The Lagos Fashion Week 2019 activities kicked off last night with The Gathering – an exclusive dinner party which brought together fashion’s power players at The Wings Complex in Victoria Island, Lagos.
Now in its second edition, the Fashion Business Series hosts important conversations on around African fashion with global indusrty leaders. This year’s theme: Sustainablity, Identity and Owning our culture. These very relevant topics were discussed in a series of fireside chats with Essence Ventures CEO and Sheamoisture Founder – Richelieu Dennis, Sustainability Advocate – Bandana Tewari, Designer – Selly Raby Kane and Visionary – Hirofumi Kurino.
Each discussion session was insightful, and impactful but one of the key takeaways from the evening was the need for us Africans to embrace our cultures and support our local fashion ecosystems. When asked by Style House Files/Lagos Fashion Week Founder Omoyemi Akerele about how we as Africans can own our craft, Richelieu Dennis said as Africans we have to start;
“Finding value in what we have and what we do, supporting each other and not waiting for anyone to validate what we’re doing.”
Throughout the night, guests enjoyed cocktails and a 3-course meal in the ornate room while mingling seamlessly. Among the fashion crowd was Bidemi Zakariyau, Adebayo Oke-Lawal, Stephen Tayo, Latti Ronke Bamisedun, Mai Atafo, and more.
Omoyemi ended the evening saying it is important to keep having discussions like these, because only then will real change come.
See more photos from the event below
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Photo Credit: The Alfe @the.alfe
