Akpos Okudu – Bonita Valli

Style House Files presented the first Lagos Fashion and Design Week sponsored by MTN. The show ran from Wednesday the 26th to Saturday the 29th and seeing as I was interning backstage as well as front house for the duration of the event, I experienced a lot of drama and was under immense pressure.

Leading up to the event, I had showed up late at a briefing with Blow London, the PR team in charge of the event. This is because until the very last minute, I was uninformed about the time and date of the briefing. You can only imagine my fury to find that not only was I the last person to get there, but I was also the only one that was informed at the very last minute. All eyes were on me as I walked in and all talk about punctuality appeared to be directed towards me solely. From then on, I made up my mind that I’d do everything in my power to alter this perception.

On Wednesday the 26th we were all to arrive at the venue, Eko Hotel, at 9:00am prompt, however I showed up at 8:30am and my plan was already in full swing. Michael B from Blow PR told me just how impressed he was with my punctuality and as a result, I was made the coordinator of all interns backstage. Equipped with a walkie talkie and clipboard I started assigning interns to the various design teams.

Right before the show started, I was told that I’d be working front house as well as backstage as I would be calling the show assisted by John backstage, Ola the sound technician, Dada the lighting technician and Jenny, Darrell and Micheal the front house team. As you can imagine it was manic, there was tons of pressure and communication was key.

Nevertheless, I pulled off the job and still managed to get a good view of the show. I must say, I was particularly impressed by Phunk Afrique’s Collection. The splash of colour, the feminine maxi’s and the chiffon were all objects of my wardrobe fantasy.

My backstage Pass

Right before the designers began coming in. I had to wear all black!

A list of the models and their groups.

Akpos Okudu (a nominee for MTN young designer of the year). You might remember her from my LPM post.

Jess Stefani another nominee for the MTN young designer of the year.

IamIsigo yet another nominee

Koketso pieces

Me and Funke Ogunde, the designer of Phunk Afrique

My favourite piece from the Phink Afrique Collection

Another one of my favourites from the Phunk Afrique Collection

xXx

Ps: I take no credit for the last two photos.

Pps: Sorry, it’s a rather long post.

Last Sunday marked my first experience of the infamous ‘Le Petit Marché‘ (LPM). Like the name implies, LPM is ‘a small market’; and based in Lagos, it serves as a platform for promoting and building the ever-growing Nigerian fashion industry.

As a self-proclaimed fashion aficionado, I deemed it necessary to step into this fashion dimension and draw up a personal conclusion of the atmosphere, the location and most importantly, the vendors.

Upon arrival at the GET arena I was overwhelmed by the turn out. I must have arrived smack bang in the middle of peak period because it was packed!!! The ambiance was absolutely amazing and had me immediately delving through the racks of Akpos Okudu. The jaw-dropping craftsmanship at Raindrops on Roses (R n R) was breathtaking with the presentation signifying a stamp of good quality. House Of Marie was also present displaying a collection of ankara inspired blouses; and a royal blue Virtue (by Dipo Abiola) blazer sitting on a mannequin was just the sight for sore eyes.

This October, LPM are handing over the reins of the Marché to you (well us) all you need do, is send your idea or what you’d like to see to: info@lpmnigeria.com. I hear there’s even a prize to be won 😉

In the mean time, here are pictures from September’s LPM…

Akpos Okudu