Ogugua Okonkwo, popularly known as Og Okonkwo, [1] is a Nigerian womenswear designer, [2] [3] [4] fashionista, [5] [6] [7] and the founder and creative director of the fashion brand Style Temple. [8] [9]
Okonkwo was raised in Enugu, Nigeria, and she studied laboratory science at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka before delving into fashion design. Okonkwo launched Style Temple in 2012, after long stints training as a fashion assistant and junior designer at a few Abuja-based fashion labels.
Style Temple, under Okonkwo's leadership, showcases its collection annually at the Lagos Fashion and Design Week. The brand has been hailed by Vogue, [10] Fashion Bomb Daily, [11] Elle, [12] Glamour, [13] and CNN [14] for its visionary take on womenswear.
Chief Ibiagbanidokibubo Asenite 'Agbani' Darego, MFR is a Nigerian model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss World 2001. She was the first black African to win Miss World.
Kim Niklas Jones is an English fashion designer.
Kelly Wearstler is an American designer. She founded her own design firm Kelly Wearstler Interior Design in the mid-1990s, serving mainly the hotel industry, and now designs across high-end residential, commercial, retail and hospitality spaces. Her designs for the Viceroy hotel chain in the early 2000s have been noted for their influence on the design industry. She has designed properties for clients such as Gwen Stefani, Cameron Diaz and Stacey Snider, and served as a judge on all episodes of Bravo's Top Design reality contest in 2007 and 2008.
Versus (Versace) was a diffusion line of the Italian luxury fashion house Versace. It was founded in 1989 by Gianni Versace as a gift to his sister Donatella. The line was discontinued in 2005 but was relaunched by Donatella in 2009 with a capsule collection of accessories designed by British designer Christopher Kane.
Beaufille is a Canadian fashion label specializing in fashion, jewelry and accessories for women. The name of the brand is from ungrammatical French beau fille, meaning "handsome girl", symbolizing the marriage of masculine and feminine.
Richard Philip Nicoll was an English fashion designer, best known for his work on modernist classics with the coined term "night-to-day" versatility.
Haus Alkire is an American fashion label headed by design partners Julie Alkire and Jason Alkire. Both the Alkires are members of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). Established in 2012, the line is made in New York City.
Karl Templer is a British-born New York-based fashion stylist. He is creative director of Interview and his work has appeared in publications internationally including Vogue Italia, Vogue Paris, W, and The New York Times. Templer has styled brand campaigns and shows for designers including Alexander Wang, Calvin Klein, Sacai and Valentino, and collaborates frequently with photographers Fabien Baron, David Sims, Craig McDean, Steven Meisel.
Lagos Fashion Week (LagosFW) is an annual multi-day clothing trade show that takes place in Lagos, Nigeria. It was founded in 2011 by Omoyemi Akerele and it is Africa’s largest fashion event drawing considerable media attention, nationally and internationally. It showcases over 60 Nigerian and African fashion designers to a global audience of more than 40.000 retailers, media and consumers. It has helped propel African designers and fashion brands, such as Orange Culture, Lisa Folawiyo and Christie Brown to international recognition.
Ioana Ciolacu Miron is a Romanian fashion designer. She received a Designer for Tomorrow Award from Stella McCartney, and has founded her own sustainable fashion Ioana Ciolacu label.
Uju Marshall Nwobodoh, professionally referred to as Uju Marshall, is a Nigerian freelance fashion model who was named MTN Model of the Year at the 2014 Lagos Fashion and Design Week.
Omoyemi Akerele is a Nigerian executive, businesswoman and entrepreneur. Akerele is the founder and CEO of Lagos Fashion Week, Style House Files and special advisor to the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC). She has several advisory positions including Industrie Africa and Jendaya, and has been an advisor to the MoMA, the Victoria & Albert Museum, UN, British Fashion Council and State of Fashion Netherlands.
JW Anderson is a UK fashion label, founded by Jonathan Anderson. Anderson, who is originally from Magherafelt in Northern Ireland established JW Anderson in 2008 and subsequently launched his fashion house in London. The brand initially focused on menswear, before moving into womenswear in 2010. From 2012 onwards, the brand and its designer have collaborated with a number of retail fashion brands, most notably Topshop, Versace, and Uniqlo, with LVMH acquiring a minority stake in the brand in 2013.
Lanre da Silva is a Nigerian fashion designer based in Lagos. Launched in 2005, her eponymous label includes couture, ready-to-wear, jewelry and hairpieces. Da Silva's collections often incorporate metallic fabrics, lace and African patterns, while referencing the 1940s or 1800s. The Africa Fashion Guide recognizes her as having "... created a name for herself in high fashion in Nigeria."
Amarachi Nwosu is a Nigerian-American photographer, visual artist, and filmmaker currently based in New York City. She is also the founder of Melanin Unscripted, a creative platform and agency which aims to dismantle stereotypes and blur cultural lines by exposing complex identities and cultures around the world. Her debut documentary "Black in Tokyo" premiered at the International Center of Photography at the ICP Museum in New York City in 2017. She also screened the film in Tokyo, Japan at Ultra Super New Gallery in Harajuku.
Dumebi Andrea Iyamah is a Nigerian-Canadian fashion designer born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. She is the founder and CEO of the fashion label Andrea Iyamah that caters to bridal, swimwear and ready-to-wear lines. She is known for her take on women's fashion and swimwear, which has been worn by celebrities such as Michelle Obama, Kate Hudson, Gabrielle Union, Ciara, and Issa Rae.
African design encompasses many forms of expression and refers to the forms of design from the continent of Africa and the African diaspora including urban design, architectural design, interior design, product design, art, and fashion design. Africa's many diverse countries are sources of vibrant design with African design influences visible in historical and contemporary art and culture around the world. The study of African design is still limited, particularly from the viewpoint of Africans, and the opportunity to expand its current definition by exploring African visual representations and introducing contemporary design applications remains immense.
Pistis Ghana is a Ghanaian fashion brand based in Accra. It was founded by husband-and-wife duo Kabutey and Sumaiya Dzietror in 2008 after graduating from Joyce Ababio's Vogue Style School of Fashion and Design.
Evans Akere, popularly known as Vanskere, is a Nigerian fashion designer and the founder of the luxury menswear brand, Vanskere. Despite not being widely known by his name, his designs and signature style has significantly influenced the landscape of menswear fashion in Nigeria as well as the larger African continent.
Princess Kelechi Oghene also known as Princess Oghene is a Nigerian entrepreneur and fashion executive. She is the founder of GMYT Academy, a fashion institution headquartered in Lagos State, Nigeria.