5 Nigerian Fashion Designers Who Have Dressed International Celebrities

When award-winning Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi launched “Wear Nigerian Campaign” in 2017, it was all for the good of different Nigerian fashion brands.

She embraced and celebrated the works of her people and in countless public appearances, Ngozi donned classy Nigerian designs which left many in awe. Since then, the demand for exquisite Nigerian fashion designs has increased thereby creating more employment and a sense of ownership.

Ngozi’s ‘Wear Nigerian Campaign’ has seen the country fashion designers get more business and sell Nigeria in the line of fashion design and brands.

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But did you know the leading fashion designers/brands in Nigeria? The men and women who are cementing the fact that Nigeria is among the top-rated fashion powerhouses in Africa?

Here are the best of Nigeria’s fashion designers.

1.Folake Folarin – Coker

Gifted in hatching outstanding fashion designs, Folake has made a name for herself through her fashion line Tiffany Amber. Born in Lagos, her passion for design never died even flying abroad to Switzerland, England and Scotland where she got a huge cultural exposure while pursuing her studies.

This opened her mind to the kind of designs she would want to see out in the world and not even her Master’s degree in Petroleum Law stopped her from venturing into the fashion industry.

She doesn’t regret her decision to venture into the fashion industry. He has showcased her work at the prestigious New York Mercedes Fashion Week twice and is a darling for media house of international repute such as CNN.

2.Duro Olowu

Colourful African print is his major line of fashion. The Nigerian born fashion designer prides himself in having a wealthy clientele among them Michelle Obama who is a lover of well-though-out African print design infused with diversity and a cultural spirit.

Olowu boasts of dressing Solange Knowless, Linda Evangelista and Uma Thurman.

Olowu is based in London but his works have a rich Nigerian heritage and few Jamaican traits since he has roots in Jamaica.

3.Deola Sagoe

Ever heard of “The House of Deola Sagoe”, a top fashion house in Nigeria? She is none other than an ambitious fashion designer who has managed to make a name in the international fashion scene with her animated colourful African prints.

Her fashion designs have been embraced by icons such as Will Smith and Oprah Winfrey. The African print fabric is authentically Nigerian but she has also incorporated a wester element of “attitude and elegance” which makes her designs stand out.

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Since 1989 when she went full throttle with her fashion line, she has been a force to reckon with, the most popular of her labels being Odua which she did for her mother. Sagoe has brushed shoulders with the high and mighty and worked with the UN courtesy of her outstanding fashion designs.

4.Lisa Folawiyo

Call her the African queen of Ankara, she makes the very best of this not just in West Africa but the entire continent.

Lisa prides on her self-styled status as a top Nigerian fashion designer who has an affinity for West African fabric. She fuses this with other patterns in Nigerian, Ghana and other West African countries. Today, she is known for her label Line J, which besides the Ankara print line, has a purse and jewellery shelf.

Some of her clients include Beyonce, Tasha Smith, Eve and Kelis. In the US, UK and South Africa, she has showcased her work with her highlight being the New York Fashion Week in 2010 and the Paris Fashion Week the same year.

5.Lola Faturoti

From Ondo State in Nigeria, Lola made tremendous moves to gain entry into the fashion industry while still based in New York.

She schooled in London and later moved to New York where she established a colourful career in the fashion industry. While in Nigeria in her formative years, she admired her grandmother who at the time had extensive knowledge about fashion design. She learnt as much as she could and it was something that she felt she wanted to pursue in a bigger way.

Lola wanted to design more than just the Nigerian traditional attire which her grandmother was good at. When Barack Obama was first elected as the first US black President, she designed a beautiful African Yoruba dress to commemorate this and New York was at a standstill.