Abuja Fashion Week:The glamour, the stars, the hiccups

 Wednesday night marked the beginning ofthe Abuja Fashion Week- the first of its kind in Nigeria to be sponsored by global motor giant Mercedes Benz. Creative minds from various works of life were given a platform to display their talent in an industry that is hard to break into and even harder to stay in. There was much to celebrate at the event from the new talent and much loved celebrity guests. However, the show did not go off without a few bumps along the way.

It was a runway show for day 1 and most of the designs were glittering women’s’ wears much to the delight of Nigerian women who like to drown their clothes in sequence and heavily decorated veils. Fashion Designers Juwairah, Jummy Giwa and Tunurlz displayed their passion for such attires and adorned them with sequence,decorative lace, and fabrics in daring reds, bold blacks and delicate whites.

Juwairiyah unfortunately faced a slight wardrobe malfunction with one of her designs but quickly pulled through to produce her models for the polished runway. The audience saw the evidence of the slight hiccup when one of her models elegantly walked onwith a noticeable and an unintentional red pattern on a bold and long white dress. That was evidently forgotten with the constant nod of approval and the final applause, which showed an appreciation for her efforts by the audience.

(Juwairah design)

(Jummy Giwa Design)

(Tunurlz Design)

It was an all male display from BZ Designs with kaftans and carefully constructed traditional attires.  Most of the clothes from this label were finished with careful embroidery along the collar, which succeeded in drawing the attention of the audience.

(BZ Design)

All the designs were beautifully enhanced with the aid of the basic settings you’d expect from a first time runway show. It was a dim blue setting achieved with big and bold overhead and floor lights and saw the occasional flicker of warm coloured lights, which set the tone for a display of evening attire. The models meticulously displayed all the creative work to the accompanying music.

Aerial view of the venue

The very late start was wiped from memory when rapper M.I and Jesse Jagzemerged from the carefully ironed red carpet and made their way to seats very close to some lucky few mid show. It couldn’t go unnoticed that there was a mad scramble for pictures with the two and rising singer, Child Joel,who made everyone with a name other than Aisha jealous of his eloquent delivery of beautiful heartfelt words in that name.

The show wrapped up with a daring collection you wouldn’t expect to see in Nigeria when you look at our culture but newcomer Diamen made a bold moveby showcasing designs which spelt mean and tough. There were noticeablenods of approval for her daring efforts and this was the tip of the diverse collection the fashion week had to offer.

(Diamen Design)

From the beautiful casting of models, the yummy snacks and the noticeable efforts made by the organisers for the smooth execution of the show, Abuja fashion week has the potential to produce and promote awe inspiring material for the country’s capital.