KÍLẸ̀ŃTÀR.
Lagos Fashion Week is still on everyone’s lips a few days into November. The show was filled with laughs, falls, and a whole lot of celebrity appearances. Yet the biggest celebrity was fashion. From the street style to the runway shows, every corner of the Federal Palace Hotel had a stunning look.
Lagos Fashion Week was founded in 2011 and in 13 years, it has become a significant event for the fashion industry in Africa. So on the 24th of October, I got in a cab heading for Victoria Island for the second day of the Lagos Fashion Week. I was not surprised when I was swept off my feet on arrival as I had been on the first day, of course, the Lagos flood added to my lack of motoring skill. But the clothes on and off the runway played the largest role.
Lagos has garnered a reputation as one of the most fashionable cities in Africa. It is home to fashion figures like Iretidayo Zaccheus of Street Souk and the iconoclastic designer, Mowalola.
However, the city’s approach to fashion is as diverse as its citizens. The university fashion scene is fueled by thrift lovers from the University of Lagos and the fashion design students of Yaba College of Technology.
The upper-echelon kids in Ikoyi and Victoria Island have found a home and hub in the streetwear community where brands like AshLuxe and Severe Nature never run dry.
The Alté community is the fashion behemoth that has become a global entity with a fanbase that reaches East Asia.
Then there is the high-fashion Lagos; these brands have runway shows in Paris, Milan, London, and New York. Their stocks can be found in high-end boutiques like Alara (Lagos), Browns (London), and Tom Of Finland (Los Angeles).
This diversity in Lagos’s fashion scene makes it hard to categorise Lagos’s Style. Is Lagos the designers’ playground like Paris? Is it the city for hopeful fashion students like London? Is it the home of heritage craftsmanship like Milan? Or is it the fourth secret and experimental thing like New York?
The answer is not the question paper. Fashion is less of an objective question with an answer, it is a Venn diagram. Lagos is a designer’s playground and houses established brands like Lisa Folawiyo and Kenneth Ize. It is a city for ex-fashion students redefining the system’s rigidity like Chinyemugo of Mugo Mugo and Aanuoluwa Ajide-Daniels of ASO Nigeria; both graduates of Parsons School Of Design. It is home to brands rooted in artistry heritage like Éki kéré who launched the raffia rave, UGO MONYE, and Winston Luxury Leather, whose family has supplied leather to European brands for decades. It is the fourth thing that refuses to be a secret and dares to push boundaries with brands like Orange Culture, LFJ, Kadiju and Bloke.
The best place to catch some of these brands is on the Lagos Fashion Week runway. But by the fluid nature of fashion in the city, some brands take on new personas and you never know what to expect. So I took it to the basics and made a superlatives list for the Spring-Summer 2025 collections. Who was experimental, who brought history, and who was for the hot girls? The answer to the latter is:
Most Likely To Trend On Pinterest: KÍLẸ̀ŃTÀR.
KÍLẸ̀ŃTÀR broke the curse of being boxed as a traditional brand when it launched in 2019. The brand has successfully fused traditional African designs and contemporary fashion. Its Spring-Summer 2025 collection showcased at the Lagos Fashion Week runway did not stray from its ethos.
The Mama Ìbẹ́ta SS25 collection drew inspiration from earth, water, and fire. It features textured layers and shell accents, celebrating heritage and the stories of generations past. Each piece honours the craftsmanship and spirit of our ancestors. Despite being an ode to her culture, the collection resonates with a much younger and alive audience—the hot girls. The skirts were short, and the dresses were party-ready.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DBvjgDFq-yC
Most Innovative: DUST OF THE EARTH.
A two-piece made with shoelaces by Dust Of The Earth.
Photography by outerspace.
Dust Of The Earth shot into fashion stardom when it was listed as a finalist at the 2023 Green Access programme launched by Lagos Fashion Week. The programme highlights and mentors sustainable brands in Nigeria. Every year, finalists have the opportunity to join the Lagos Fashion Week lineup. The 2024 fashion week saw Dust Of The Earth return to its runway. It also returned with its unconventional technique of weaving shoelaces into textiles.
The SS25 is titled BI BAAMI which translates to like my father. As its creative director, Temetan Omolabake, stated, “The collection serves as a daily reminder that we are just like our Father in heaven, in His image, His likeness, His power, His creativity.” This is a fitting metaphor for Dust Of the Earth’s SS25 collection. She makes a fair comparison saying the human’s ability to create is liken to its original creator because Omolabake’s ability to make garments out of shoelaces can only be described as Godlike.
