Sukeina: Sartorial Story Tellers

Posted on January 15, 2021 by mazzi

Finding time over Zoom to speak to Omar Salam, the founder and creative director of Sukeina, is a tricky process, but for the best reasons. In spite of the world being in the grip of a global pandemic, things have never been busier, Since launching Sukeina in 2012, his has been a giddy, upward trajectory. Critical acclaim and impressive press notices, including a multi-page editorial in the prestigious US Vogue September 2020 issue, iconic supermodels such as Naomi Campbell and Natalia Vodianova as early adopters of his signature pieces and stockists globally, point to him having created a fashion house with firm commercial and creative foundations, that is built to last. But unsurprisingly, that is not the whole story and he is refreshingly candid as we speak in the company of Dimeji Alara, who is not only his fashion director but his aesthetics collaborator and visual touchstone, about the making of this thoroughly modern African luxury brand.

Tocca Jacket, SS2021. Image: Amanda Pratt Styling: Dimeji Alara

“What I was really interested in wasn’t creating a fashion brand, it was telling stories.” Initially Salam was on a path to film-making, but he abandoned his movie ambitions when he noted the inherent and structural prejudices built into the industry. He expands “two years into my programme I realised I no longer want to be in screenwriting, because the opportunity wasn’t given to all and only a handful could really get a platform.” With clothing he saw an alternative form of communication noting “fashion was quite interesting at an ornamental level but mainly I was drawn to how quickly every single person was able whether they were conscious of it or not, to tell stories about how they felt at that very moment through dress.” It is an oft noted trope that what we wear is the most potent non-verbal communication we share with the world and also with those we meet on an inter-personal level. Even an active disinterest is a statement of intent. For Salam, the idea of rather than convincing people to part with two hours of their time in a darkened auditorium to engage with his vision, but instead co-opting his vision to reflect something of themselves was far the more intriguing direction to pursue. Indeed, film’s loss has proven fashion’s gain, but not without some similar principles in play of narrative arc, dramatis personae and heroic quests being sewn into each piece he creates.

Butterfly Blouse and Delta Skirt SS2021 Image: Amanda Pratt Styling: Dimeji Alara

Of Origins and Mandates

Fashion loves an origin story, and in fact often demands that ones involving people of colour are even more dramatic. Who can forget the (very much debunked because it patently wasn’t true) rumour of supermodel Iman having been plucked from obscurity in her previous role as a tribal herds-woman? She is in fact the daughter of well-travelled, educated and urbane Somalian diplomats. Salam has been both lauded and somewhat misrepresented in the bid for editors and writers (often western based or educated) to place him in a neat box assigned to black creatives in terms of both their roots and their consequent influences. `’I am so happy that you are giving me the opportunity to perhaps try being a bit more clear. I often get asked what influenced you? What inspired you? And while it has become such a normal thing to ask a creative or a designer and we rush into answering… There are many many things that come with you that are prior to you and are sometimes beyond your understanding of understanding, So I just want to put it out there that I am an African man that was partially raised in Europe that in adulthood is working in the American space, that speaks Wolof but also speaks French but also speaks English, that works with customers that are Japanese but also some who are Arab and American and European and I am very very enthused and curious about the world.” Dimeji is silently nodding in agreement at what Salam is boldly articulating – that Africa and Africans are not one singular entity or set of experiences and levels of exposure. That not every African’s background includes abject poverty, a paucity of educational opportunities and knowledge and, spoiler alert, requires a dash of fairy-dust by way of western media acknowledgement. If anything, that Salam still finds himself being viewed as an anomaly, speaks to unconscious biases that still exist, in spite of the Summer of Race Reckoning that was 2020. Some writers have been too speedy to place him in Senegal or their own ‘tribal’ version of it, when there exists layers of nuance that are blithely ignored due to his race. The multiplicity of locations both for himself and also for his inspirations is not the exclusive domain of a designer living in a particular locale, or colour. It is in fact reflective of the 21st century, where prior to the pandemic affordable travel coupled with the digital capabilities to travel anywhere via your phone means that inspiration can and is picked up anywhere, that curiosity can be readily sated by all, and that clients can and will come from far and wide.

