Did you study the designer collections at the just-concluded Lagos Fashion & Design Week? Already figured out your favourite range from the catwalk?
Well below is our Runway Rundown of our 10 best collections from the event – have a look and see how our list compare to yours.
Bridget Awosika
Designer behind the womenswear label of the same name, Bridget Awosika presented a Spring/Summer’16 collection that didn’t shy from its usual creative and seductive aesthetic.
Ms Awosika’s degree in business management makes a little sense here, with the talent having formed a successful business around making beautifully-crafted things that are well worth investing in.
And for next season, said things come with unusual cutouts and cool tie-up details – that sort we can’t wait to strap ourselves into as soon as it’s Spring.
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Lanre Da-Silva Ajayi
Top eponymously-named label, Lanre Da-Silva Ajayi is always a hot ticket when it comes to Fashion Week, and this year the brand ended the entire event with a closing showcase that made waves (and wardrobe space) across the country.
The designer always presents garments that look like they’ve been fun to make, but this season’s seem a little more full of fashion glee than usual, coming all printed, sheen-surfaced, daringly asymmetrical (in some cases) and packing a punch with colour.
Team SPICE couldn’t get enough of the metallic trousers and billow-hemmed tunic that veered off left at the hip, but are sure that each and every piece of this LDA range will be a sell out as soon as it hits shelves.
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Onanlaja
Kanyinsola Onalaja’s pretty, pink-loving collection was apparently inspired by London’s Frieze gallery, though we at SPICE think Rih and Bey may’ve inspired a few looks too…
First there was the pink power suit, all punchy in its hue and baring a bit of cleavage – something we can see ‘Yonce rocking to a T – and then it was a cute tuxedo dress in powder pink which either singer could’ve already worn but would do with ease.
Last on the ramp though was a glittering finale dress, all sheer, sparkling and nipple-baring, recalling Rihanna’s amazing CFDA Awards gown of 2014.
Wherever the inspo came from, the collection is just beautiful and has all the sorts of stuff we’d proudly pound pavements, red carpets or dance floors in; it’s pretty, pleasing to behold and full of star power.
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Orange Culture
Menswear label Orange Culture walked its Spring/Summer’16 collection down the ramp, following its showcase in Milan earlier this year at the Constellation Africa event. And thankfully so, because we can’t get enough of looking at it.
The brilliant reminder of what boys should be buying up for next season took to LFDW all zig-zagged, lippy and baring small bags, and in a palette of deep red, white, yellow and purple – a little step away from the traditional Spring system of florals done in pastels, but therefore heavier in wearability. Buy a piece and you’ll find it hard to have it feel out of place in any season you happen to pull it on.
Seems designer Adebayo Oke-Lawal is as into making his clothes true investments as we are into wearing them.
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Tiffany Amber
Top label and acclaimed pioneer of the ready to wear market, Tiffany Amber showed off special things for next season, with designer Folake Coker having picked up where her last collection left off.
Keeping ahold of vivid cobalt blue, pop pink and a touch of metallic, the label’s Spring/Summer range shimmied along the runway with column-like silhouettes promising to elongate the body, and details like plunging necklines, sequinned motifs and fringing hidden among lace promising to please admirers from up close and from afar.
What more could one possibly want from an ensemble? We reckon, should you try on one from this collection, the others in your wardrobe may well suddenly be lacking.
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Weiz Dhurm Franklyn
Wisdom Chidiebube Anaba continues to leap forward with his creativity and consistently keeps us guessing with just how much wow he is going to bring to female bodies with his work.
For Spring/Summer’16, there’s plenty of sex appeal (typical of this talent) and a healthy helping of wow stemming from the detail used to show of the figure; bodices are tightly bound, sheer elements have strayed south to reveal the legs instead of the chest, and mostly, dresses are mid or maxi length, to elongate the frame.
But still there’s more, as Wisdom looks to have been feeling playful when sketching these pieces – the designer winding cross-hatch silk around the skirt of one gown, adorning others with flower appliqués and creating a beautiful kimono jacket for one look that we haven’t been able to forget the sight of.
This is the best of Mr Anaba and his label Weiz Dhurm Franklyn, and we intend to be seen in his version of Spring at the turn of the season.
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Tsemaye Binitie
With the label’s ideal woman being an embodiment of “strength, beauty and glamour,” it’s no wonder that the Tsemaye Binitie collection we saw stealing the show at LFDW was made up strong, utterly beautiful pieces that brought true glamour to the catwalk – the stuff of most women’s dreams.
From sleek, sheened gowns that fishtailed at the hem, to printed flares and playfully fringed dresses, there was a lot to take in (and immediatley want to take home).
Simple stuff this was not, with pieces coming colour-blocked and patchworked together like a seamless sort of jigsaw we would kill to wear now. Hence we’re looking forward to Spring.
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Sisiano
At Sisiano, both men’s and womenswear walked the runway, with the ladies strutting their stuff in sleek, silk gowns and layered two-pieces, and the fellas flaunting lightweight, miminalistic pieces designed for an easy-feeling next season.
Pale grey, white and lemon featured alongside navy – a sophisticated palette put onto pieces that feel both laid back and grown up.
While we’d rock any of the women’s ensembles, the most daring for the gents was a white mesh top with a peplum that we imagine only the fashion-forward amongst you will attempt during your day to day.
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Conae Insignia
Designed by Chinenyenwa Ekejiuba, Conae Insignia’s “Ageless” collection was made in traditional George fabric, which the designer says was intended to;
“…Change the idea of people who think it is only used to tie as wrappers during traditional weddings and in Nollywood movies.”
Enter pieces we can definitely see doing their thing on the red carpet or swishing their way round a party – Team SPICE’s favourite look being the white caped dress with half moons scattered about its pencil-fitting skirt.
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Maki Oh
Amaka Osakwe, the designer behind much-loved label Maki Oh, showcased a brilliant collection at LFDW that looked even more magical than it did in the somewhat haunting video that accompanied the lookbook for the range.
The blues of the adire stood out alongside the deep, blood reds within the lineup, but less serious (though equally commanding) were the prints used, which included a fun, almost cartoonish zig zag that wove its way down the legs of pants and was recreated along a few hemlines.
The label’s signature fringing and asymmetry was also present, via the simple mis-matching of straps on a jumpsuit, and the entire covering of a fanciful black swing dress – details that give reason enough to explain why Maki Oh is one of the Fashion crowd’s favourite labels, and why the collection landed on our list of the 10 best shown at Lagos Fashion & Design Week.
But did your favourite range make our Runway Rundown? Tell us about your best collection from LFDW 2015 in the comments box below, or online @SPICETVAFRICA.
Image source: Lagosfashionanddesignweek.com
