Bubu Ogisi was one of the highlights of the Lagos Fashion Week held early last November. Her work, blending African stories and traditional materials, brought African material into the spotlight of international media.
Nigerian stylist Bubu Ogisi is the founder of the brand Iamsigo. During Lagos Fashion Week, her models walked the runway dressed in black, white, and ochre outfits, adorned with handmade bracelets and necklaces. The designer chose to name her Spring/Summer 2024 collection "Shadows," another way for her to showcase authentic African materials.
Bubu Ogisi's innovative spirit elevates her to the ranks of the greatest stylists in Nigeria. It is no coincidence that she has already been featured in the prestigious Vogue magazine and associated with the Victoria's Secret lingerie brand.
Bubu Ogisi sees herself more as a researcher than a designer, traveling across Africa in search of traditional materials and techniques to incorporate into the creations of her brand IAMISIGO. "I think I continue to pursue my development and resize the materials I research," Ms. Ogisi confides to AFP during a fitting in a Lagos hotel. "That's what I love doing every day."
Kenya, Ghana, Ivory Coast, and her native Nigeria are among the countries that inspired her, having worked in the oil industry before studying fashion in Paris to find her creative touch and establish her brand. "Everything I create, either it is assembled on-site, or I bring all the magical elements or ingredients for a concoction created between Nigeria and Kenya," she explains. "But I love sourcing from these different places for everything I find there."
The artistic director of the company, Roxane Mbanga, suggests that it is about bringing forth stories from the past "that have been suppressed by colonization."
Craft Pioneer
During Lagos Fashion Week, models, their hands and faces adorned with henna, walked slowly on a floor covered with sawdust in front of the seated audience.
The runway largely went without air conditioning due to a lack of fuel for the generator, a logistical issue faced by many businesses in Lagos, where the electrical grid experiences failures.
But it reached its conclusion despite the heat, accompanied by artist Sheila singing songs paying tribute to shadows and spirits.
"In my opinion, what Bubu represents, from a global perspective and not just African, is that we need to understand that craftsmanship is at the very heart of fashion," says Omoyemi Akerele, founder of Lagos Fashion Week.
"I consider Bubu as an artist and a kind of pioneer of craftsmanship, in a way, you know, she steps out of her comfort zone to reach out to communities," he adds.
Nigerian creative industries are gaining increasing recognition worldwide: afrobeats music stars Burna Boy and Sake fill stadiums and win awards, while Nollywood films succeed on Netflix and Amazon Prime platforms.
For Bubu Ogisi, who has collaborated with musicians and other artists, Nigerian fashion naturally blends into other entertainment realms. "You can never take away the sense of style from musicians," she says. "Filmmakers need their movies to be visually stunning for the audience, and that can't be done without an array of amazing pieces for the body."
