AFWL 2024: Organisers announce date, venue of 14th edition

The organisers of the Africa Fashion Week London (AFWL), which aims to promote African talents and creativity worldwide, have announced the date and location of the 14th edition.

At a press conference on Wednesday at Eko Hotel Lagos, the AFWL founder, Ronke Ogunwusi, unveiled this year’s edition, themed ‘Traditional Fabrics and Royal Regalia’.

This unique theme promises to bring a fresh perspective to African fashion and is set to be held on 11 and 12 October 2024 in London at the Kensington and Chelsea Conference and Events Centre.

The AFWN (Africa Fashion Week Nigeria) 2024 will be held between 7 and 9 December 2024 at the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.

Explaining the inspiration behind the theme, Mrs Ogunwusi, wife of the Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi, said it had to do with royalty.

“We all know that our Adire is trending at the moment. Some things I wear are Adjire, and people don’t even believe it’s Adire. So, the traditional fabrics talk more about Adire and other conventional fabrics of Africa, like the kente, the mud cloth, and fabrics like that. And then the royal Adire, of course, I’m a royal. So I have to try to infuse.

“I always try to infuse my royalty into anything we do at Africa Fashion Week. Because that’s who we are. As Africans, our fashion is part of our DNA. It’s our identity. And we must wear it with so much pride and showcase it with pride. The fact is that we are very, very stylish. Deeply”, said the AFWL founder.

Olori Ronke added that AFWL was about creating a platform to promote the creative talents in Africa.

Olori Ronke

Reminiscing about her passion and AFWN, Olori Ronke said, “It’s all about promoting the creative talent out of Africa. Before we started AFWL in 2011, there wasn’t a platform that could showcase the greatness and talent of our creatives in Africa. So this year is our 14th edition in London and our 10th edition in Nigeria.

“It’s all about promoting the creative talents out of Africa. Before we started Africa Fashion Week London in 2011, there wasn’t a platform that showcased the greatness of the talents of our creatives in Africa. There must be a platform that showcases them because for creativity to grow, there must be one that showcases and promotes its growth.”

AFWL

AFWL began 14 years ago in Europe and has become the most prominent fashion event promoting and nurturing African and African-inspired design talent. It encompasses catwalks, exhibitions and other events.

When asked how models are scouted in London, Olori Ronke, a British-born model, stated that they could be discovered either during auditions or through modelling agencies.

“So it’s a two-way thing. Sometimes, we do auditions, and sometimes, we work with modelling agencies. Because it’s also an opportunity not for designers but also for black young people who are models who want to go into the industry”, she noted.

Furthermore, the London University alumna praised her husband for being the most consistent financial partner of the AFWL.

AFWL has had designers repeatedly attend the show because they get value for their money.

“So from that first edition, the venues have always improved and gotten bigger because we needed to create more people from outside London because it’s an opportunity. These are some of the brands that, if not for this platform, may not have had the opportunity to be seen or to be known, and they’ve come back because they’ve gotten tangible results.”

The mother-of-one also mentioned that, hopefully, the government will support establishing an Adire trade centre in London, making shipping Adires to other countries easy.

Olori Ronke

Adire Oodua Textile Hub

However, the 49-year-old talked about her other brand, Adire Oodua hub in Ile Ife, Osun State, which she said the Onni financially supports.

Olori Ronke founded the Adire Oodua hub in 2021 with the Ọọni of Ife as the Chairman of the hub. The Adire Oodua Hub serves as a dedicated resource and educational centre focused on preserving the traditional techniques of Adire textile manufacturing.

The Hub enhances awareness and fosters an understanding of the sustainability of Adire production. It aims to create a platform for young people to earn a sustainable living.

Olori Ronke disclosed that they have trained over 1200 people in the production of Adire courtesy of her husband, who solely foots the training bills worth N450,000 per person annually.

She said, “We’ve trained over 1,200 at the moment, courtesy of my husband, who funds the training.”

Additionally, she said the Adire training is now open to National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members.

“And right now, we’ve graduated to another programme of taking NYSC youth corners so that we can train them so they can come and do their youth service with us. We pay them, and we train them. So we give them accommodation. We pay them for training to learn”, she added.