Celio Jacket SS2021 Image: Amanda Pratt Styling: Dimeji Alara

Sukeina is in fact named after Salam’s mother and he adds there are further etymological roots of the name itself: “ when I would ask my grandmother the question what does Sukeina mean she would say it means ‘bright light’ and I would be like okay. And then she would say, ‘When a room doesn’t have a table it is table-less but you can still sit, when it doesn’t have a chair, it is chair-less yet you can still stand’…and she talked at length on the importance of perspective and perception and she felt that when there was no light everything goes missing. But when there is light in the room you can see where the chair is…where everything is and only then can you see the value of all. And I was fascinated by the kindness of it [of the light and it’s role]…That notion kind of stuck with me when the time came to create a company. Not only did I like very much the wording and meaning around it but also the person that I got to know very early in my life was kind of that. While my father had a very important position in the UN and in government and whatnot, my mother was kind of the glue behind it and added things, removed things, strategised. In the end she made him shine.” But beyond being a personal eulogy to the essence of his mother, Salam expands his thesis wider adding : “Sukeina is shining a light on what women truly are and have always been and aren’t always perceived as .They jump very quickly into the everyday motions…and don’t get a chance to turn the focus on themselves and say who am I, what am i, what am I outside of what I do? And what Sukeina is trying to be in a woman’s closet is to create armours, to create outside shells, create directions, create stimulus that remind a woman how incredibly necessary, how incredibly pivotal, how incredibly important and how incredibly key she is, has been and will always be.”

Kyte Cloud Dress SS2021 Image: Amanda Pratt Styling: Dimeji Alara

With a brand mandate that is more closely aligned to a broader manifesto of equipping women with the tools for self expression, providing them with aesthetic permission to explore their many selves, and most critically of all, demand that they are fully celebrated as a result, it would be easy to ask pithily how do such lofty ideals and goals translate into apparel. But Salam is not one for hyperbole or empty platitudes and in the collections one sees his creative aims and cultural objectives being fulfilled one piece at a time. Initially lauded for his occasion wear, he steered clear of obvious cliches such as using classic luxe fabrics exclusively. Many of the pieces were made of a silk neoprene. It was an interesting choice as neoprene is often utilised in protective garments and Salam’s decision could be seen as both a comment on a woman requiring her apparel to act as the aforementioned armour, but with the choice of silk blend, still needing to feel luxurious. Contrasting and compelling juxtapositions are another notable feature in Sukeina collections: pieces are sometimes adorned with ostrich plumes, adding flamboyance and an unapologetic celebratory air to proceedings. For Salam whether one is off to a Red Carpet event or celebrating a milestone birthday with family and friends, the pieces act as a frame for the memories made, but must elicit an interior emotion in their movement, feel and ultimately the wearing. Furthermore, in an age where women not only demand but also expect sexual autonomy, even the more overtly sexy pieces hint at revealing oneself on your own terms with tea length dresses with cut aways at the hip bones and sheer panelled body suits with opaque ribbon effect panels. The overall thesis is one of exploration and as Salam says of the Sukeina woman, “she is someone curious about herself but more curious about the world than she is judgmental of it.” It thus follows that clothes that play on silhouette, notions of opaqueness and transparency and hint at power and vulnerability would become wardrobe staples for such a woman.

Cloud Jumpsuit SS2021 Image Amanda Pratt Styling: Dimeji Alara — Cloud Jumpsuit SS2021 Image: Amanda Pratt Styling: Dimeji Alara

Curiously, the ‘Sukeina Woman’, compartmentalising and deconstructing her further, is something that Salam has intentionally avoided, both in his head while designing and in interviews. Like his own personal journey, he does not see customers fitting one sort of lifestyle, location, age or interests. Proof of such was a private soiree held in his honour in Lagos in 2018, when he showed at GTB Fashion Weekend, that intriguingly brought together a cross section of the city’s fashion tribes and beau monde all of whom were as keen to see the clothes and purchase them. For him, the brand does not ascribe to a narrow set of normative concerns and nor does its clients. What he does however, return to are the evolution of notions of self and identity: “I use as the cue the area of emotional dimensions of a woman. So we go back to the woman and ask, is she sexy? Is she straightforward? Is she strict?… My job is to avail myself as a translator of what a woman feels or wants to feel…to display the rhythm of the woman or the vibrato around that woman, whether she is feeling sexy, or feeling motherly or wants to be covered or elusive.” Seeing women as multifarious indicates that Salam is following a recipe that guarantees longevity as many brands get stuck in a design brief silo, speaking to an increasingly smaller set of people or disconnecting altogether with the wants and needs of clients both existing and potential as their lives evolve and locus of concerns changes accordingly. In widening the lens of moods and actively not ascribing to the ‘African fashion’ tag, which in many instances, particularly its most recent iteration, can prove problematic, Sukeina has deftly sidestepped a creative and commercial cul de sac.

