Omoyemi Akerele: Taking African Fashion into the Future

My entry to the fashion industry was in fashion styling and image consulting. I was the fashion editor of True Love West Africa, a lifestyle magazine and with my partner at the time, Bola Balogun, pioneered and revolutionised styling in Nigeria.

An incurable optimist.

Over the years, I realised that there was huge gap that needed to be filled. There was a need for a platform to spearhead change and work towards positioning fashion as business in Nigeria. Style House Files has done that with the Lagos Fashion Week platform and initiatives.

We are inspired by the creators in our community and an understanding of the potential that having clearly defined structure and infrastructure can have on positioning the ecosystem as a key contributor to job and wealth creation. 

What excites me most about fashion and textiles is the unique ability it has to tell a story about my people, our heritage and unique craftsmanship across the continent. 

The fashion and textile ecosystem can be a vehicle for socio economic change and empowerment. In addition to this, it also has the ability to unite communities through the creative process when functioning effectively as a value cycle.

We have contributed to building some of these communities over the years through impact from the work we do. Our fashion and textile sector can produce brands that positively empowers, creatively unites and commercially benefits thousands of people across the value chain.

Techniques that make them really special because they have been touched by human hands. We have found the need to gradually begin to focus our work on how African fashion can preserve its essence in a world where automated machines are fast replacing such traditional skills and techniques. 

How can we balance the designers’ need for scalability without upsetting the fragile ecosystem that’s people dependent for its uniqueness? 
How do we ensure that value is created from source to product?

Rather than dwell on fashion weeks and it’s future, in the last four years, our vision at Style House Files | Lagos Fashion Week has been to gradually move the conversation beyond creativity to adding value to the industry. It’s been about exploring how to create and support platforms that provide knowledge acquisition, skills development and job creation.

The future lies in 
- creating an ecosystem of thriving fashion businesses that can impact the African economic landscape
- developing intra African export markets, accessing untapped local and regional markets; and
- driving productivity and innovation in fashion.

Designers have also had to devise effective online and offline strategy for presenting their work to a global audience today. I don’t necessarily think it should be an either or situation, it should be combined because of the need for buyers and consumers to touch and feel, and to experience some of the collections beyond the confines of a screen.

Lagos is home to over fourteen million people with a youth population that’s estimated to be over half of this. There’s no denying that the creative energy and confidence in this city that’s constantly bustling with activity cannot be rivalled. 

The energy stands out because it tells a story. It tells a story of the diverse and dynamic culture of the people, of historical references, of commercial viability, of resilience and grit. It’s about creativity and innovation. It’s about job creation and empowering people. It’s about collaborative efforts; it’s about a group of people who are passionate about what they do as they set the pace for creative industries to thrive and I believe it will!

These groups of individuals are so committed to their vision and it's fine tuned season in season out. They remain true to their code – to see a thriving fashion industry. What makes them really special is the sharing of influences, the co-creating and collaborations. It is more than just dreaming of a fashion utopia, it’s about creating fashion made by our people, for our people to develop our people. 

Our resilience, passion and grit. 
Our unity, because what unites us as a nation is deeper than what separates us.
Our national pride.

·  Find a good mentor
·  Don’t be too hard on yourself
·  Be true to yourself
·  Be consistent
·  Stay focused on your goals·  
.  It’s ok to make mistakes :)
. It's ok to be afraid.
. Keep going