The hottest style from the streets of Lagos
When the SS23 edition of Lagos Fashion Week kicked off on a sunny Thursday afternoon last week, there was cause for celebration – finally, after two-and-a-bit years of COVIDinduced uncertainty, the event was well and truly back.
As one of Africa’s most prominent fashion events, Lagos Fashion Week has long served as an incubator for many established African designers, including Kenneth Ize, Orange Culture, Thebe Magugu, IAMISIGO, and Andrea Iyamah. And after its unanticipated break, it continued in this vein, spotlighting fresh new talent like Metakay, Oshobor Nigeria, SVL, and Scheherazade Essrhir.
But it wasn’t just the catwalk offering up creativity and inspiration this season. As ever, there was plenty happening on the streets, as young fashion fans slipped into their best looks and headed out to the shows. Like the SS23 runways, the city’s street style across the event exemplified the ways in which a new generation of Nigerians continue to use fashion as a tool not just for self-expression, but also protest, indulgence, and storytelling – as well plain old peacocking and showing up and showing out.
Diving into subcultures as diverse as Afro-futurism, grunge, goth and beyond for inspiration, kids in the city are putting their own spin on style. Here, we took a look at what Lagos’ coolest fashion fans are wearing right now.
