GTB Fashion weekend begins with flair

Fashion season is upon us and fashion lovers, buyers and beauty connoisseurs can heave a sigh of relief as the annual GTBank fashion weekend kicks off today at the GT Centre in Lagos.

The Fashion Weekend is a consumer-focused fair and free business platform designed to showcase the best of Africa’s fashion to a global audience whilst promoting the effervescent enterprise of the continents growing fashion industry.

Now in its fourth edition, The Weekend has become a platform for showcasing Africa’s finest and promoting real commerce for small businesses in the fashion industry. This year, the Fashion Weekend will bring together the most promising, talented and recognised fashion designers brands and retail enterprises from across Nigeria and abroad to showcase trends and products to a large and diverse audience of consumers, press and fashion enthusiasts. Featuring dye presentations, popup shops, masterclasses and runway shows, the weekend will connect small businesses to a wider audience of consumers as well as their peers at home and abroad whilst providing learning opportunities for business owners and consumers.

Speaking with The Guardian yesterday, Oyinade Adeite, corporate communications spokesperson for the bank said it set up this platform four years ago to promote enterprise and the vision hasn’t changed. “We love fashion and more importantly, we love our customers and their businesses and we want to do everything we can to encourage them. As the world becomes smaller everyday through technology, we want to create ways and platforms that can enrich our customer’s businesses.” 

Adeite said they are expecting over 130 businesses to exhibit and the testimonials go beyond the two days.
Beginning today and ending tomorrow, she added that most of the businesses exhibiting this year are newcomers with just 25 per cent returnees, to give others a chance. “We want everyone to come out to support these businesses as there would be new, bigger and better changes this year.”

Adding that there are 10 master classes this year, she said: “The idea behind this is to empower those that are starting out in the fashion industry. Beyond what you learnt in school, it’s important to learn from people who have actually walked the journey and propel you to your dreams. It might be a line or word that would change your life, you never know.

“We have stylists, designers, hairstylist Kim Kimble, makeup artists, buyers, editors, someone is coming from Hong Kong Vogue, someone from La Roche, two international models, a UK-based designer, a makeup expert and the Ojudu women that make aso oke and aso ofi and would show us how it is made.”

Designers to expect today include Odion Mimonet, Macho, Style Temple, Africane and so on while Ituen Basi, Sekinah, Murphy Murphy, Studio one, Lanre da Silva Ajayi, Laquan Smith, Nkwo and Fruche will hold it down tomorrow.Adeite also revealed that they have patnered with the Nike art gallery for an art village at the venue for attendees that would be interested in arts, crafts and African design.