Designers from across 11 countries including Nigeria showcased various unique designs at the just concluded 2022 Africa Fashion and Design Week (AFDW).
The event which has successfully been held for 10 years now, marked its 10th year anniversary with various activities including business of fashion seminar, Blue Perl Rising Star and the runway shows which held between 14th and 15th of October, 2022.
Queengold Daniella Sekibo, founder, Africa Fashion Design Week said the Africa Fashion and Design Week has grown and has birthed the Business of Fashion Seminar which is an avenue to enhance core skills.
“As big designers thrive, you want the younger generations to take over. The business of fashion seminars is one of the brands that we also have launched. What we do is enhance the younger ones, help them know their core values in fashion, help them grow,” Sekibo said.
She said the Blue Pearl Rising Star involves finding and scouting for new designers and giving them a platform to shine.
She explained that the designers do not only showcase their designs at the AFDW but are also sponsored to New York. “This year we would have some of our stars that we have discovered from scratch, help them grow and they would become big names and award winners which is a joy and delight for us,” she said.
Themed ‘Imagine, Inspire, Ignite,’ this year’s event served as an avenue to tell people how AFDW started, inspire people and ignite their desire to be successful in designs.
“We want to inspire these designers because we know fashion contributes a lot to the value chain of our country. We showcased designers from across Africa and internationally as well.
“We have supermodels from Africa and the UK and designers within Nigeria. We showcased designers across 11 African countries, including Nigeria this year. For the Business of Fashion seminar, we had speakers from America, Kenya, Ghana and all of our major countries where Africa Fashion and Design Week have been held,” Sekibo said.
She explained that the Africa Fashion and Design Week started out of passion to showcase Africa to showcase Africa in the most positive light.
“As a fashion lover, I do a lot in New York. For me, every time I meet designers and producers backstage; they are always excited that I’m from Africa. I have to tell them that there are different other countries, different cultures, vast people and very creative minds. This was what birthed the Africa Fashion and Design Week.
“I wanted to tell our story in a different way, show the creativity of African designers across the world, a platform where we could show our talent, network and celebrate each other in the fashion industry.
“From Lagos, we have been to Los Angeles to New York, Nairobi and Accra. We have had the best of names in the Africa Fashion industry showcase on our runway. From Gavin Rajah, to Mustafa Hassanali, the list is long. They have all been on the runway of Africa Fashion and Design Week,” she said.
