The 2019 edition of the GTBank Fashion Weekend was held at the GTCentre, Oniru Estate Victoria Island, Lagos between Saturday, November 9, 2019 and Sunday, November 10, 2019.
Connect Nigeria’s editorial team was live at the event which was the centre of focus for residents of the African commercial capital and visitors from all over the world. Without a doubt, the event which is an initiative of Guaranty Trust Bank, was worthwhile.
Today, we present you a recap of the event.
Master Classes
Read more about Fashion
The event was educative as master classes had high profile fashion personalities around the globe grace the event and educate Nigerians about the trend in the fashion industry. The fashion business was a great focus during one of the master classes on Sunday, (November 10) by world renowned fashion personality, the Fashion and Buying Director of MATCHESFASHION, Natalie Kingham. She talked on the theme The Business of Fashion Buying.
Tips from the master class to entrepreneurs in the fashion industry on becoming successful include:
- Being aware of your surrounding in terms of the kind of clothes people love to wear especially where weather is concerned, the lifestyles of people, and what they wear in public spaces like restaurants.
- Your guts to make decisions as a fashion entrepreneur
- Understanding the science and logic in the fashion business
- The role of social media. Natalie Kingham noted that it is very vital to have an online and offline presence in a digitalized world, pointing out the role images posted on social media platforms like Instagram play in marketing fashion designs globally.
- Essence of good photography owing to the fact that the fashion business works hand-in-hand with photography.
Natalie Kingham, when asked about skills an individual who wants to venture into the fashion business must possess, pointed out that it is necessary to:
- Start from a low level such as working as a hairdresser or photographer to avoid getting broke in a fashion industry that demands quite a huge capital
- Surrounding one’s self with people in the fashion industry for guidance
- Loving people and loving to travel as it affords exposure to the fashion trend globally
- Sound knowledge of how to make money as an individual
- Self-belief
For upcoming fashion brands, success in the fashion industry could prove a difficult task owing to competition and the master class was not short of educating guests on how to breakthrough in the industry with useful tips such as:
- Locating the right brand retailer as rejection from a brand does not mean product is bad
- Partnering with your retailer in business
- Sending mails to people on a daily to get their attention
- Understanding customers which can only be attainable by selling to customers and doing a personal evaluation of the kind of product they want most.
Runway Shows
Apart from the master classes, there were runway shows at the event as popular fashion designers such as Huishan Zhang, Imame Ayissi, Ituen Basi, Studio 189, Lanre Da-Silva Ajayi, Mafi Mafi, among others had their models walk the runway at the event.
Sign up to the Connect Nigeria daily newsletter
Exhibitions
Fashion designers had their products displayed for sale at the event and some of them left the event with fat pockets.
Featured Image Source: @gtbank – Instagram