Da Viva Partners FADAN To Promote Young Designers

IN a bid to promote the spirit of oneness and co-operation among professional fashion designers as well as encourage young designers to build their talents in the fashion industry, the Fashion Designers Association of Nigeria (FADAN) organized a fashion show last weekend.

The event, a mid-year fashion exhibition which held at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, witnessed over 20 young designers, who are students of various fashion schools, including FADAN members, showcase different outfits for kids and adults alike as Ankara accessories were also not left out on display.

Speaking at the event, the Public Relations Officer of Da Viva sponsors of the exhibition, Carol Arhere, said the brand was partnering with FADAN because it helps the company meet with the designers who use their fabric for customers.

“This is an association of African designers, both young and old, and so we are proud to be official sponsors of this fashion show mainly because it gives an opportunity for young designers to grow in the industry.”

She also noted that Da Viva fabrics, which are quite affordable, target the average man and can be used for evening wears, casuals and accessories.

According to the President of FADAN, Funmi Ajila-Ladipo, the aim of the fashion show was to grow the industry by showcasing young and upcoming designers. “All the designers here today are students of fashion schools who are still undergoing training, and so we want to encourage people to go to proper fashion school. A lot of people just get a sewing machine and start sewing clothes, it doesn’t work like that and that is why we have a lot of hazard clothings. We want to grow a very healthy industry.”

“We also want to bring everybody together so that we can really know how many people are in the industry and also reach out to the government. We have been able to speak to President Buhari and we hope to have a formal session with him soon,” she said.

She, however, stressed that what Nigerians have consistently done is making samples with the designs because there is no production hub. “We want the government to help us with a production hub so that young designers can make their samples and mass produce them instead of always importing them, that way, more people can wear Nigerian made clothing and there will be space for more creativity in the industry.”

The FADAN president also added: “One of our challenges is power supply; without it, you cannot do anything, look at the few days that there was no fuel, many designers couldn’t do anything. We pray that the future of the industry will be great with the help of the government otherwise we will keep wallowing unless private stakeholders come in to help build the industry. In other western countries, their economy is reaping from the production hub which has helped designers grow; we need that to happen here too.”

Here are some of the stunning creative designs at the show.