Curvy fashion is here to stay! After the triumphant success that Latasha Ngwube’s About That Curvy Life Collective at Heineken Lagos Fashion and Design Week 2016, ATCL is engaging Africa in the conversation about body positivity and plus size inclusion via #LFDW’s esteemed 2017 platform.
Powered by the tech giant, Intel the current slogan #IamPowerful is in line with Aboutthatcurvylife’s message of empowerment affirming every man and woman’s right to feel beautiful, confident and stylish at whatever size.
Speaking on what can be expected at the ATCL Collective showcase this year, Latasha says:
We are extremely proud of the historical success The About That Curvy Life Collective achieved in 2016. Launched at The Heineken Lagos Fashion and Design Week 2016, we made history as the first plus size fashion show on an international fashion runway in Africa. Pursuant, The Collective was featured across several international media outlets including CNN, BBC, Yahoo, and The Guardian. This eventually led to our invitation to make history in Ghana by taking the Collective to the Glitz Africa Fashion Week 2017, Accra, Ghana.
ATCL believes that the opportunity to look and feel your best should be available to all women and men, without prejudice. Fashionable timeless pieces are required by people of all shapes, shades, and sizes, and as such, the About That Curvy Life Collective showcases fashion brands that are committed to inclusive fashion.
The Heineken Lagos Fashion and Design Week provides a creative outlet to promote some of the nation’s most talented designers; offering curvy consumers additional shopping options, and helping local designers build a retail business in an under-served market.
Beyond the message of body positivity, which ATCL champions unapologetically, plus-size fashion is one of Nigeria’s biggest untapped apparel-related market opportunities. Comparatively, in 2016, Americans spent the US $20.4 billion on plus size clothing exclusively. While Nigeria does not offer such specific statistics, data gathered by Price Waterhouse Cooper (PWC) indicates that in the same period of time, Nigerians spent the US $10 billion on clothes.
The ATCL Collective designers include:
Eponymous brand, Osuare, a cosmopolitan African womenswear brand that caters to the needs of women of all shapes and sizes. Osuare Egbuonu specializes in the use of hand-painted and hand-dyed prints. Her pieces are edgy, reflecting originality and heritage.
Womenswear brand Nori Clothing based in Abuja owned by Uga Akinbode. The brand specializes in ready to wear and bespoke. They cater for people of all sizes, and ages, and for the simple yet sophisticated, fashionable and edgy woman.
Contemporary plus size fashion and lifestyle brand Assian creatively led by Matthew Gordon strongly believes in being size inclusive and operates based on the belief that “we all matter”