Nigeria stylists and fashion designers have been on the front foot with their creative and innovative styles. Recently the spotlight has been on them with the rise of the music and movie industries. Their creativity has spawned various local brands showcasing lots of colorful and out of the box designs made in Nigeria for global consumption.
One of the brands pushing the envelope in the Nigerian fashion industry is Zini Couture, the brand is on the front line with its African print and fabrics based designs.
“The Zini couture brand epitomizes authentic and understated luxury. Our men’s collection offers modern, refined business and evening wear along with sophisticated casual looks, while our women’s collection stands for feminine styles with a strong focus on fine fabrics and sophisticated detailing,” said founder Zachariah Iniemogha.
Zini Couture was brought to limelight as the bespoke clothiers and stylists of popular Afrobeats star Olamide also known as Baddo. Zini which is a combination of the first letter of the founder’s first name and the first 3 alphabets of his last name, asides from being Olamide’s bespoke designers have also styled and clothed celebrities like Wale, the US born Nigerian rapper and producer Sam Klef.
Zini Couture not only deals in African traditional wear, but also formal and casual English wear made from African fabrics and prints designs.
In 2017 Zini launched his ready to wear summer collection modeled by Toks Asher Young and photographed by Emmanuel Oyeleke. Zini opened its flagship store on March 2, 2019 at Hussey Street, opposite Yabatech, Yaba.
“It was a privilege to model the 2017 summer collection for Zini Couture, and it was fun working with Emmanuel on set at his studio, especially since it was my first paid job as a model”, Toks stated.
“The reason I enjoyed the shoot very much was because the designs were traditional Nigerian designs made with locally sourced fabrics like three-piece Yoruba attire; Dashiki, Kembe and Agbada,” he added.
“My first ever modeling shoot was a free gig in 2013 for the King Hakbal clothing brand owned by Hakeem Balogun, on location at the Silverbird Galleria. And in 2016, I also did another free shoot for AfroModel UK Clothing brand,” Young recalled.
The next major fashion event in Lagos will be more about ingenious designs, it will be a coming of age of the Nigerian fashion industry and at the rate our movie and music industries are gaining attention, our fashion brands are the next in line for global domination.
