Arise 2019 Fashion Week Fantastic, Says Otedola

Joseph Ushigiale

Business mogul and billionaire who made his fortune in oil and gas sector, Mr. Femi Otedola has described the 2019 Arise Fashion Week as a fantastic show put together by the Arise Media group as the show entered its second day in Lagos Saturday.

Otedola, who shied away from answering follow up questions and rather chose to point this reporter to his daughter, was among other businessmen and women including captains of industry drawn from several sectors, including, Chairman of Stanbic, IBTC, Atedo Peterside, Amaju Pinnick, Bello Osagie, Oskar Ibru, Segun Ogunsanya of Airtel.

The 3-day fashion week which kicked off Friday and enters its second day yesterday witnessed tumultuous crowds drawn from stakeholders in the fashion and creative industry, private and public sectors and fashion enthusiasts who swarmed Intercontinental Hotel, the venue of the show.

Saturday’s event was preceded by an Arise Talks – where a panel comprising Arzi Ifrah, Liya Kebede, Eniola Dawodu, Olivia Singer, Niyi Okuboyejo and Adeola Bali discussed ‘The Essence of Design and Textiles: Preservation, protection and the advancement of the craftsmanship. This was followed by a conversation with Andrea Leon Talley of the Vogue Magazine where he shared his experiences reporting fashion and entertainment, his meeting with Naomi Campbell and the journey so far.

The show closes today with presentation from Ahluwalia Studio presenting U-MI-1, Asai, Bethany Williams, Style Temple, Mwinda, Odio Mimonet, Pyer Moss, Rich, Minsi, Mmuso Maxwell, Bridget Awosika, Esteban Cortazar, Iteun Basi, Tiffany Amber, Okunoren Twins.

Super Model, Naomi Campbell, on Friday announced that she, in partnership with the Gucci brand, is set to launch an ambitious fashion fellowship in universities in Lagos, Ghana, Kenya and Cape Town in a bold move aimed at unleashing the hidden talents that abound in the continent.

The University of Lagos will be the beneficiary in Nigeria.

Making the disclosure at the second session of Arise Talks moderated by Laila Johnson-Salami where a panel comprising Campbell, Reni Folawiyo, Barbara James and Funsho Olusanya deliberated on the topic, ‘Business of Fasion – Exploring all Facets of the Emerging Markets in Africa, the fashionista explained that after 33 years on the runway, she had decided that the time has come to use her network, experience and talent to work for Africa.