Lagos Fashion and Design Week has just concluded in Nigeria's commerce capital of Lagos, but for me the excitement hasn't quite ended. It's no secret that I am passionate about African Fashion and Art and its power to create economic empowerment and development in its respective countries of origin, so you can imagine that an event with the sole purpose of putting African Fashion on a world class platform makes me giddy. I don't know how I will #keepcalm when I finally get to experience this event first hand.
Back to the matter. I've curated a few of my favorites from the LFDW runway shows and my first pick is the incomparable Lanre DaSilva Ajayi (LDA). Named for its creative director, this brand has not only made itself a staple of Nigerian Fashion but has developed a name synonymous with luxury across the African continent. A friend once chided me for saying that I'd love to wear LDA to an event by remarking that the label was "for old ladies." This perception is likely created by the fact that fashion lovers of age are those most likely to be able to afford to patronize the brand, but it has nothing to do with this label's ability to create fresh and innovative fashion. Rather, LDA's characteristic trait is its ability to maintain an air of elegance and class while designing clothes that set rather than follow the trends.
In a short statement about the inspiration for the S/S 2016 "Geometric Fusion" collection, the brand explains that the collection is "[h]eavily influenced by geometry" and "uses tie-dye from Nike Art Gallery and digital images to create hexagon and triangle tessellation prints." Innovative, yet reflective of culture. Fabulous! Check out a few of my favorites from the collection below:
Pictures courtesy of lagosfashionanddesignweek.com. See the full collection here.