With over 48 student/aspiring designers and 30 exhibitors from across Nigeria expected at the event, fashion enthusiasts wait to be treated to a glimpse of the future of Nigerian fashion.
Students Pulse brings you some of the fast rising designers who will present their works to the world.
Name: Johnson Olufisayo Ufuoma
Brand Name:
Johnson Olufisayo Ufuoma is the second child in a family of four female children. Olufisayo is presently a second year fashion design student at Yaba College of Technology Lagos. Her brand name is Belle Array “a feminine brand for women of all shapes sizes and colour.”
“I believe that what a woman wears says a lot about her, so we focus on pieces that speak elegance, confidence and dauntlessness without trying too hard,” she said.
“We make our clients look effortlessly chic.”
She had a very interesting introduction to fashion designing.
“I grew up loving fashion. when we were kids, my sister and I had dolls and we enjoyed dressing them up.
The dolls were so fashionable and I wanted mine to dress up that way too but my mum wouldn’t get us doll clothes so we would cut out pieces from any fabric that came our way and use them to make doll dresses.”
“I was a really skinny teenager and it was always very difficult finding dresses I would like in my size, so I would just buy them anyway and then slim-fit them sometimes changing the styles. I became so good at it that my sisters and friends would make me restyle their clothes too.
Soon enough I got my first sewing machine as a gift from my aunt and we grew up together.”
Olufisayo is prepped up for NSFDW 2014.
“I expect to gain some exposure and publicity. As this is my first fashion show, it’s a huge step for me and I expect nothing but the best from NSFDW.”
Getting public acceptance and respect is her greatest challenge.
“If your brand name is not one of the well known and established ones in Nigeria, people see you as being ‘just a tailor'. They treat you like one and pay you that way too. I think Nigerians should be more supportive and try out new designers helping them grow too.
NSFDW organisers say the yearly showcase “aims to discover new talent and give opportunities to those that would not normally be able to afford to participate at the major Nigerian Fashion Weeks.”
The 2014 edition will hold at the University of Lagos from Thursday 5th to Friday 6th of June.