For 10 years, Heineken Lagos Fashion Week has been instrumental in shaping African fashion’s future, by developing a platform for African creatives to showcase their creativity, providing collaboration and access to market opportunities, incubating and training young talent, facilitating impact driven conversations with key stakeholders as well as being at the forefront of developing our local manufacturing industry through SHF Trains with Nigeria Export Promotion Council.
This year, Heineken Lagos Fashion week celebrates A Decade in Fashion and all that is African fashion; the vibrancy of the various cultures, the abundance of natural resources and the sense of kinship that has emerged, coupled with skills that have been passed down from generation to generation in communities dotted around the African fashion landscape.
In its 10th year, Heineken Lagos Fashion Week remains undeterred by the effects of the global pandemic. This season will be a hybrid of physical and digital presentations, that will adhere to Lagos State and Federal Government guidelines to provide fashion enthusiasts with the utmost experience, while showcasing the brilliance and ingenuity of African fashion to the world.
From October 29th – November 1st, 2020, the public will be invited to view designer’s collections via live streaming and virtual tours. There will be opportunities for a select number of patrons and the public to attend an onsite must-see installation and activation centre. Presentations from designers will also utilise a range of technologies from Virtual Reality to 3D visualisation.
This season, leveraging technology and e-commerce is vital to supporting African brands in accessing new markets and commercial opportunities. XRetail in partnership with Afrikea will for the first time curate a selection of African ready to wear, accessory and beauty brands for a unique digital experience. This complete shift to an online shopping experience will hold from August 14th to 16th, 2020 and will allow consumers and brands to interact safely. The online nature of this year’s XRetail opens brands to a global audience keen to discover and shop African brands.
This year, Heineken Lagos Fashion Week has turned towards innovation, technology and media to present designers collections in a visually stimulating manner that will still hold the excitement that is synonymous with Heineken Lagos Fashion Week.
The Founder of Heineken Lagos Fashion Week Omoyemi Akerele commented on the preparations for this year, “With so much happening around us, the general mood is not celebratory but we are mindful that despite this, we have achieved an important milestone. We have been encouraged to hold firm and this resolve has enabled us innovate a bit, despite the current climate. For 10 years we have cultivated a strategy that focuses on Impact, Collaboration, Community and Co-creation. The growth that we have experienced in these areas alone is a testament to the resilience, drive and talent that exists on the continent”
As a brand committed to the growth and development of the community, title sponsors Heineken through this platform, is contributing to the development of the African fashion industry. Mrs Sarah Agha, Portfolio Manager – International Premium Brands, NB Plc, commented: “Heineken is passionate about innovation and its commitment to the growth of creatives on the continent remains unwavering. I am certain that the upcoming season will create a possible blueprint for the future of fashion in Africa”.
Heineken Lagos Fashion Week’s agenda goes beyond the creative. In marking its 10th year, the platform reinforces its commitment to creating an ecosystem of sustainable African businesses, facilitating knowledge sharing, skills acquisition, youth development for job and wealth creation with the establishment of SHF Prism – a physical fashion hub that will provide young creatives with fashion education, production facilities as well as a community of mentors and investors they need.
SHF Prism aims to support the next generation of African creatives & businesses through mentoring, investment and education to stimulate job & wealth creation opportunities as well as innovation in the African fashion industry.
For more information regarding Heineken Lagos Fashion Week 2020, kindly visit lagosfashionweek.ng or follow our Instagram page @lagosfashionweekofficial.
Fashion, Accessory and Beauty brands are invited to apply for XRetail via link in bio. Applications close 26th July, 2020.
