Tapping into Nigeria’s market is the main goal of high-end, global luxury brands. The wealthy elite in the country have quite the appetite for the stuff on the top-shelf, but obtaining those items haven’t always been so easy. Since luxury brands sell and display their goods in internationally-known markets like Paris, London, and Milan, it’s time they start placing an emphasis on the importance of the African market. Designer Ozwald Boateng (who we did a profile on earlier this week) says the market in Nigeria has “enormous potential to become a key luxury capital of Africa.” (http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-03/D9TLFU782.htm)

The life of a stylist can be pretty demanding. From styling photoshoots, requesting pulls, dodging bullets–all while balancing a load of garments in arms–it’s for certain we can call them fashion’s most sought after super heroes.

They fly through the night, saving victims from fashion calamities and rescue runways shows from evil villains like negative press reviews, and of course combine forces  with other super powers we like to call celebrities.

Their Kryptonite? Well wouldn’t you like to know!

Here’s our list of Super Hero Stylists:

• Ugo Mozie : Nigerian Born Stylist who works International mogul. His office we believe is the sky  (pretty much)  :
• Kim Gray : South African Stylist with affability as her middle name.  She’s done it all (blogging, styling, freelancing in several creative industries) and is extremely humble and fun!
• Rosemary  Kokuhilwa : Tanzanian born stylist in New York – Former model and the cool cat
• Tayo Shonekan : Nigerian Born Stylist who we like to call a powerhouse figure. She also is the owner of brand called Aimas.
• June Ambrose : Our honorary African Stylist of the Year – Currently has her own reality show. We loved her Paper Magazine Shoot with Trina, where she placed African inspired garments with a punk rocker leather jacket- rescuing female rap star Trina from repeating her past overtly sexual style .

Who is your stylist super hero?

Italian-debuted Grazia weekly is set to hit South African stores for the first time. Magazine publications total to a small number of 12 for the whole country, and only two are fashion/beauty based. This lack of coverage is perfect for Grazia, because it has potential to satisfy the needs and desires of South Africa’s fashion-savvy population of women. Editor of Grazia South Africa Danielle Weakley says that the “stylish, inquisitive, and glamorous” women of South Africa are “eager for an editorial fix that’s more relevant, more up-to-the-minute and more in tune with their ever-changing tastes than a monthly…They read the monthlies, but they want more.” Grazia encompasses the “gloss of a fashion magazine with the pace of a news weekly.” Looking forward to giving it a review after it’s release date in May!

Fresh from the runways of Lagos, Ozwald Boateng, a London native of Ghanaian descent, makes his way to center stage at Africa Fashion Week in New York 2012. For the past twenty-five years, Ozwald has recreated the traditional concepts of men’s clothing and tailoring by introducing his contemporary interpretation of colors and luxury fabrics.  Boateng has mastered the art of ‘bespoke’ clothing, which emphasizes clean lines and executes the perfect balance of style and form. Inspired by traditional bespoke tailoring, Ozwald has reinvented the style. Joining the ranks of premiere bespoke tailors, Ozwald currently runs Savile Row: N⁰30 in London. Through his innovative creations, Boateng extended the long arm of bespoke tailoring to the new generation, including his personal clients: Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, and Mick Jagger, along with many others. 

Phyllis Taylor is a UK-born designer who’s taken a long, hard route to where she is now in her growing business called Sika Designs. Saving up money to start her own business cost a lot: her time, split between two jobs, selling to colleagues, and finding places to sell her designs. What’s so cool about her business is the approach she takes to making African prints and colors fit the style of her designs. While she stays and designs in Britain, the production part of the company is based in Ghana, her parents homeland which she visited each summer growing up. She takes her designs to Ghana to find prints and colors that perfectly align with the design’s she’s already created. After long days walking around with a portfolio and samples, Taylor now sells her designs in Accra, London, New York, Paris, and Tokyo. 

After the success of the first All-African L’Uomo Vogue (Men’s Italian Vogue), Franca Sozzani has been working feverishly on the next edition, which is to be released in May or June of this year. The idea is not show Africa in some unreal, all-too-glamorous light, but to show it in the most positive way.

There is so much talent that comes from the continent that Vogue is the perfect magazine to showcase it all. Featured in the issue will be Nina Baksmaty, a young African designer who’s ready to show off her talent as seen through her label called KoshieO. Declares Baksmaty, “The Vogue reader looks to Vogue for the next fashion trend, the next designer, the next phase in fashion. The African [L'Uomo Vogue] edition… will therefore let the Vogue readers know the potential of African fashion.”

What’s your opinion on the next editon of L’Uomo Vogue featuring African fashion?

Credit : http://nbcnews.to/zQLbq0

Rooted in Lagos, Nigeria is a communications and translation company called The Designer Label. It’s main focus is on providing specialized language and cross-cultural promotional services to African designers and artists. It’s a way to reach non-English speaking areas for promotional and sales purposes. African designers are broadening their horizons through organizations like these to spread the beauty and high-fashion luxury they provide. 

To learn more about this company, watch the video below!

Could Africa Fashion Week be the next New York Fashion Week?

The ARISE Fashion Week that took place in Lagos, Nigeria last week was such a success that it’s got everybody thinking big. Organizer Penny McDonald said, “You’ve got Milan, London, New York and Paris. Why not Lagos?”. There’s such a fashion culture that’s come out of that area to showcase in other countries around the world, there’s no reason to make Lagos the fifth fashion capital in the world. 

Seventy-seven designers were narrowed down to five winners that will showcase at NYFW. For designers who struggle to enter the European-dominated international fashion scene, ARISE Fashion Week was a chance for them to shine. Despite difficulties that the entire country faces with electricity issues and the near threadbare textile industry, the ARISE event was certainly an insight, or sneak peek, into what the continent can do, and what potential they have in becoming a serious fashion capital of the world.