Bassari Turtleneck Dress SS2021 Image: Amanda Pratt, Styling: Dimeji Alara

Watchwords and Future Plans

We alight on Salam and Alara’s partnership – one which has seen them working together to build upon Sukeina’s initial success and widen its reach and appeal. Although hailing from different disciplines in the fashion system: Alara is Nigerian and was the former editor in chief of Elle South Africa and a noted fashion stylist in his own right whilst Salam has operated firmly in the design space, there are clear synergies: both men are West African Parisiennes now situated in New York City with a clear sense of self and a shared passion for steering conversations forward on African design and aesthetics via Sukeina. One recent move has been distancing themselves from the demi-couture and couture labelling that followed the brand from the outset. Alara expands “We are exploring daywear. Because a sweater, a simple white shirt or a pair of pants can be special.” To buttress the point Sukeina recently created a capsule winter collection entitled Silex that saw them reinterpret winter-warmers for the woman who cares for silhouette and construction as much as she does for heat retention. It was an expansion of a day-wear exploration that had already been seeded in the Spring/Summer 2021 collection that were an immediate hit. The Boyfriend Sweater gets a luxe formal makeover with contrasting copes and sleeves and stiff white collars, mesh pencil skirts could be as easily worn to a meeting or cocktails and leggings are removed from planet basic via the clever inclusion of vertical panels – a trick that also lengthens and slims a leg’s appearance. It also chimes with Salam’s wider mandate of being able to enter a woman’s consciousness and propose ensembles that reflect her mood or greater intent.

Bpyfriend Sweater and Pencil Skirt SS2021 Image: Amanda Pratt Styling: Dimeji Alara — Boyfriend Sweater and Pencil Skirt SS2021 Image: Amanda Pratt Styling: Dimeji Alara

“I have seen so many collections, so many shows but I think seeing Sukeina for the first time was a big surprise.” Alara reminisces, adding; “I felt it wasn’t just something that you see and you forget. The level of craftsmanship and the level of work that is done on the clothes compared to a lot of the brands that we have out there today, African designers, European or American designers you know…that is what drew me to the brand, and what drew me to Omar is his mind and his level of thinking and the way that he works.” Their collaboration is more than a mutual admiration society. Alara is keen for Sukeina to optimise all the current green shoots in the company’s line of sight and for Salam he now has a professional, creative journeyman who understands the brand’s DNA and his own personal desire to never compromise. Craft, a capstone in much of his work, remains centre stage, but in Alara’s interpretations it is modernised and made relevant for women today.

Bassari Cardigan and Chiffon Pant SS2021 Image Amanda Pratt, Styling: Dimeji Alara

Although the brand is young, Salam is still mindful of legacy building and of Sukeina upholding its core values for years to come. Fashion’s woeful reputation as one of the environment’s worst abusers and contributors to the climate emergency has prompted him to rather than clumsily jump on the sustainability bandwagon, champion mindful purchasing, something which is at the heart of how his collections are conceived and how he anticipates women will wear them. He expands “By going back to creating products that you don’t need to have hundreds of but just ten of because they mean something to you [and], by going back to true craftsmanship with integrity, the true meaning of clothing, clothing that perhaps won’t cost the price of a salad but won’t be exhausting and polluting the planet less will be upheld.” Buying less and only what you will love forever is a mantra that not only those wedded to minimalism can afford to adhere to in our current times, but in Salam’s hands, perhaps because of the kind of pieces he creates, it doesn’t feel like a sentence to be endured. But arguably the most enduring of all Sukeina’s legacy building projects, beyond the brand’s commercial ambitions is challenging dated and inaccurate notions of what a fashion house with an African creative director should be producing or have as it’s central design thesis. Salam adds, “We don’t need to flex and say we are better than anyone. It is not about being better it is about being true to who we are. We are asking politely but firmly for the opportunity to share that with the world as our contribution to humanity.”

