Sustainability, creativity, innovation, and cultural storytelling was the preoccupation of the runway presentations by over 20 designers who reinforced the potentials of African fashion in the global space through their showcased collections at the Epic Fashion Week 2026.

The two day event produced by Fashions Finest Africa and Mahogany International, took place at The Podium, Lekki, Lagos recently, bringing together fashion enthusiasts, emerging designers, industry stakeholders, creatives, influencers, celebrities, and key players within the African fashion ecosystem for an immersive celebration of style, culture, and the future of fashion.

Day-one of the event featured the Business of Fashion Conference, an insightful symposium designed to equip emerging fashion creatives with the knowledge and conversations needed to build sustainable and commercially viable fashion businesses.

The conference featured two engaging panel sessions. The first session, themed “Authenticity vs Commercialisation: Staying True While Appealing to Wider Markets,” featured contributions from Folake Kuye Huntoon, King David, Praise Anaba, and Vivian Umoh, with Hadassah serving as moderator.

The second session, themed “Fashion Without Borders: Positioning for Export,” was moderated by Scott Itepu and featured speakers including Nkiru Anachukwu and Rhoda Agunigho, who shared valuable insights on scaling African fashion brands for international markets.

Day-two spotlighted the highly anticipated Design for the Future (D4DF) competition, a platform dedicated to encouraging young designers to embrace sustainability and timeless fashion practices in their creative process.

The competition attracted over 2,000 entries, with 25 designers selected for a six weeks incubation and mentorship programme.

Following several stages of assessments and showcases, 10 finalists emerged, including Judy Signature, Light Alta Moda, Jiri, Arig Atelier, Kush Atelier, Luke Smart, Melagante, Tomi Ifebogun, Iwari, and Mina Christian.

At the end of the competition, Iwari emerged winner, receiving ₦1 million in seed funding alongside a one-year mentorship opportunity designed to support the growth and development of the brand within the fashion industry.

Respected industry figures were the panel of judges for the competition including Tosin Ogundadegbe popularly known as The Style Infidel, Sola Oyebade, Gift Olohije, and Tolulope Omoyeni.

Founder of Fashions Finest Africa and Epic Fashion Week, Sola Oyebade, noted that the platform, formerly known as Epic Show, was created specifically to provide emerging African fashion creatives with a dedicated platform capable of projecting their talents onto the global stage.

He noted that the vision for Epic Fashion Week extends far beyond its current format, with plans already underway to expand the event in future editions to create even larger opportunities for designers and creatives across the fashion industry.

“Epic Fashion Week was created to give emerging creatives a platform where their work can truly be seen, celebrated, and elevated. We are committed to building a globally respected fashion platform that continuously supports the next generation of fashion talent,” Oyebade stated.

Notable personalities spotted across both days of the event included Medlinboss, Tacha, Ejiro Amos Tafiri,Akin Faminu, Michael Ejoor, Kayito Nwokedi, Larry Hector, Emmanuel Goodnews, Kanaga,Ruth Vader, Ebunoluwa Dosumu,Mai Atafo, Sunky O, Neo Akpofure, Grand Prince Ita, and several other prominent figures in fashion, entertainment, and lifestyle.