Most Fun To Watch: CUTE-SAINT.
Photography by outerspace.
Gen-Z has been bit by the armoured nostalgia bug and can not let go of 90s trends. So Cute-Saint told the story of the 90s trends and their non-homogeneity. From the McBling to the real Y2K trends, every was reminiscent of a moment in the 90s. As its designs imply, it was named Rhythm In Time.
However, the rhythm was more denotative than the models on stage. Some even took breaks and shook hands. Like our adrenaline, this collection boosted to the top of this list.
Most Adventurous: LFJ.
LFJ, an acronym for Lovefromjulez, flaunts her exceptional craftsmanship with Shores. Shores is about the ocean and its animal migration. The collection features marine animal-like silhouettes. Princess Juliet Olanipekun played with shapes and pleats, there were no rules.
Best Storytelling: UGO MONYE.
UGO MONYE had Davido and a good runway story where every model took a handkerchief from the covered model standing on the left. His recent collection, “Ife Aso Anyi” (We do what we like), embodied the essence of intrigue, what stood under the cover. The antsy crowd eventually found out it was the eponymous designer underneath. Monye’s designs celebrate authenticity, pushing African fashion to the forefront as an original and creative expression. As Martin Scorsese said, “Cinema!”
Favourite Fresh Face: OYA OBEO AND GARBE.
Oya Abeó (Batik).
The finalists of Green Access Programme 2024 made their Lagos Fashion Week debut a la contract. The programme highlights brands championing sustainability and promoting slow fashion. Oya Abeó‘s collection was a breakout summer brand with its bright colours and batik prints.
Batik is a dyeing technique that uses wax to resist the dye and create intricate patterns on fabric. The patterns can be anything from simple geometric shapes to complex floral designs.
Garbe SS25.
On the other hand, Garbe made fashion history as the first brand to showcase a Yoruba fashion film (GBAJUMO) in 2023.
Both brands took the opportunity to reintroduce their techniques and interpretation of modern fashion in a sustainable world to a larger audience.
Scene Stealer: HENIEKEN.
Heineken X Orange Culture.
Lagos Fashion Week is also known as Heineken Lagos Fashion Week. The story of how it got that moniker is similar to how New York Fashion Week began as Mercedes Benz—it was the title sponsor. The brewery has been a major part of Fashion Week since its inception in 2013. This role provides Heineken with a runway slot, and this year, they unveiled a 45cl bottle. In celebration of the latest addition, Heineken teamed up with notable Nigerian designers to create Heineken-inspired collections. This designer lineup includes Emmy Kasbit, Orange Culture, Y’wandelag, and Éki kéré.
Most Cohesive: LFJ.
LFJ told a solid and structured story with its SS25 “Shores”. Shores reimagines the experiences of aquatic animals with fabrics and shapes. From jellyfish to string rays, LFJ lined up the marine animals and put them on the Lagos runway.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DBv-AhDIdJY/?img_index=2
Cutest: PEPPER ROW.
Pepper Row just wanted us to have fun. The SS25 collection, Jiggy Space Club, aimed to hypothetically celebrate Lagos’ culture in space. “Jiggy Space Club merges Nigerian heritage with cosmic style, featuring the heartfelt nods to Lagos, and a fictional pink panther character, together… honouring resilience, community, and intergalactic unity,” Pepper Row explained.
If this confuses you, then you are new to the world of Pepper Row. Pepper Row, founded by Omafume Niemogha, has never subscribed to reality. Its SS24 collection was about a human’s journey to Mars and then partying in a spaceship. When discussing that show on Instagram, Pepper Row’s account stated, “Imagine humans mutating with the help of a unique floral plant discovered in Lagos by a Professor of Phyto-Medicine, enabling them to breathe on Mars.”
Pepper Row has always believed fashion should be fun, quirky, and borderline delusional. It is a fantasy and refreshing to see that in its six years of existence, it has stayed true to itself.
Most Dramatic: KADIJU.
Kadiju, founded by Oyindamola Aleshinloye, is known for its maximalism and exaggeration of shapes. In a heartfelt note, Aleshinloye expressed that this collection, Rooted in Joy, was inspired by the dreadful year that has been 2024. The collection sees her use of Nigeria as a metaphor for a place where uncertainty and possibility co-exist.
Like several Kadiju collections, the 007 collection was an artistic interpretation of her inspiration.
Kadiju arranges its collection in numerical order, with its debut show being 001.