What is the Fashion Art Fusion 2015 all about?

Austin-Aihmankhu

Art Fusion is actually our creation, it is meant to celebrate fashion and art.   It is a sort of a marriage of Fashion and Art. The whole idea is taking the runway from the regular runway where you just have models coming on the runway and showcasing their cloths. We want to project the Art, because of the passion I have for the Art and when I say the Art, I mean visual and performance art.

Yes, because of my passion for the Art, I decided to create Fashion Art Fusion to celebrate the less known art form. You know if you want to do fashion, it is easy for you to get sponsors and the glamour around it, but when you are talking of spoken word like poetry or dance and alternative music, people are not really interested. So through this we are promoting music, dance and visual art.

The music we promote is the alternative music and not the mainstream music. For us, we have a lot of talents out there doing chants and other kind of not so popular art but they are not promoted. These are very good talented people who do all forms of art. So we want to use this platform to promote them.

What should people expect to see at the show?

On that day, you are going to see a blend of fashion on the runway, music, dance and a handful of others who will be entertaining the audience with their arts. We had a maiden edition last year and this year we want to have the second one and we want to take it a bit higher than what it was last year.

So we are using Oriental Hotel Victoria Island and the runway will definitely be a kaleidoscope of creative arts. It is holy matrimony between the runway and visual arts. The runway will also feature designs from Queen Ahneva Ahneva who is a celebrity radio host of Classic FM and an artistic designer with over twenty years in the industry both locally and internationally.

Ejiro Amos Tafiri, a renowned designer who has showcased her design locally and internationally stage will be the “cherry on the cake’ together they plan to blow the minds of guests. We should expect to see aficionado, very talented people, fashion designers who know their onion, putting out what they know how to do best. You expect to see those who will dance and tell you that dance is art and not just exercise, but some art form that should be celebrated.

These are forms that have been relegated. So this mix is what is going to make FAF very interesting and it is what is going to differentiate it from the regular runway on the regular fashion show. There will be performances by Ijodee (dancer), Squad 1, Adunni Nifattiti, Ivori (Poet), Donna the poet, Tonnie and son on.

Again, as part of the commitment to help budding talents, three lucky students from Yaba College of Technology, Fashion Department will be privileged to share the runway with professional.   Organisers of the event, which is proudly sponsored by Vlisco, GAC Motors with other partners have promised to give guest the best of the fashion world.

What informed your choice of this year’s theme, “Aficionado”?

Aficionado is, really being the best in what you do. We are looking at a group of talented people coming together to showcase their arts either in fashion, dance, or any other art. We are putting together the best and that is why it is titled Aficionado. I personally have a passion for wearable art. In as much as I sew for corporate organizations the regular clothing, my passion basically is wearable art and we are going to see some of these on that day. We want to turn the individual to a mobile canvas.

Where did Luzol Sounds come from?

I was the official clothier for the Lagos International Jazz Festival that happened this year. I got inspired to create a line called Luzol Sounds.   Luzol Sounds is about having musical instruments on clothing either in appliqué form; appliqué is a medium where you use fabrics to work on fabric or using fabric paint to work on clothing. It is part of we would showcase on that day.

What are the criteria for selecting the designers for the show?

Initially it was wearable arts. Queen Ahneva Ahneva who came on board the first time, does a lovely wearable art. She has been in the industry for about 30 years, first in America before she came over to Nigeria.  Then we decided not limit it, but look for people that are creative in the fashion industry to be part of it. So we had to bring on people like Ejiro Tafiri, Ade Bakare and a couple of other talented people.

Before now I am not sure I have heard about Luzol. So where have you been all the years?

I am surprised people ask me that question because the label is more than ten years.   I started off clothing corporate organisations not real uniform though, we were doing bulk work for cooperate organisations, for conferences and all that, so in that case we were not fully into couture.

We were like 70 percent corporate and 30 percent couture. So we were not really advertising or really known but the organisations that need our service knew us. We were dealing with BAT, Guinness, UAC Foods and the likes. However, last years, we decided to come out with the brand to tell the world that this is what we do, that we had something to show and we are known for wearable art and so let’s bring it there.

We felt we should create a platform to celebrate what we do. For me, it is not just talking about fashion. Fashion Art Fusion was informed by my passion for the art, dance, poetry and alternative music.   I have not been involved in runways because I have not been really interested. But now, I felt this something new and interesting and so we should promote this culture of ours.   So for me, it is a cultural move..