Neo Dress SS2021 Image: Amanda Pratt, Styling: Dimeji Alara

The last few years has seen a steady expansion in terms of numbers operating successfully, and celebration in terms of media coverage, of African fashion brands. Furthermore, in response to the growing appetite from consumers globally for African fashion, online retailers such as Industrie Africa, Onchek and Avivere have launched. Africa has gone from being ‘hot right now’ to being ‘too hot to ignore’ and it is a trend that has traveled across other creative disciplines beyond fashion to include jewellery, music and fine art . But for all the commercial wins there is still a darker reality for brands that have African roots, brands such as Sukeina, and it lies with notions of respect, perception and positioning. Throughout our conversation, Salam, a measured, intellectual man of the world, did not talk of a fashion system ‘out to get him’, or of a desire to be on any of the hastily compiled lists of black designers and black owned businesses that emerged in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, but he has had to be deliberate and consistent in his upending of assumptions and crystalline clear in how he presents his brand across all touch-points. There is a growing cadre of creatives who are choosing this modus operandi rather than slogans, hashtags and call out culture to make a name for themselves and their brand, and more pertinently to create a space for existence, without the historic pejorative noise that is the mood music of being black from a global systemic and socioeconomic standpoint. Salam is firmly of the school that his oeuvre will speak for itself. That his raison d’être of being the aider and abettor of women discovering and displaying their many selves and feeling powerful and magnificent in the process is enough. For Salam, real validation doesn’t live in the land of likes, but in the closets of the growing number of women who choose Sukeina pieces as the lens to illustrate their passions, peculiarities and truths

Tocca Gown SS2021 Image Amanda Pratt, Styling: DImeji Alara

Arise Fashion Week A/W 2018 Day Two Review

Posted on April 6, 2018 by mazzi

Day Two of Arise Fashion Week brought out the style tribes in full force, and clients, friends and muses of the likes of Tiffany Amber, Kenneth Ize and Style Temple wore their sartorial hearts on their sleeves. For those who were not industry insiders these ensembles gave a clue of what to expect once said shows commenced, but it also indicated that Lagos, like any other fashion capital in the world, operated on the twin fuels of patronage and buzz, with enthusiasms flamed furthrt via Social Media. It was also the evening that cemented the intent of Arise Fashion Week which was now clearly sitting on the nexus of fashion event and family entertainment as the likes of Seyi Shey took to the runway to perform in show intermissions. Did this distract from the clothes themselves, maybe, but it did not diminish from the cheers and perhaps this was precisely the whole point; for those who took or indeed still take fashion terribly seriously, to loosen up, have fun and not be staring too intently at the runway for the schedule to run to order and to time.

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As with Day One the audience didn’t truly come to life until a popular designer’s show commenced. And the first to experience such was Funke Adepoju, who sent down the runway a series of pieces featuring fringe aplenty that had already received the stamp of approval of social media influencers, bloggers and socialites with one cobalt jumpsuit already on the back of Ozinna Anumudu, a woman who like the likes of Olivia Palermo and Alexa Chung is oft imitated by her legion of followers. It was and indeed is a smart approach for the brand take, but for longevity expanding on the array of ensembles offered would also be beneficial. Not for the first or indeed the last time this evening were we treated to an evening and occasion wear heavy collection with little offered to the working woman, the off-duty but still desiring to look pulled together on the weekend woman or the woman who may actually need some sort of cover-up when travelling from point A to B. But if you want to slay at a wedding reception or a similar function, look no further.

Fresh from providing the suiting for the groom and his men at the society wedding of the year in Lagos between Dangote heiress Fatima and political scion Jamil Abubakar, Kimono Kollection’s creative director Hakeem Balogun used his show-time to augment in the minds of his existing clients and potential ones that he was a one stop shop for men’s evening wear and contemporary traditional. In doing so he was potentially treading on the toes of more established names such as Mai Atafo and Ugo Monye, but what is fashion without a healthy dollop of competition to motivate designers to push further? It was a confident showing from the menswear brand of the hour, with plenty of his high single breasted and buttoned jackets, a speedy exposition of classic trad silhouettes.

