By Christy Anyanwu
Notable Nigerian designers and their counterparts from various African and European countries as well as America, shone like diamonds as their creative works lit up the runway at 13th edition of the Africa Fashion Week London (AFWL), which lasted from 27th to 29th October, 2023 in London.
It was indeed three days of pomp and elegance as fashionistas came in droves to witness the glamorous show. The iconic fashion show founded by Queen Ronke Ademiluyi-Ogunwusi, has showcased over 800 emerging designers and exhibitors from Africa, Europe and America.
Some fashion houses and labels that participated in this year’s show include: Adire Oodua Textile Hub, House of Sota, Mary Martin London, David Wej, South Africa’s Kwa Zulu Natal, Abaake, Akpos Okudu, Apparel by Mo, Brittany Megalio, Ethnicity Clothing, Tull’s & Will, Simeogleme, Prelim, Performer, OJ Clothings, Mumini, Kutivs Collection, Ire Clothing, House of Solana, Grace -Fields, General Banners, Adjoua Pam, Amarelis, Bantu Gold, Ehi woman, Enadia Igbin Clothing, Gerad Banners, Hazza, Ikpen, Jurio Luti, LiszToMANIA, nguo , Patrick Slim, Pillz N PoizN, Ruby Dawn International, Syna Collections, among others.
The high point of the event was the Black History & Lifestyle Award Night, which is a vision of Eziada Folashade Balogun held on Sunday 29th in collaboration with AFWL, to honour African accomplishments.
“Commenting on the show, one of the attendees and fashion enthusiast, Annette Dore, gushed: “The show is absolutely fantastic. What the show brought Africa to the United Kingdom. With all these fantastic designers being uplifted, we are going to see what the talent is, and how these fashion prints are evolving.
“It is really good. I’m interested in buying some of these clothes, they are absolutely amazing. What I would have loved to see is the children’s collection. I hope next time they bring a children’s collection.”
Florentina Agu, from the Southeast while commending the AFWL Organisation said: “It’s very beautiful. Africa is the future. We are bringing colour to the world and this showcases all of that. In a world where everyone is wearing white T-Shirt and black pants, we are showing colours, we are showing our creativity, we’re showing our culture. We are sustainable, recycling is part of our culture. I pass my clothes to my younger ones, we are naturally sustainable, we are really in the future.”
Philomena Ogboru, put her admiration for the organisation of the event in this one sentence that captured the essence of the AFWL show: “Beautifully put together, I quite enjoy the versatility.”
Another attendee, Marie Mcghie, scored the event as “lovely and really nice,” adding, “I have never been to the Africa fashion show before and I really enjoyed it. It is a beautiful location. It’s very central. You could have had a lot more people walk into the event if it wasn’t raining. It’s just a fabulous evening. All the designers have done very well.”
Mcghie assessment struck the right chord in Jones Adebayo, a Nigerian resident resident overseas
Adebayo Jones who told Sunday Sun, “As you know me, in terms of what to do, I love clean classic lines and I love elegance and I love skillful tailoring. Anytime I see it on the runway, I get excited, because I know they put a lot of thought, a lot of skill, a lot of effort into that and there are quite a few designers that did that. I have to stop these designers and say fabulous work, congratulations. They put in a lot of artistry and skills. I love how Aso Oke has been used, with the beading, with the fine tailoring, with all the Adire.”