The Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs. Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf, has made a renewed call for locally-made fabrics and patronage of indigenous designers as a way of encouraging the growth of local collections and designs.
She made the appeal at the FashionArtfusion Lagos (Season 5) held at Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Akinbile-Yussuf, represented at the event by the Director of Admin and Human Resource in the Ministry, Mrs. Toyin Ogunlana, said that apart from people who visit Lagos to enjoy nature, adventure and pleasure, fashion is another area that can attract tourists in large numbers.
She maintained that FashionArtfusion brought to fore another aspect of Tourism, adding that the event shows that Nigeria also has what the Western world offers in fashion.
Her words: “Let us all be the advocates of our locally made designs, let’s cultivate the attitude of patronising what belongs to us, let’s encourage our indigenous designers and together we will give leverage to all the latest collections here on display today. This, to me, is the essence of this gathering”.
“On our part, we realised the need to encourage our youth to choose the path of fashion designing as a vocation with prestige, this informed the State Government’s sponsored training programme for practitioners in the creative sector which fashion designing is part of”, she added.
The Commissioner also hinted that the Ministry might host an Arts Exhibition early next year to expose the potentials in arts and culture, while also using the event as a vehicle to expose local arts and crafts to both local and international communities.
Akinbile-Yussuf envisaged that the fashion event will also promote domestic tourism growth based on a culture of travel, innovation, stakeholders’ participation, offering authentic, affordable experiences and packages that will meet the needs of all existing and potential local travellers.
The Commissioner commended Luzol, the brain behind FashionArtfusion, for his love and passion for indigenous fashion as well as making the programme a reality with a touch of class.
Delivering a goodwill message at the event, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, Dr. (Mrs.) Ifeoma Anyanvwutaku, informed that the Fashion Industry has become a crucial component of the Nigerian economy creating jobs, promoting creativity, ingenuity of the people and attracting investors to the sector.
According to her: “The current analysis of the Nigerian economy indicates that Fashion, Garment and Footwear Industry contributed a reasonable percentage to the GDP of the country and certainly a viable sub-sector that needs to be fully harnessed”.
While revealing that the “Lagos, Wear Nigeria” theme of the event is an integral part of Fashion Art Fusion that deserves to be given prompt attention and encouragement, the Permanent Secretary, who was represented by a Director in the Ministry, Mrs. Akudo Nwosu, reiterated the determination of the Federal Ministry to continuously support the Creative Industry in order to diversify the economy through the sector.
The CEO of Luzol and founder of Fashion Arts Fusion, Mr. Austin Aimakhu, said that the theme for the event: ‘Lagos, Wear Nigeria’ was designed to promote consciousness about Nigeria’s textile tradition and Lagos’ culture, fashion, tourism and art.
The event, which is in its fifth season, featured a runway show and special photo exhibition of Lagos Shoreline by Willem Vermeer, a Dutch national who captured the beauty of Lagos Shoreline in pictorial form.