Conversely, Tzar another menswear brand with an established clientele decided to expand into women’s pieces with mixed results. Far stronger was creative director Ian Audifferen’s continued experimentation with fabric contrasts, layering and fluidity with several high-points including a stand-out shirt ties on the cuff, and praises be, coats and cardigans that did not appear as an afterthought, but were a distinct and necessary part of his vision. This is the lane we wish Tzar to stay in, not that it is good or right to be so didactic, but when the pieces are working as they are, one can’t help but psychically say ‘Stop, this is it, no need for anything further.’ But what is creativity in its truest sense if said creative doesn’t continue to push the proverbial envelope and seek other fora for expression? In the meantime there is plenty to pimp a man’s Autumn/Winter wardrobe sharply.

Washington Roberts sent down his strongest collection yet, one which had piece after piece of covetable, wearable fashion, that didn’t fall into bore-snore territory. As my stylish neighbour said ‘the sort of clothes that if a girl was wearing them would make you want to ask her for dinner’. Not because they were sexy in an obvious way either, but because they celebrated the feminine form without descending into sleazy territory. Show opener a slimline black silver and red dress over cigarette pant was an exposition of less is more adage and waist cut outs in a sequence of dresses retained their high fashion credentials by not cutting too deep into the midriff. The collection was held together with a repeated drop shoulder motif and bold visible zips. Hemline shapes were also given a reboot with a knee length, U-shape with a high centre slit echoing the same notion of hinting rather than revealing everything. Pieces also were critically figure kind – the heavy of hip could participate with a fifties full skirted dress and the aforementioned skirts were leg lengtheners. Though the collection was gimmick free it was nevertheless quietly powerful and felt like a watermark from the Washington of old.

Style Temple and Kenneth Ize had both shown at Lagos Fashion Week so it was a question of what else? In the instance of Style Temple, creative director OG Okonkwo took it up a notch with a full collection rather than the abridged one experienced previously and two distinct shapes for wearers to choose from: the 18^th century silhouette with exaggerated hip line found itself fully on trousers, dresses and skirts and is an obvious choice for the fashion-girl-about-town. However an alternative silhouette for the less daring was also offered and this skimmed rather than hugged body and came in an array of silk jerseys. Existing fans will be pleased and continue to buy.

In Kenneth Ize’s instance the wunderkind expanded his central thesis of re-imagining traditional print techniques, but extended the palette with lemon yellow tie dye also featuring heavily alongside purple and black iterations. The jumbo scarves, that have become the perfect entry-point piece into the world according to Ize were also presented as wrappers, a nod to Southern and Eastern Nigerian traditional attire that has men in such rather than trousers and for the ladies there were more jackets only this time belted tightly at the waist. It was an assured showing and the Kenneth Ize army was in raptures at his close. For the designer whose pieces are currently adorning most of the mannequins in Alara, he can currently do no wrong.

Tiffany Amber is part of Africa’s fashion establishment so it was only right and proper that Naomi Campbell should open for her show, which was a paean to the power of a woman. Creative Director Folake Coker has become a mistress of modernising but still retaining the Nigerian female aesthetic, and so on Naomi we saw the traditional iro buba with an oleku silk skirt given a contemporary twist via a button down blouse that had plumed ostrich feather sleeves. The rest of the collection was a veritable greatest hits of some of her signature pieces but with Autumn/Winter taken into consideration hence basket weave cocoon coats and jackets and floor length opera coats with applique flowers. As is the way with Tiffany Amber this was luxury with a capital L and so wide legged palazzo pants were in silk jersey and dresses came with beading and embellishment and if volume could be added to a piece why the hell not? Many of the pieces were worn with hats, harking back to an era when formality and glamour went hand in hand. But to understand Tiffany Amber is to in many ways understand the innate aesthetic of the Nigerian and African woman. We love glamour, we love being properly put together, yes Millennials might embrace off duty, but the fact that Tiffany Amber remains among the ultimate #weddinggoals outfitter of choice in this demographic too speaks to an innate understanding that Folake has for her customers, both existing and potential. The Tiffany Amber Squad were on their feet at the end of the show and there was a mass exodus of the hall, but this is to be expected when the audience felt that they had seen and experienced the fashion promised land.

