Reina de las Fabricas: HELLO NIGERIA-LISA FOLAWIYO

While the fashion world celebrates the Autumn/Winter Season, I sit with a glass of fine wine watching the Nigerian industry blossom into a damsel of international envy. Salute then to the Nigerian celebrities who have tuned to the MAIN stream (Made in Nigeria). Do we have a long way to go? Yes. Have we gone a long way? Yes. Nigerian Designers are becoming more than fabric loving people, we are also breeders of fabric evolution. Andrea Iyamah, Style Temple, April by Kumbi, Kathy Anthony to name a few, literally.

Lisa Folawiyo a Nigerian fashion designer has proven herself effortlessly as among the brightest fashion designers. Her Autumn / Winter collection 2015 marries a spectacularly cool palette of colors, prints and textures. In the autumnal spirit, hems are decorated with oak leaves and maple while pieces of paper shaped cut fabrics adorn some parts in the creation of her look book, the dead leaves scattered on the ground that strengthen the autumnal atmosphere.

Here Is what I love about her. While this is but a glimpse of the dynamism she displays, she makes fabric feel like rubber, flexible and impossibly submissive. I must say she strikes me as a pace setter and permit me to say, a whisperer. While the silhouette of each piece is fluent and uncomplicatedly spelt out, the material is a spectacle featuring prints shaped in oak and maple tree which are reflected, withered and dying, on the setting of the collection while translating the theme and idea of the collection- “Transition and journey”.

Folawiyo explains that “movement, transition, and growth” are key driving forces in this collection as seen in the arrow prints on patterns, embroidery and straps of some of the pieces. Those arrows therefore perfectly embody the essence and purpose of the collection.

Lisa Folawiyo perfected the art of wearing Ankara (local West African cloth) through the use of ornate embellishment. By incorporating texture with this culturally established traditional textile, Lisa Folawiyo transformed the textile and created a globally coveted print. This conceptual and global design hybrid has been the key to Lisa Folawiyo’s success.

Fused with its very own African-inspired custom luxury prints, the Lisa Folawiyo collection skillfully delivers contemporary garments. With a strong eye for tailoring and fit, Folawiyo creates feminine and modern silhouettes with nods to traditional African aesthetics. http://www.lisafolawiyo.com/