Every Photo Worth Seeing From Vlisco&Co's “A Beautiful Struggle” Film Premiere

Vlisco&co returned for a third edition since its inception in 2017. In the spirit of collaboration between the brand and the Nigerian creative space, this edition featured the work and essence of three young Nigerians, Dafe Oboro, with his short film, “A Beautiful Struggle”, alongside Papa Oyeyemi and Abiola Olusola’s fashion presentation.

Dafe Oboro’s film explored his perspective of the beauty of the streets of Lagos, his home city, through a fashionable portrait that follows a small-town man’s pursuit of stardom across a vibrant, psychedelic backdrop of the city of Lagos, as he also explores his passion for music.

Part of this year’s edition gave room for an interactive discussion between showcasing creative talent and Tushar Hathimarani to debate the theme of Dafe’s film and the inspiration behind the designers’ collection, moderated by Lola Pedro, Africa Regional Director at TrendWatching. Also present at the showcase was David Suddens, MD/CEO Vlisco Group and Head of Vlisco&co, Gabriela Sánchez y Sánchez de la Barquera.

Yvonne Chiole

Debola Williams and Betty Irabor

The event, which was held at the renowned Terra Kulture in Victoria Island Lagos on Thursday, July 18th, saw a cross-section of guests entertained as they celebrated some of Nigeria’s underdogs in the creative space.

Previous Vlisco&co editions include the fashion presentation bringing designers Abiola Olusola and Tokyo James together. Abiola Olusola’s collection was a fresh mix of geometrical fashion using classic Vlisco designs. Tokyo James presented a menswear collection with a strong modern visual statement, using the new Bubble Wax fabric by Vlisco. During this edition, Vlisco&co also premiered Daniel Obasi’s afro-futurism inspired film “An Alien in Town” which explored the designs from Abiola Olusola and Tokyo James.

Vimbai

Designer, Sisiano

In 2018, Vlisco&co traveled to Nigeria’s culturally rich Igbo land with its creative Nigerian network to research the ethnic group and its relation with their fabrics.

This second Vlisco&co edition showcased the collaboration of design, film, and photography inspired by the Igbo. The event featured the short film “Udara” by Daniel Obasi, two fashion collections by Gozel Green and Fruché, and photography by Yagazie Emezi.