For those of us who were committed and stayed on, Tinie Tempah’s What We Wear collection was a master class in ath-leisure especially on a night when so many designers had toyed with it conceptually to varying levels of success. Capitalising on his credentials as a grime artist who is as comfortable in an underground pirate radio station rapping as he is in an exquisitely cut dinner jacket at the GQ Man of The Year awards he infused his collection with elements of street wear but brought the posh chap vibe via luxe fabric choices, seen in particular effect with a velvet zipped jacket with tailored track pants. Heritage was also explored in the choice of aso’oke and vibrant print which was used to great effect with shirts teamed with slim fit tan pants or oversize fleeces teamed with print pants. Many pieces came tagged with WWW, a logo that cleverly sat between street art and logomania. However, what was most beguiling about the pieces was the credibility, these were not pieces created to jump on the music-meets-runway bandwagon where every pop artist quickly puts together a fashion brand. These were pieces born out of a musician’s love for fashion with a deep understanding of exactly what his peers and his fans want to wear.

And so it was left to Ozwald Boateng’s closing show to provide a fulsome elucidation of what happens when one fuses African elements with the revered tailoring techniques of Savile Row. A short film contextualised his work thus far with cameos from Will Smith, Jamie Foxx and Sir Richard Branson, who of course are all loyal Boateng customers. An opening look of a jacket with another jacket robed was simultaneously arresting and fresh. A cobalt blue single breasted jacket and a forest green iteration hinted at classic Ozwald but were somewhat more muted, an accurate reflection of the times and white Converse plimsolls brought levity and modernity to proceedings. Ozwald still gave a splash of ostentation and also unusually for him, featured women in his pieces quite heavily too; a strong nod in the gender neutral times we now live in with women in men’s pieces merely part of the new normal. Texture and cut were also front and centre in every piece, and one could tell that much thought had gone into how each piece would interact on the wearer. Does one need stroke-able sleeves, do hands need to be pretty much enveloped in tangerine silk cuffs, are hats essential? Ozwald answered all these sartorial questions and more. And of course, because it was Ozwald, Ms Campbell walked the catwalk once more. After a number of collections viewed earlier in the day where execution had been patchy it was pleasing to see such beautifully constructed and well finished pieces. It was as if the master had returned for the specific purposes of schooling those younger on exactly how to give and close a show. And for customers young and old, male or indeed female there was a full forty ensembles to choose from. Day two may have ended late, but it was worth it for those interested in a lesson in the good arts of cut and colour wizardry that Ozwald has made his own.

Arise Fashion Week A/W 2018 Day One Review

Posted on April 4, 2018 by mazzi

Arise Fashion Week commenced with the kind of buzz and excitement that most platforms can only dream about. But then this is what happens when you have a multi-channel broadcasting conglomerate capturing every moment, charismatic leadership in the form of Nduka Obaigbena and Ruth Osime as part of your communications arsenal and more than a smattering of celebrity guests in the seats. Put simply, Arise was trending and that was even before a model had walked the runway. There was also a serious dose of expectation – would the original fashion week, the one that was a catalyst for the careers of many fashion veterans in Nigeria and across the Africa live up to expectations and all this hype? Especially when an anticipated start on Friday was moved to Saturday? And in a month that had already witnessed autumn presentations at Lagos Fashion Week what would be the differentiator for attendees and retail buyers? As the lights dimmed on what had been described as ‘Africa’s Most Beautiful Runway’ the stage was well and truly set.

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After a series of emergent talents, the first show to get that engaged the audience was ‘About That Curvy Life’ collective. The revolving group of designers selected by creative visionary Latasha Ngwube were once more flying the flag for plus-size fashion. In an age where fashion has increasingly embraced inclusiveness not only as a buzz-word but a call to action, it was encouraging to see the designers selected pushing the envelope in terms of theme and execution. What in previous seasons had felt like a celebration of difference was now more about creating wearable pieces. The military touches in the opening sequence of pieces including berets on all the models who marched out to Davido’s mega-hit, Fia, also of particular note were the jumpsuits and day wear. The cheers said it all – plus size fashion was here to stay and Latasha continues to discover an array of voices to express what women and men want to wear right now.

Still on a theme on fashion’s diversification was Abaya Lagos’ modesty enthused collection. A smart move from a commercial perspective as this is a segment of the market that continues to grow beyond the confines of the Middle East. We were treated to the notion that concealing needn’t be a one-note affair of tunics and variants of salwar kameezes and pieces played on proportion such as draped culottes, interspersed with intricate panelling and beadwork on the backs of jackets and coats adding a further element of surprise. Sandals were flat and hair was covered in coordinating turbans, and the collection as a whole served as an antidote to what had become tired tropes as well as an invitation to those who may not be obligated by their faith to flirt with modesty and thus make it mainstream.

