Ronke Ademiluyi was born in London to a scion of
the royal family in Ife Kingdom in the South Western
part of Nigeria. She is a rare combination of beauty
and brains. Ademiluyi, the founder and Chief
Executive officer of Africa Fashion Week London
and Nigeria is on a mission, fuelled by the lack of
retail space, production factories and start-up
funds and how it is hindering the growth of the
potentially multimillion dollar Africa’s fashion
industry. In this interview with Solomon Elusoji, she
talks about what to expect at the Africa Fashion
Week 2015, holding at Eko Hotel and Suites in
Victoria Island, Lagos, from tomorrow till Sunday,
24th, and burning issues in the Nigerian fashion
industry.
What are your expectations for this year's Africa
Fashion Week Nigeria (AFWN)?
A much bigger audience, the event is spread over
4 days this year, starting off with the mall catwalk at
the palms shopping mall, followed by the global
fashion management workshop, then the emerging
designers catwalk, followed by the established
designer catwalk and then the closing Gala for our
celebrity designers. The closing Gala night billed to
be the most glamorous night of the fashion week,
The 'Oscar night' of fashion, stars in dazzling outfits
What is being done differently this year?
More awareness is being created for the brand,
more designers from different African countries and
the African Diaspora are participating this year. We
also have a global fashion management workshop
for young designers in collaboration with the
Nigerian British Chamber of Commerce.
Who are those involved in organizing the week?
Ms Abiola Okoya, our global goodwill ambassador,
Oreka Godis, our brand fashion ambassador,
Denrele Edun our red carpet host and we will be
putting a glamorous end to the fashion week with
Globacom ambassadors strutting down the runway.
What got you started into fashion?
It started in the 90's when I was studying in the
university. I used to getting a lot of compliments
from my friends, so I decided to start selling to
them, so it actually was a hobby that turned into a
sustainable business, initially it was selling of
western clothes as I had 4 boutiques RUKKIES.
Then 5 years ago I diversified into African clothing
as African fashion now influences a lot of fashion
around the world, and that was how Africa Fashion
Week started.
How has been the journey so far?
Very interesting, I get to meet so many different
people from different parts of the world. I have been
invited to speak about African fashion on a few
occasions, and the journey continues.
What inspired Africa Fashion Week London and the
subsequent African Fashion Week Nigeria?
It was that lack of an international platform in the
UK to showcase African designers. Also, the fact
that London is one of the fashion capitals of the
world with a huge ethnic diversity.
Regarding the Africa fashion week in Nigeria, we
thought that the world had not yet seen the best of
Nigerian fashion and there are so many young
talented designers in Nigeria who do not have the
financial backing to showcase on an international
platform, that was why we launched the platform in
Nigeria to bridge the gap between the designers and
their target audience.
The inspiration came in 2011 from the lack of a
platform that supported and showcased African
designers. That was how the first Africa Fashion
Week London was launched. We decided to bring it
home to Nigeria, last year to support talented
emerging Nigeria designers, who cannot afford to
showcase their designs on an international platform,
a lot of emerging designers use the Africa Fashion
Week platforms to launch their brand to the media
and the general public.
How would you describe the Nigerian fashion
industry vis-a-vis the current state of global
fashion industry? Where do you see the industry in
the coming years?
When it comes to African inspired fashion we set
the pace in Nigeria, the new generation of Nigerian
designers have added a modern twist to creativity,
using traditional prints to make pieces that appeal to
a global audience. I see the fashion industry
growing to a level, where it becomes sustainable for
the designers, because a lot of our young designers
are now creating modern ready-to-wear pieces and
clothes for everyday life.
What are the necessary steps needed to take the
Nigerian fashion industry to the next level?
Our young designers face a lot of challenges like
lack of financial support, lack of factories where
they can do mass production, lack of knowledge of
the business side of fashion, like branding,
marketing, and pricing and how to become global
brands. If these challenges can be tackled it will
assist the designers in getting to the next level of
becoming sustainable brands and household names.
What would be your advice to upcoming fashion
designers and models who are looking for their big
break?
My advice would be to work hard, be passionate
about what you do, attend workshops, seminars
and training that will help perfect their skills and
become the best in what they do.
I would also advice designers to be aware of the
power of the middle class and tap into it, as the
middle class is increasing, so to create affordable
pieces for them.
Culled from Thisdaylive.com
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