No time like Thursday for a throwback which gives us a chance to reminisce on the recently concluded fourth edition of Lagos Fashion and Design Week 2014. Forget red, this year’s fashion extravaganza painted the town orange – quite literally – while bringing the hottest Spring/Summer 2015 trends and the hottest designers out of Africa on to the runway. From fringe detail to matchy matchy prints, from crop tops to plunging necklines and of course as always a plethora of colour, here’s a look at some of the trends straight off the LFDW runway.
Colour Orange
Perhaps because of the main sponsor colours, most of the designers saw “orange” making orange literally the new black. From burnt orange to softer corals, orange dominated most of the shows making it the colour to rock next season. Wana Sambo and Meena opted for jumpsuits in orange while Dzyn and Mi-Le offered hot two-piece numbers showing a bit of skin. While Amede gave us orange in tie-dye, Lanre Dasilva Ajayi played around with orange lace.
Cream of the Crop
Whether it be the loose fitting traditional inspired tops from Ella and Gabby and O Milua, or more sports luxe feel cropped tops from Fruche and Iamisigo, almost every other runway featured crop tops aplenty, making it clear that this is one trend not going away anytime soon, so time to tone those abs and find yourself the right fit.
Cold Shoulder
It seems it’s not only our midriffs we will be baring next season; get ready to give yourself the cold shoulder. It’s no surprise that asymmetric cuts and off-the-shoulder pieces dominated the LFDW 2014 runway considering how big the off-the-shoulder trend was this summer. Whether you would like to experiment with Re Bahia’s cut-out shoulders or Kiki Kamani’s flirty asymmetric top (and it’s cropped too!), make sure you add a piece or two into your Summer 2015 wardrobe.
Colour Panels
Colour blocking has been going on strong since the summer of 2011 with more subtle colour panels taking over in recent years from stronger colour clashes of yesteryears. Summer 2015 is set to continue the trend if the LFDW 2014 runway is anything to go by. From Meena’s complimentary chocolate and grey panelling to tonal oranges clashed by Wizdhurm Franklyn to the vibrant panels of yellow against white a la Tsemaye Binitie, or black like a la Mo Faris, play with your panels and find your best fit.
Matchy Matchy
Another big trend of the recent years not likely going away anytime soon is matching prints, and of course we had so many fabulous examples from the LFDW 2014 runway. From matching print top and trousers of Lanre Dasilva Ajayi and Cinnamon and Pearl to matchy matchy trouser suits from Washington Roberts and Reni Smith, you cannot go wrong if you get your hands on a matchy matchy ensemble pronto!
Legs for Days
Summer 2015 is all about baring some flesh, it seems. We move on from bare midriff to cold shoulders to bare legs. Whether it is a thigh-high split on a floor-sweeping gown as seen on the Wana Sambo or Ella and Gabby runways, or half-moon splits from Elan by Fayrouz or Sunny Rose, make sure your skirts next season come with sexy splits.
White Out
One of the mainstays of summer is the colour white and there was a plethora of all white looks on the LFDW 2014 runway. From loose fitted tops and trousers to tea length hemlines, white looks from the likes of Meena, Lemiral, Mai Atafo created sleek pristine silhouettes, perfect for the summer season.
Proportion Play
Think billowing tops, puff sleeves, voluminous capes, spacious tux dresses; this season the designers are playing havoc with proportions to create daring, fashion-forward looks. Whether you are going for Victoriana chic via Ade Bakare or Maki Oh’s voluminous tops, rethink proportions to add an edge to your summer 2015 wardrobe.
Beautiful Blush
Do you find white a little too monotone? And perhaps orange a little too vibrant? Fear not, as there is marvellous middle ground: blush. For girly girls who like their pastels, good news; blush is set to be huge next summer. So if coral and orange is too vibrant or too strong for your skin tone, make like Sunny Rose or T16 and opt for softer blush instead.
Take the Plunge
Forget #nobraday, Summer of 2015 is likely to be the no bra season with deep plunging necklines. With this trend, it is essential to keep the rest of your body covered so as to avoid baring it all at once. Shorter skirts call for long sleeves a la Wizdhurm Franklyn, and bare arms for longer skirts, in order to pull off the deep plunging décolletage.
Shine Bright
Summer is the season to shine bright like the sun, and how else can you shine better than with overall metallics? Metallics have been with us for the past few seasons, and it seems they are not in a rush to leave the African runways anytime soon. From Grey and Washington Roberts’ golden looks to Teola 1926 and Tiffany Amber’s liquid titanium to Lanre Dasilva-Ajayi’s purple perfection, it’s time to get in on the metallic action.
Micro Trends
Fringe Detail
Let’s take a walk down fashion lane to the 1920s and bring back the flapper chic with fringes. Heavily dominating the Iamisigo and Bridget Awosika collections and making an appearance on the Ituen Basi and Tsemaye Binitie runways, the fringe is set to return in a big way.
Origami
Gone are the days of obvious, larger than life peplums and pleats; for Summer 2015, African designers are playing with subtler forms of folds as seen on the Lisa Folawiyo, Wizdhurm Franklyn, Meena and T16 runways. Time to re-think your origami and get with subtle yet powerful fold features.
Go Slimmer Stripes
From Mai Atafo’s pin striped perfection to Iconic Invanity’s colour blocked geometric patterns and vertical stripes to Washington Roberts’s clashing vertical and horizontal stripes, slimming stripes made a comeback on the LFDW 2014 runway.
Making Faces
Faces dominated the Tsemaye Binitie runway with African masks generously scattered on most of the looks from the collection. Elsewhere Re Bahia featured alien-like faces in blue and orange and Mi-Le had a cute little orange dress with cartoon face. Summer 2015 is sure the perfect time to make faces.
Keep Your Hat On
If Mai Atafo, Wizdhurm Franklyn, Gozel Green and Rayo are to be believed, you should keep your hat on for Summer 2015. From Green’s straw hats to Wizhurm Franklyn’s avantgarde head gear, the options are endless!
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