Night Of Colour   

The annual Nigeria Television Fashion Show goes quarterly with an edition that highlighted  the brilliance and creativity of the country’s designers

• The models on the runway.

The year’s edition of Nigeria Television Fashion Show lived up to its promise of celebrating  the creativity of Nigerian designers. The show, which was organised by Galaxy Television,  featured several fashion designers who churned out collections of outfits, worn by both male  and female models, who strutted the runway to the delight of the audience. NTFS Reloaded is  one of the numerous programmes on the platform of Nollywood Worldwide Entertainment, an  indigenous programmes production and distribution company.

The fashion show made its debut in 2005 at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, with 18 designers  and 65 models. This year’s edition took place at the External Ball Room of the Federal  Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos. The show was aimed at not just exposing and  celebrating the creativity of Nigerian designers through the use of local fabrics, but in  projecting the beauty that is embedded in Nigerian culture. The fashion show also sought to  reshape the perception of those who love to patronise foreign designers and persuade them to  go for Nigerian indigenous designers. According to the organisers of NTFS Reloaded, the show  has been repackaged to be a quarterly affair instead of monthly as it used to be. This is to  allow the designers who participate to be well prepared and come out in their best.

Some of the designers who participated in the show included De Image Creation, J3, Kemka,  Bim Beads, Kijipa and Bella Rouche. Each of them displayed brilliance and creativity in  their collection. Their collections reflected the Nigerian cultural heritage, embodying  symbols of historic relevance to create nostalgic messages in the beautifully embroidered  and embellished outfits. The designers made use of fabrics like chiffon, aso-oke, linen, raw  silk, chatung lace, adire and damask.  However, the Ankara fabric, which is turning out to  be the most preferred choice of Nigerian designers, dominated the runway. All the designers  made good use of the fabric in making patched work skirts, Gypsy skirts, shirts, dresses,  bustiers and skirt and blouse. Some of the collections also featured the use of accessories,  which were used to jazz up the outfits. The use of sequins, trimmings and stones was very  much visible in the evening wears, showcased by some of the designers.

However, NTFS Reloaded was not all about fashion. The evening was spiced with musical  performances by Fragrance, Ashley and Muma Gee.  At the end of the show, not a few of the  guests were convinced that the show was a well-packaged one. They also left with an  impression that Nigerian designers, through their brilliance and creativity, have all it  takes to compete with their foreign counterparts.

—Kemi Akinyemi

Tags:  Nigeria Television Fashion Show, Nollywood Worldwide Entertainment