ exterior made of twisted steel ribbons inspired the idea of pleating fabric as contouring to frame the female form. Wash-ington’s childhood dream of being an archi-tect comes to life with this collection.

Words by Elohor OmonemuPhotography: Demilade Roberts

WASHINGTON ROBERTS

RunwayHighlights

IAMISIGOICONIC INVANITYLISA FOLAWIYO ORANGE CULTURE

Day 3 of GTB Lagos Fashion & Design week marked the end of the highly anticipated show. Finishing strong with Tiffany Amber, the day started and ended without a hitch and left us with an amazing feeling of pride as to how far

Nigerian fashion has come in the last three years.

A selection of pieces are reminiscent of art collag-es and mosaics, different prints strewn together. Beyond being pretty and feminine-chic, the aes-thetic is also artistic. ‘Jew-el By Lisa’ as a moniker no longer exists and the label has now declared to be known as Lisa Folawiyo. A name could signal a subtle shift in creative direction; subtle because there is still a strong tradition of using prints primarily. However, the combination and as-sembly of the ‘mosaic’ outfits hasn’t been in this manner. There is a sense of the familiar but also something different. This is no run-of-the-mill Lisa Folawiyo collection, but a statement of a designer and an artist.

Who can forget the trend when embellished ankara was all the rage? Whether it was beads, sequins or Swarovski crystals it was an original moment in our fashion narrative, then it died suddenly. Iconic Invanity has brought back this trend in a different way. Firstly, the base fabric is not always ankara yet it is still “Afri-can.” In this particular collection, there are hints and nods to ancient Egypt and superheroes which is a nice unexpected surprise. On the other hand, I have seen stronger designs from this brand, this particular collection is more mute and sedate than usual but not bad. It just focused more on fabric and technique than actual design.

IamISIGO is continuing to prove that they are no flash in the pan. These designs are literal and conceptual, avant-garde but grounded. Each design reflects a different mood. There are a variety of silhouettes but yet it remains cohesive. Their last collection was more approachable and wearable, but this has influences of the desert nomad and 90s grunge. It is on a different tangent, but it’s not a bad one. Weird yet wonderful.

The best thing about Orange Culture is that you don’t know what he is going to come up with next. No two collections are the same. This collection does not come close to being boring with bright oranges, deep greens, electric pinks and whimsical sheer tops. These designs are solely for the bold, the brave, and the slightly crazy (in the best way) but isn’t that refreshing?

Words by Ade RonkePhotography by Kola Oshalusi (Insigna)

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StudioBlack Out

In the words of Jay-Z, “after the show is the af-ter party” and LFDW can also be know as party week. Over at Studio, black is all we know when it comes to getting dolled up for the evening. Wheth-er it’s all black everything or a hint of print, black just never fails.

Teni- top (H&M), jeans (Topshop)Ore- top (H&M), skirt (Topshop)

After working for renowned mag-azines, Elle, GQ, and Glamour, this past year, Dimeji Alara was named Editor of Genevieve Maga-zine. As the creative visionary for Nigeria’s leading lifestyle maga-zine, Mr. Alara is at the forefront for setting trends for Nigeria’s growing bourgeoisie. He was kind enough to chat with us about his professional and personal love for fashion:

Who are you, and what do you do in the business of fashion?My name is Dimeji Alara; I am a fashion stylist and editor of Genevieve Magazine.

Describe a typical day for you.I get up pretty late, 8 a.m. I’m not a morning person. Head straight to work; it’s emails, editorial meetings, planning content and going sourcing. Sourcing? Yes, my least favourite part of the job - you have to convince designers to lend you their clothes and acces-sories for shoots.

What’s the best thing about your job?Getting to see my ideas come to life.

What’s the biggest challenge in your job?Sourcing.

How did you get into fashion?I was raised in Paris, and well you can’t really escape it there. Also, both of my parents were very fashion conscious. My mother attended fashion school in Paris, and later went on to design and own a boutique. Profession-ally however, [it] was more of an accident. 10 years ago I joined Genevieve Magazine as a reporter. The fashion editor left, and I was semi-willingly thrust into the role. Not a situation I regret.

What’s been your greatest work achievement?Working at Elle South Africa. I started as an intern and worked my way up to Fashion Assistant. It offered me the opportunity to do a lot of contributions for other publications whilst I was living there.

What would you change about the fashion industry?The perspective. People see fashion merely as entertainment, and forget that everywhere else it is big business. That’s why I have

to continuously herald Omoyemi and what she’s achieved with LFDW - it is the only event I look forward to.

Describe your style in two wordsVery minimal.

Who are your favourite design-ers?Oh I have a lot...Iconic Invanity, Lanre Da Silva, Jewel By Lisa, Maki Oh, Bridget Awosika, Or-ange Culture, IAmISIGO, Deola Sagoe. Internationally, Lanvin, Margiela, Gaultier, Dior, YSL by Hedi Slimane, Balmain, Thakoon.

What advice would you give to a young person trying to do the same thing?If you don’t really love it, don’t do it. A lot of young people I meet often think the work is very glamorous, 2 days into working with me, they see it’s not; it’s a job at the end of the day, and it’s a lot of work.

WITH DIMEJI ALARAOn The Verge

Interview by Lola EmeruwaPhotography by Obi Somto

Words by Teni Sagoe, Ore RunsewePhotography by Bernard Okulaja

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Buyer’s Eye

Halima Yunusa is a managing partner and co-owner of 41 Luxe, an Abuja based upscale concession fashion lounge featuring the fusion of major designers cater-ing to mostly females between the ages of 20-45. Today Halima shares her buyer’s take on the shows.

Each designer’s collections are peculiar and unique to the brand ranging from street chic, playful flirty casuals to the classic structured pieces. I was excited to see Tsemaye Binitie putting up a collection that is best described as luxury par excellence the ability to fuse imaginary silhouettes and structured style speaks of an impeccable and detailed approach to fashion retail.In addition to this, I’d give a standout ovation to Jewel by Lisa for unrivalled creativity and attention to quality and detailing. Lisa’s ability to work with silk, cotton and embellishing is second to none. She has maintained and is consistent with her brand is known for - just the right amount of embellishing!Financially speaking the commercial viability of a fashion brand depends mainly on the ability to position strategically - branding- store location and participation in events like the Lagos Fashion and Design Week to promote awareness, showcase originality and generally turn creativity to wealth.From Ella and Gabby’s shinny lights to Kiki Kamanu’s girls strutting the runway on to ROF’s ethnic display and IAMISIGO’S black and gold shades ushering Orange Cultures tribal sandals to sparkles from Iconic Invanity, day 3 was surely a success.I see LFDW transcending into a meeting point for business owners interacting towards a common goal; wealth creation.

Photography by Bernard Okulaja

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