Style.com Profiles Lagos Fashionistas Nike Oshinowo, Oluchi Orlandi & More in “Lagos Rising” Feature

Nike Oshinowo & Oluchi Orlandi

Style.com is one of the world’s most revered resources when it comes to fashion information. From the runway to the hottest trends and industry scoop, they’ve got an eye on what’s hot. With Lagos Fashion & Design Week, visits to the White House and international shows, Nigerian designers, fashion entrepreneurs & fanatics are definitely proving to be the ones to watch.

Recently,photographer Nick Waplington traveled to Lagos to shoot some of Lagos’ most stylish women. From Designers/Entrepreneurs and Executive Directors of GE like Reni Folawiyo & Adesuwa Dozie to TV Stars/Actresses and Singers like Eku Edewor & Temi Dollface,  Nick captured a broad spectrum of women who love African and International fashion wearing pieces from Duro Olowu, Stella Jean, Simone Rocha, Dries and more.

Accompanying his stunning photos was a brief interview with CEO & Founder of soon-to-be-opened retail store Alara; Reni Folawiyo. Writer, Uzoamaka Maduka sat with Reni to talk about Alara and the women in Nick’s photo shoot.

See excerts from Reni’s interview below and a few photos we loved from the photo shoot. Be sure to check out Style.com for more images and rest of the interview.

Reni Folawiyo – Founder & CEO Alara

Nana Otedola -
Managing Drector & CEO of Garment Care

Eku Edewor

Temi Dollface

Tokini Peterside (Brand Consultant) & Dedun Peterside (Psychologist & Executive Coach)

Adesuwa Dozie – Executive Counsel, West Africa, GE

Read excerpts from the interview;

On if there is a “Lagos Style” women adopt stating the diverse looks of the women photographed
I’m not sure if I can put it in words. As a people we’re very expressive, and so therefore we’re quite embellished. And so Lagos style, it is quite adorned, and most of the designers here, you find that going through their work. We wear a lot of color, a lot of beading. That’s why Duro does so well here—he’s from Nigeria originally, of course, and I think you see that expressiveness in his clothes. And the Alara woman, she connects with that.

On how Lagos being an international capital for commerce and culture, affects younger women
Well, when I look at my generation—and let me say, our mothers worked, too, although of course they weren’t hopping on planes all the time—what I think is, in a way, we had to go away, and then come back and see what we could do. Whereas this new generation, they seem to want to grow from here. They’re very connected to Lagos, to their heritage. You see that in people like Temi DollFace and Eku [Edewor], creative girls who are really the face of young Lagos. It’s a very creative generation—I think that’s what they’ve added, especially, a sense of creativity. And they want to create here and explode—let the rest of the world discover them, rather than the other way around. I think they feel like it’s their time.