Fashion Focus X Creative Hustle impacts thousands across Nigeria

olamide olarewaju

September 28, 2016 4:20 PM

With facilitators in the fashion industryand eager participants in attendance, see Fashion Focus X Creative Hustle in pictures...

Participants at the Fashion Focus X Creative Hustle seminar

The Heineken Lagos Fashion & Design Week 2016 Fashion Focus X Creative Hustle has impacted over 1000 people in across four cities in seven days in Nigeria.

The organizers had facilitators who are budding fashion entrepreneurs, enthusiasts and from the creative industry include Adejoke Rukky Ladoja of Grey Projects, Adebayo Oke-Lawal of Orange Culture, Isoken Ogiemwonyi of Zazaii, Wana Udoabang a journalist, Ogwa Iweze of Dyzn, Halima Yunusa of 41Luxe, Akpos Okudu a designerand Chioma Nwuko of Juwal Collections in Lagos, Abuja, Calabar and Enugu who took participants through how to earn a living in the fashion industry.

The workshop kicked off on 15th through 24th September 2016 across selected states in Nigeria. The conversation featured presentations from the seven facilitators as well Londe Thompson of Style House Files and Jennifer Onochie of British Council who highlighted the painstaking business of creating a fashion label that is not often discussed widely.

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“Creativity is such a small part of building a fashion brand,” said Adebayo Oke-Lawal took the participants through "The Value Chain of creating a brand" Adebayo hammered on the importance of marketing, quality production and good business acumen in the overall success of a fashion brand.

Another point, which was echoed by both Rukky of Grey and Adebayo of Orange Culture was the importance of knowing target demographic as a designer. Orange Culture, which caters to what the designer calls a “creative class of men” has created a niche market for itself, because of its distinct approach to menswear.

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Similar to Orange Culture, Rukky Ladoja has also found a way to distinguish herself and her brand in the saturated world of womenswear by publicising Grey Projects as a brand that prioritizes both design and functionality “I make clothes that a woman is able to live her life in” Rukky revealed.

During the question and answer portion of the event, questions about the woes of being a Nigerian designer in the current economic ecosystem and the pitfalls of producing in bulk were posed to the panelists where they were told to “be strategic and the economic situation will work for you,” by Londe.

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For attendees who were not particularly interested in fashion designing, a lot of time was spent on the plethora of careers that are available in the fashion industry. Adebayo noted that he had tried his hand at almost every fashion career before permanently settling as a designer.

On the importance of public education events like the Fashion Focus x Creative Hustle series, Adebayo noted “I think seminars like this are very beneficial because it gives designers the knowledge they need. A lot of young designers encounter foundational issues because they start a brand and don’t know the rooting of the brand or other important things. Seminars like this give young designers an opportunity to learn and go back and correct their foundational mistakes.”

As a part of Style House Files, Fashion Focus x Creative Hustle series is in partnership with The British Council. The HeinekenLFDW 2016 will hold from the 26th through 29th October 2016 in Lagos.

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