Ronke Ademiluyi
Founder
of the African Fashion Week, London, Ronke Ademiluyi, has been in the
industry long enough to know what it has in store for development.
According to her, showcasing African designs on international platforms can drive revenue for the country.
Although Ademiluyi trained as a lawyer in the United Kingdom, she had always known she would focus on her passion – fashion.
Ademiluyi decided to celebrate African
designers by creating a platform – the African Fashion Week Nigeria and
London – a yearly event that has showcased African-inspired designs from
300 designers at its shows in London.
On why she decided to showcase African
designers in London, Ronke said, “We want to portray Africa in a
positive light because most times it is the negative side of Africa that
gets attention. They see hungry people, they see people dying but we
are not all about that.
“Africa has a lot to offer. We have talented designers. And when it comes to fashion, Nigeria can set the pace globally.”
Ademiluyi said her passion was
discovering young designers. She said AFWL was created to give more
visibility to young Nigerian designers who might not have the avenues to
showcase their African designs to the world.
“AFWL is about building talents and
encouraging them to be able to sustain themselves from what they do. We
now have a new generation of young Nigerian designers that produce
clothes that can compete with what their counterparts are doing abroad
and they need a stage to grow,”she said.
Ademiluyi said the fifth edition of
the show which would be held in August at the Olympia Exhibition Centre,
Kensington, London, would feature collections from 68 designers across
Africa and Asia.
