Recently, some young fashion talents across the African continent engaged in healthy rivalry at Design Fashion Africa (DFA), a platform that aims to help them to reach their potential and harness opportunities to grow their business.
The DFA, a brainchild of Oracle Experience, a Lagos- based marketing agency, aims to help fashion talents to hone their creative ingenuity in tune with global best practice, as well as mentor existing and new talents on how to expand their business to global clientele.
At the grand finale fashion show, which held on October 5, 2019 in Lagos, the DFA platform hosted fashion experts and upcoming ones across Africa to a new level of creative exploration.
The 3-day event, which calumniated in the fashion show, started with designers selling their submissions online, amid other activities such as a reality show, marketplace, a master-class and conferences that featured various panel sessions.
The ma r k e t p l a c e brought 77 vendors who showcased their wares and provided network opportunities for designers to meet their clients and explore their areas of needs.
Prior to the final show, DFA featured a boot camp where various upcoming fashion designers submitted their creative sketches on instagram amid a live screening. The contest saw 10 successful designers who participated in the final fashion show where the final winner emerged.
The three-day event also featured DFA Academy amid master-classes where participants were mentored on the etiquettes of fashion and photography. Mao Atafo, a fashion icon, Ogechukwu Agada, a modeling expert, House of Tara (makeup), as well as, Kelechi Amadi Obi for photography, were present.
It was a whole knowledge of experience for the contestants as they met with the experts.
There was also a conference that featured panel session attended by designers from many parts of Africa who shared their experiences with the upcoming designers.
One of the highlights of the event was the crowning of Abubakar Jubril as winner of the DFA 2019 Fashion Show, while the second and third positions were considered winners as well.
Speaking at the event, Abubakar Jubril, said the DFA has given him the platform to launch his fashion business to the international stage.
“I am so happy to win the contest. DFA gave me the platform to excel. For my collections to be featured on the runway, where Mao Atafo was present, is something I never thought of even in decades to come”, he acknowledged.
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At a media briefing held recently in Lagos, Felix King, managing director and CEO, Oracle Experience, explained what the DFA is doing differently from other fashion platforms adding that the objective is to capture young designers and bring them on the big stage.
King noted that DFA provides the hub for young designers to excel through trainings, interactions and networking with established designers, while uniting Africans through fashion.
“The DFA differs from other fashion platforms because it focuses on upcoming designers rather than the established ones. From the feedback we have gotten so far, designers should no longer have to wait because DFA is available for them to leverage and promote their business”, he said.
He said the platform discovers, empowers and inspires new fashion talents with whole lots of experiences hence equipping them with knowledge they would have taken a long time to acquire.
For him, the DFA idea is changing the dynamics in the fashion industry because a lot of people in the business are trying to expand their business to include trainings, engagements and empowerments.
The Oracle Experience boss gave insight on the limitations faced by upcoming designers in the fashion industry, saying many designers are constrained by inability to market their wares, as well as, increase their profit earnings. He stressed that achieving such feat needed the experience of experts in the industry like a Mao Atafo.
He also attributed lack of access to finances to fund fashion business as challenge for upcoming designers. But through the DFA such barriers, according to him, are broken because it provides links that solve the challenges.
The event was powered by Oracle Experience in partnership with Jakaranda, Soundcity TV, ONTV, Spice TV and Urban Radio. Sponsorship included the Ethiopian Airline, House of Tara, Heineken and Access Bank.
