Back to the Matter - 5 Style Essentials for the 9-5 Gal

Lagos Fashion And Design Week 2013  MAI ATAFO #LFDW

Just like the title implies, it's time to get to the main matter - work, life and the career...It took me like five days to come up with this post - why? Because firstly, the title came to me within seconds but I didn't know what exactly to write about. I thought, maybe what it feels like getting back to office, how to set the mind back to work mood and finally closet staples to reconsider for the new year..

I came to conclusion, I'm clear on how I feel for the new work year and also clear on having a resolution or not. But something I'm sure I and most peeps out there are not sure they've cleared for the new year - is their style resolution.

I know my style, I know how I want to be seen/addressed style-wise but I desire a strong change for my work looks. For 2014 I want more strong looks, more like 'power' looks. Casual formal is permitted but in a matured way not girly.

Finally, I summarized it into five essential style items for the working lady *big smile*

The five include;

* The Jacket: No not the regular jacket, a monochrome or boyfriend jacket. Both will be essential for the always-necessary LBD and the tank and pants/pencil skirt looks.

Vogue Australia senior fashion editor Christine Centenera

The Complete Schedule - Anita Quansah, Iconic Invanity, LDA, JBL, Tiffany Amber, Bridget Awosika, Omer Asim, Ituen Basi and More Set to Show At MTN LFDW 2012!

MTN Lagos Fashion and Design Week which aims to be a premiere fashion event is set to bring together media, industry, buyers and consumers to view the current collections of designers in the fashion capital of Lagos, Nigeria. 

This platform aims to cut across geographic and culture barriers to position itself as a business of fashion and design event targeted at showcasing the best of the fashion and design industry, drive the Nigerian fashion economy and ultimately uplift its profile within the industry.

Again this year, Lagos will play host to this fashion and design led event that will feature –

• runway shows featuring new season collections from the best talents in the fashion industry;

• design led exhibitions featuring fashion products and accessories, textiles, furniture design, photography, art installations and architecture;

• workshops that will facilitate knowledge transfer, information exchange and networking opportunities across board

Another major attraction is Lagos itself – a metropolitan island that features an interesting mix of people, cultures which is fast becoming the melting pot for business in Africa. Participants, designers and visitors alike can expect a diversified and interactive platform to maximize their exposure within and beyond their industry circle and open gateways for more business opportunities.

I personally, cannot wait to be a part of this exciting event. See below for the complete schedule of participating designers.

WEDNESDAY 24 OCTOBER

CATWALK SHOW

THE FUTURE: LFDW YOUNG DESIGNER OF THE YEAR FINALISTS

TIME: 7:00PM

CATWALK SHOW

JEWEL BY LISA FOR BLACKBERRY LIMITED EDITION ACCESSORY

TIME: 7:30PM

THURSDAY 25 OCTOBER

EXHIBITION OPENS

TIME: 10AM

CATWALK SHOWS

LFDW YOUNG TALENTS: VINTAGE COLETTE/EJIRO AMOS TAIFIRI | BEATRICE BLACK | IBETEIN THOMPSON

TIME: 5PM

KINABUTI/HOUSE OF MARIE

TIME: 5:30PM

HOUSE OF FORM AND FUNCTION | KOLA KUDDUS

TIME: 6:00PM

REBAHIA | REPUBLIC OF FOREIGNER

TIME: 6:30PM

OBSIDAN

TIME: 7:00PM

ANITA QUANSAH

TIME: 7:30PM

MANGO

TIME: 8:00PM

MAI ATAFO

TIME: 8:30PM

ITUEN BASI

TIME: 9:00PM

FRIDAY 26 OCTOBER

EXHIBITION OPENS

TIME: 10AM

CATWALK SHOWS

LFDW YOUNG TALENT: OZORA BY ZEE | JESS STEFANIE | MARAYAH OH | AKPOS OKUDU

TIME: 4:00PM

NKWO | KIKI KAMANU

TIME: 5:00PM

SUNNY ROSE | XCLAMATIONS

TIME: 5:30PM

EKI ORLEANS

TIME: 6: 00PM

ICONIC INVANITY

TIME: 7:00PM

KELECHI ODU

TIME: 7:30PM

ODIO MIMONET

TIME: 8:30PM

TIFFANY AMBER

TIME: 9:30PM

SATURDAY 27 OCTOBER

EXHIBITION OPENS

TIME: 10AM

LFDW YOUNG DESIGNER OF THE YEAR 2012 FINALE

TIME: 4:00PM

LFDW YOUNG TALENTS: ALALI BOUTIQUE | IAMSIGO | VIV LA RESISTANCE

TIME: 5:00PM

GREY | ALTER EGO

TIME: 5: 30PM

OMER ASIM | BRIDGET AWOSIKA

TIME: 6:00PM

JEWEL BY LISA

TIME: 7:00PM

LANRE DASILVA AJAYI

TIME: 7:30PM

EMMY COLLINS

TIME: 8:00PM

MATTHEW WILLIAMSON

TIME: 9:00PM

Shoe Stalking! Best Runway Shoes at AMFW 2012

I’m usually disappointed during fashion shows/weeks in Nigeria basically because as much as the organizers try to create an ‘international’ standard event and runway they still lose that complete A-grand attitude to the entire package. They don’t endeavour to at least get a 50 for the entire package.

For example, the recently held AMFW 2012 was a great medium(again) to showcase African fashion but some bits were still missing – the hair for each show didn’t define the individual collection of each designer, the shoes were almost same all through the event and most of all, the runway didn’t show any extra effort – at all! Same runway look all through a 6-day event is a NO!

However, I had fun still. Mingled with old friends and met new ones, saw new, weird and quite sublime styles, even on the runway – like the belt for choker mentioned in my previous post – and more. Few of my favourite shows didn’t just showcase the best collection (for me ofcourse) they also had amazing shoes, shoes I couldn’t stop snapping.

Here’s a list of the shoes I loved on the runway; Taibo Bacar, Mai Atafo, David David and Bridget Awosika who revealed her new collection which is quite mature, sexy and oh-so-sophisticated!