On Sunday, 19 February 2012, the city of Lagos witnessed a
one-of-a-kind event, a large gathering of fashion designers and fashion
entrepreneurs. Their purpose? To meet, discuss, collaborate and
find solutions to the current challenges faced by many fashion businesses in
Nigeria and in the process move the industry forward.
Powered by Martwayne, a fashion
retail, consulting and training outfit, Designers
Connect was attended by over
150 guests in a very sophisticated and up-market boutique hotel in Lekki Phase
1, Trends the Kitchen. The networking session was attended by various
players in the fashion industries and featured speeches by Temitope Williams, CEO
of Martwayne and convener of the meeting, as well as other notable designers
such as Prince Oyefusi, owner of Nobel Afrique and President of FADAN and
Ohimai Atafo, renowned designer and creative director of Mai Atafo Inspired
(MAI).
What gave the event a unique
twist, however, was the presence of business professionals from all works of
life such as accountants, marketing specialists, lawyers, business development
consultants, PR specialists, the media, a representative from FATE Foundation,
photographers, etc. As explained by Temitope, an ex-accountant with KPMG
Professional Services and a South-African trained fashion designer, “It was
necessary to call in these professionals to help us out since we cannot do it
alone. Many designers are drowning in their businesses and as much as we
all complain, no one ever does anything about it. So I decided enough was
enough and took it upon myself to do something about it. However, I
realized that what I needed to do was to try and merge the fashion and business
communities. It’s about time fashion designers wake up and realize that
we need help from experts in other fields if we are to move our businesses and,
inevitably, the industry forward. We also need to network, work together
and speak with one voice if we want other industries and even our customers to
take us seriously. It doesn’t stop here, though. This is simply the
beginning.”
Check out pictures from the
event below and visit www.fashionbeyondstitches.com for more insight into Designers
Connect.
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