Global Fashion News: Nigerian Breweries Partners With Mai Atafo To Mentor Young Fashion Designers, More

Hi fashionista, trust your week has been good? We are wrapping up the week with interesting and relevant news that you should know of in the industry.

This week in fashion, Nigerian Breweries partnered Mai Atafo to mentor grant awardees, BellaNaija Style introduces Declutter and Donate Campaign and many more. Read up and enjoy.

Nigerian Breweries Partners with Mai Atafo, Others to Mentor Young Talents

Nigerian Breweries has announced it will give some of its grant awardees from the Isedowo and Progress Booster campaigns expert mentorship opportunities to help them create more impact. These awardees, who will be selected from the fashion design and photography talent tracks, will be trained by Mai Atafo and Kelechi Amadi respectively.

Progress Booster and Isedowo are initiatives set up by the organisation to support entrepreneurs in Nigeria. Launched in 2017, the initiatives support them with grants, loans, and access to informal trade associations. Now, the initiatives have added a mentorship program to their offerings.

“It is important to not just give people monetary support but to show them how they can utilise it. And what better way than pairing them with experts who will not only help them improve their skills but share invaluable experiences from their successes and mistakes in the field,” Kehinde Kadiri, Portfolio Manager, Mainstream Lager, Nigerian Breweries Plc said.

Speaking on the mentorship, Mai Atafo said, “I’m pleased that a platform like this exists. It is one thing to have a passion for making clothing, but it takes something extra to want to make standout pieces. I see the fire in these winners. I know they will progress at a good pace and fulfil their goals”.

BellaNaija Style Introduces Declutter and Donate Campaign – A Sustainable Fashion Initiative for Africa

BellaNaija Style has launched its BNS Declutter and Donate Campaign. The campaign aims at encouraging “people to think about the life cycle of their fashion choices in order to encourage long-term changes in consumer behaviour”.

To achieve this goal, over the next 10 weeks, the brand plans to highlight the problems and actions fashionistas should take to become more conscious consumers. Amongst the topics to be explored are ethical fashion, sustainable fashion, and zero waste practices. Through it, the brand hopes to raise awareness amongst fashion consumers that will inform change.

This move marks an added effort to promote sustainability in the African fashion space. The campaign can be followed on Instagram #BNSDeclutterDonate and on bellanaijastyle.com.

25 African Founders Enter The Future Is Female PR Mentorship Program

From the Future is Female Mentorship Program, 25 African founders have been selected to be the 2021 cohorts. Amongst these winners are 2 fashion entrepreneurs.

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The program is aimed at African female tech founders to help them scale the hurdles that come with being in the male-dominated tech space. Through a series of online sessions and mentorship, the program teaches women the fundamentals of PR and communications. Eligible entrepreneurs for the program are those whose business is less than 2 years old and have not yet raised Series A funding.

After receiving entries from entrepreneurs in 25 African countries, 25 were selected. 8 out of these 25 awardees are Nigerians. 2 of the 25 awardees, 1 from Nigeria and 1 from Egypt, are in the fashion industry.

From Nigeria is Wunmi Akinsola, the Founder of Fashtracker. Fashtracker is a Business to Consumer (B2C) fashion marketplace connecting trusted African brands to the customers that need them. From Egypt is Heba Eldessouky, the Founder of As Good As New. As Good As New (AGAN) is an online platform for buying and selling pre-loved and outlet fashion items.

New York Fashion Week is Back

With the effects of the coronavirus, 2020 saw lots of brands either stop or reduce the scale of their fashion shows. The New York Fashion Week was one of such brands, but now, the fashion show is set to resume in full gear in September.

Running from September 8th to September 12th, the physical fashion show will begin with Ulla Johnson and end with Tom Ford. Other brands that are set to showcase new and exciting collections at the show include Tory Burch, Michael Kors Collection, Oscar de la Renta, and Carolina Herrera. The show will, however, feature collections from Collina Strada, Christian Siriano, and Harlem’s Fashion Row on September 7th.

Although the lineup is ready, details of how the show will go have not yet been announced. As of now, it is not clear how many guests will be allowed at the show or if masks will be required.

Who What Wear to Launch Fashion Line

Fashion magazine, Who What Wear has announced its intention to launch a fashion line. According to its editor-in-chief Kat Collings, the company will launch Who What Wear Collection, a new DTC (Direct-To-Consumer) fashion brand. This brand will be headed by Kat Collings as creative director and Brianna Mobrem, president of parent company Clique Brands, as president.

The brand will work on quarterly collections, all released in three monthly drops. Although the brand has previously launched fashion lines with companies like Target, this will be their first solo line. According to Collings, they are using Who What Wear’s editors to track trends as a jumping-off point for designs.

According to the brand, its readership grew by 117% in the last year, and sales driven by its editorial content through affiliate links grew by 230%. With this, Mobrem hopes to translate the loyal readership into loyal customers by marketing to existing readers directly through social media, emails and the website.

“We have a clear vision of who we want to reach,” Mobrem said. “We have a global audience of 20 million women, and we’re constantly in contact with them directly through surveys and indirectly through affiliate data. We understand what she wants, which is contemporary designs at a midmarket price. That’s the plan.”