OMOYEMI AKERELE

Many times, we know about something. About that prestigious event, award, and collective. But we often overlook the brain behind that thing. The motivator. The person who laboured to birth the experience that you now enjoy. And even more so, the pains that the person faced along the way. 

You know Lagos Fashion Week - the world-renowned fashion event that happens in the commercial heart of Nigeria, Lagos. You know of the multiple brands like Desirée Iyama and Ibilola Ogundipe that showcase their designs, pitch their ideas, and contribute to the fashion world. You know of the testimonials of individuals whose lives have been changed after a connection or introduction made during the event, people who have secured multi-million naira deals in days. 

But you don't know the face behind this community. The one who left her lucrative career in law, entered the fashion industry and has championed African Fashion. 

You don't know Omoyemi Akerele yet. But in 3 minutes, you'll know and applaud her. 

What began as small ventures in Omoyemi's life like helping bring the Spanish retailer Mango into Nigeria and co-founding Exclusive Styling, where she styled presenters for shows like Big Brother Nigeria and Idols West Africa, grew into an even bigger venture.

Working as the fashion editor at True Love magazine, she saw it clearly: a "gaping hole between the designers who imagine the clothes and the artisans who work tirelessly behind the scenes to co-create them [1]." Designers, fabric sourcers, tailors, manufacturers, retailers — all operating in silos, all struggling to find one another. Nigeria had talent, culture, and creativity in abundance, but no organised bridge to connect them to the world.

So, she built one.

In 2011, Omoyemi Akerele launched Lagos Fashion Week as a deliberate economic intervention. Her intention was audacious: to put Lagos on the international fashion map and create real pathways for African designers to reach buyers, manufacturers, press, and eventually, global export markets. She wanted to shift the narrative from "African fashion is beautiful" to "African fashion is viable, investable, and future-shaping."

Today, Lagos Fashion Week is exactly that. 

It is runway shows and showroom presentations.

It is industry talks and year-round development programmes.

It is an established rotation of design houses like Ugo Monye, Emmy Kasbit, and emerging labels like Studio Imo, all given the same stage to tell their stories.

It is a space where new brands receive mentoring, business training, and retail guidance, the kind of support young designers often don't have access to.

Omoyemi understood that "to experience fashion is to experience culture." And Lagos Fashion Week has become the place where the culture breathes.

Yet, the journey has never been smooth.

She has had to wrestle with global perceptions about African Fashion — battling stereotypes, shallow curiosity, and the lack of long-term attention from international buyers. She has pushed sustainability and circular fashion through programmes like Woven Threads and Green Access, even in a sector where margins are thin and infrastructure for sustainable production is limited. And she has navigated the ever-shifting terrain of Nigeria's political and economic instability — currency fluctuations, high production costs, logistical hurdles — all while running a large-scale international event.

Still, she persists.

And she builds.

Beyond Lagos Fashion Week, her work extends into policy, advocacy, and global cultural exchange. Style House Files, the creative development agency she founded in 2008 funding workshops and initiatives.

Her influence has been felt in the halls of some of the world's greatest institutions. She has served as an advisor to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). She has consulted for the Victoria & Albert Museum, the British Fashion Council, and other global cultural organisations, helping shape how African Fashion is presented and understood. In 2021, she was appointed a Zero Oil Ambassador by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council — a recognition of Fashion's potential to drive national economic diversification. Through this partnership, she helped secure ₦500 million (approx. £270,000) in funding to support thirty Nigerian fashion brands.

Her work has earned global respect:

 – Her runway footage appeared in the V&A's exhibition in 2022.

 – She received the Outstanding Contribution to African Fashion at the AFI Awards in 2014.

 – From 2017 to 2022, she was listed on the Business of Fashion's BoF 500, a recognition of the most influential people shaping the global fashion industry.

 – System Magazine describes her as "one of the most important catalysts behind Nigeria's flourishing fashion scene."

She has built community, created opportunities and connected talent. 

And woven into her story is a quiet challenge to every one of us:

Look deeper.

Value the creators behind the creations, who choose to stand in the gap for a market. 

And when you find a gap, no matter how small, may you have the courage to build the bridge that others will someday walk across.

~ Nwadinma Amucheazi, Chief Editor '25/'26 Committee.

Sources:

1. System Magazine. (2025). System Magazine. [online] Available at: https://system-magazine.com/issues/issue-18/lagos-fashion-design-week-interview-omoyemi-akerele  [Accessed 14 Nov. 2025].

Image credits: Yale.edu. (2025). Available at: https://jackson.yale.edu/person/omoyemi-akerele/  [Accessed 14 Nov. 2025].