The star turn in more ways than one in the evening belonged to Lanre Da Silva Ajayi – where we finally got a realisation of why the catwalk had been given the moniker of Africa’s most beautiful. Opening her show and in many ways shutting everything else in the process was Naomi Campbell in a metallic fringed cocktail dress that has the crowd at fever pitch and some behind on their feet (probably all the better to capture footage for the ‘gram). The collection played to the strengths of the Lanre design playbook of providing women with strong occasion wear. Indeed, there was plenty to choose from for the glamorous woman who flits from cocktail party to wedding and is sometimes sighted on the Red Carpet too. However, for a designer who has carved a successful niche dressing well-heeled socialites there was a heady dose of potential scandal provoking dressing, with gauzy pleated jumbo sleeved gowns that revealed the full form of Oluchi and the other models who wore them. Lined, as many will probably eventually order them, they will lose much of their insouciance, but they signified a designer who is not content to rest on her laurels and is keen to court a younger edgier clientele.

Kluk CGDT was the big ticket offering from South Africa, and they too opened their show with Naomi only this time in a lilac trench coat. It was welcome to see a coat open an Autumn/Winter fashion presentation series, especially as so many who presented had failed to offer any meaningful options for clothing that would work in colder climes. However, the collection lacked clear cohesiveness, apart from lilac tying it together as just about every silhouette fabric option and hemline made its way onto the runway. On one level one could see this as commercial savvy, there was bound to be one or two things that might look like viable wardrobe options for everyone but in reality it felt as if there was a lack of focus. What sort of woman would wear these pieces? How did they mirror her world view, perceptions and dreams, because clothing, apart from doing the obvious of covering us from the elements, is meant to hint at these inner realities.

At Fashpa a different issue was at hand, the collection in many ways worked well and it was clearly aimed at a young girl-about-town. However, it was reminiscent of many pieces seen by other noted designers, early Maki Oh in particular, and one couldn’t help but look and think whether the good people at fashion-knock-offs call-out Instagram handle Diet Prada wouldn’t spot an homage too many. It is an interesting time, for fashion overall, and this collection put the following questions sharply into focus: how much of this is homage, how much bricolage and how much copy-paste? One could discuss this at length, and yes, there are no right or wrong answers.

Menswear was ably presented by Laurence Airline, a brand that continues to successfully occupy a space called stylish quirk and keep men, and a lot of women who simply buy a small and get on with it, more than satisfied. A palette of cobalt with yellow invigorated the senses and plaid and patterns were mixed with the confidence of a designer who has mastered the art of combining print with ease. Ath-leisure accents were introduced via hooded tops, plaid, and a trouser in the palest pink which had a drawstring waistband, as well as stripes galore Accessories also hinted at a complete approach to ensembles, with the Laurence Airline man foregoing a briefcase and instead carrying his essentials in giant Ghana-Must-Go bags and adorning his neck with orange duck-tape rather than something as pedestrian as a necklace. It was a confident showing of a brand that has quietly grown from strength to strength and married Ivorian and Parisian sensibility with ease.

The evening closed with Andrea Iyamah a designer who is as much known for her ready-to-wear and occasion pieces as she is for her beachwear. In this instance she gave us her vision for sun-kissed beach days and sent her trademark high legged bikinis and one pieces down the runway. Moving on from the vibrant print choices of previous collections, the palate was highly commercial and easy to wear whatever your hue or race, with coral, slate grey, mustard and a deep fuchsia dominating. A canny decision especially as beachwear remains a nascent sector in Africa, thus the more potential participants the better. Existing fans will definitely continue to patronise and new ones will also be won both in Africa and beyond.

For those who blinked into the night once the lights came up in the auditorium, there was definitely a sense of having witnessed a return to form from Team Arise. The banks of reporters were there, a sense of occasion was achieved and Social Media went into meltdown once a certain Naomi Campbell walked the runway. Furthermore there did not seem to be a conflation of purposes, Lagos Fashion Week follows a more established modus operandi of building the fashion industry in a holistic manner and Arise Fashion Week brings sparkle, buzz and entertainment to proceedings. This is not a case of ifs and ors but space and more.