Standout Lagos Fashion Week Designs Now Available to Global Shoppers
Select participants from the most recent Lagos Fashion Week are getting a platform for trunk show sales with Moda Operandi.
For the second year in a row, four designers from the annual event in Nigeria will sell their latest designs on the luxury shopping site.
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Abiola Olusola, Banke Kuku, Onalaja and Studio 189 will all sell through Moda this year — with a collective trunk show now live through Dec. 19. They follow last year’s participants — Lisa Folawiyo, Andrea Iyamah, Bloke and Christie Brown — whose feature on the site came at a historic, dark time in Nigerian history. In a surprise twist, Folawiyo and Iyamah are also returning this year following stellar sales performance from last year’s trunk show.
Lagos serves as one of the main creative hubs for greater Africa and officials there have been working to make its fashion week one with global resonance. In 2020, however, the event became a digital-only initiative following social uprisings in the aftermath of bloodshed at the Lekki tollbooth on Oct. 20. The now-infamous day saw peaceful protesters from the #EndSARS movement who were advocating for an end to police corruption and brutality clash with militant forces — resulting in deaths and untold injuries when troops fired into the crowd of activists.
Courtesy/Lagos Fashion Week
“The partnership with Moda Operandi could not have come at a better time considering our decision to postpone the physical activation of Lagos Fashion Week post-civil unrests in Nigeria in 2020. The success of Lagos Fashion Week’s trunk show in 2020 resulted in Lisa Folawiyo and Andrea Iyamah having their stand-alone trunk shows at Moda Operandi this season,” said Lagos Fashion Week founder Omoyemi Akerele.
This year’s event was held in a hybrid format, with live and digital fashion shows taking place between Oct. 27 and 31. In November, Akerele spearheaded the announcement of a $1.2 million government relief package that provided funding to 30 Nigerian fashion brands to stave economic impacts from COVID-19. The grant was largely funded by the Nigeria Export Promotion Council, which is among the many government agencies working to increase Lagos Fashion Week’s role in the global fashion conversation.
Now with “The Best of Lagos Fashion Week” trunk show on Moda, that plan is inching into action. The six labels participating this year are offering colorful designs with unique silhouettes, all priced largely from $400 to $800. The designs, which are mostly produced on the African continent, will ship to consumers in May.
“We’ve seen standout talent emerge from Lagos Fashion Week and are honored to be partnering with them on a trunk show for the second year in a row,” said Moda’s chief merchandising officer April Hennig. “This year, we’re adding four breakout stars to our curation and continuing to support Lisa Folawiyo and Andrea Iyamah. We are particularly excited about the creativity and breadth in design, the representation of personal heritage through traditional hand craftsmanship and fabrications, the commitment to supporting local artisans and the strong storytelling element.”
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