Taofiq emerges winner of master of style at Dare2Dream

It was all glitz and glamour as the fifth season of the youth-empowerment platform, Dare2Dream, powered by PZ Cussons two major brands, Imperial Leather and Canoe soaps, came to an end with the grand finale event held at Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The much-anticipated grand finale was the culmination of a series of activities and events that have seen the emergence of talents in the areas of modeling, performing arts, and fashion design from across the country.

Contestants in this year’s edition were pooled from five universities — University of Jos, University of Port Harcourt, University of Benin, University of Lagos, and University of Calabar.

18 contestants from the five universities made it into the boot camp, where they were groomed and put through series of tests before the final stage, where eventual winners were selected.

This edition, witnessed a twist as the competition and category sponsors of the fashion design category, Imperial Leather and Canoe, introduced the masters of style campaign.

The campaign sought to discover and reward the best talents in the category.

Qualifying participants from each of the campuses were placed in to somewhat an incubator program, where they were mentored and groomed by celebrity fashion designer, Mai Atafo, over a four-day period as they prepared for the final showdown.

After what could be termed a night of impressive talent showcase, winners emerged.

Emmanuella Alile, representing the University of Lagos, emerged as the winner of the performing arts category, Olamide Olawaiye, representing the University of Benin, emerged as the winner of the modeling category.

Highpoint of the night was the fashion design category, which was keenly contested.

After a tense moment, Yahaya Taofiq, representing the University of Lagos, was announced winner of the category and master of style 2018.

Each winner walked away with a prize money of N500,000, while the masters of style winner in addition to the cash prize got a paid internship with a top fashion designer as well as an opportunity to showcase his designs at a major fashion show in Nigeria.

Speaking at the event, Brand and Activation Manager, PZ Cussons, Busayo John, who expressed her joy regarding the outcome of the programme.

She said, “We have seen amazing talents today, and we at PZ Cussons are pleased to be part of such a laudable initiative.

This season, we decided to focus on the fashion design category, which happens to be one of the passion points for our brands, Imperial Leather and Canoe.”

“Through the masters of style platform, we hope to discover and encourage many more hidden talents.

We are excited for the future of the respective winners and we are certainly expecting big things from them,” she added.Some of the biggest names in the entertainment and fashion industry that attended the event Kate Henshaw, Kelechi Amadi-Obi, Bovi, Samantha Walsh, and Denola Grey among others.

The judging panel comprised of Mai Atafo; multi-award winning Nollywood actress, Dakore Akande; X3M CEO, Steve Babaeko, and the eccentric Denrele Edun