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OFF THE RUNWAY
By Chinazam Ikechi-Uko
“The choir was amazing, I loved it so much.” – Idia Aisien.
As the world moves through seasons distinguished by special climate conditions, the social world and the fashion season run its own timeline distinguished by its creativity and art in the forms of garments.
Nigeria has hit this period and the very anticipated event to usher into the season is the Lagos Fashion Week. Home to several youthquake subcultures, Lagos has proven to be a hub of creativity that competes on a global scale. This could be seen at the ATAFO show held on the 24th of October at Eko Hotel and Suites. Being the first show to kick off the renowned fashion event is a mountain; however, creative director Mai Atafo showcased his climbing skills by surpassing every bar expected of him.
Mai Atafo embarked on a challenge for his latest collection titled Satorial Reverie. As a designer championed for his well-tailored suits and menswear, he wanted to explore the womenswear world and create an extensive collection including a formal, bridal, and casual collection. Mr. Atafo took this challenge very seriously, making sure every piece told a story. His conceptualization of the idea turned the fashion show into a full-blown fashion experience.
Sartorial reverie is a phrase that combines elements of fashion and introspection. It refers to a contemplative or dreamy state of mind where one is deeply engrossed in thoughts about fashion, clothing choices, or personal style. This was not only the theme of the fashion show but it was the plot of the short video that was on the screens. This video acted as a sneak peek at the Bridal collection. In the video, a model could be spotted in a building with an interior reminiscent of the churches of the Renaissance era. She walks into a hall where there are roughly a dozen wedding dresses on display. Whenever she reached out to touch a dress, she would be illusioned with herself in it, dancing around the halls with her brightest smile- a reverie.
The idea of a fashion experience might seem like a quixotic project but the Atafo show happily disproved that, by ticking the fashion, music, film, art, audience and automobile boxes. So we’ve discussed the film experience with the short clip, let’s talk about the fashion experience. With a vast collection broken down into 5 segments, the ATAFO show was no short of creativity.
The collection started with the traditional segment and before the runway show, Mai Atafo explained that he was ecstatic to introduce us to the world of men in skirts. He drew his inspiration from his culture as an Edo man. As a proud Edo man, he will showcase the beauty of his culture of men wearing a skirt like some of the strongest men he knows. Next, we were introduced to the bridal segment, opening the segment with a model in a white blazer-like dress with a mesh train. She was in a white double-breasted blazer with an enormous white bow attached to the lower part of the blazer. After the jaw-dropping start, we were graced with multiple versions of White Blazer dresses. Atafo stunned the crowd because Bridalwear is often filled with big corseted dresses but here are options. However, Atafo was not a one-trick pony, bringing in an array of white dresses with a keen eye, one could see some garments made with jacquard had the ATAFO monogram engraved. Then, we were hit with the high boots-wearing, 90s runway strutting segment of the collection- formal wear.
This runway was led by none other than the fashion icon, Ashley Okoli. She wore a white shirt with a formal pinstripe mini skirt which had suspenders. In her high boots and flirty business wear, the outfit made a valid argument on the return of suspenders. Known as braces in our spoken English, the “suspenders” were big in the 2010s and as good things, they faded away. But here, in the halls of Eko Hotel with hundreds of attendees were models owning the runway with suspenders. Mai Atafo said every piece told a story and this was definitely a visual thesis on why you should incorporate suspenders in womenswear. Long skirts, shirts with large lapels, shirts with large pockets and blazers could also be seen in this segment.
Next was casual wear which focused on earth tones as its colour palette. The use of fabrics such as organza and mesh was a staple in this segment. The sultry looks paired with denim or metallic corsets made the looks very interesting.
An interesting use of the ATAFO monogram was the scene stealer of this line. The idea of writing brand names on garments is overdone and unwanted but the monogram being used as a print? Now I am listening. These monograms were spotted on skirts, pants, T-shirts and blouses.
To close the collection, the last segment featured mainly suits but the suits had what appeared to be hand-painted designs on them. This is rather poetic considering the ATAFO show was sponsored by GAC Motors Nigeria and a hand-painted GAC vehicle was to be auctioned that very night. The closing calls were led by Ashley Okoli and the guests were more than delighted to see all the lines of the collection walk out as we waited for Mai Atafo.
While the short film was fascinating and the fashion show was breathtaking, there was another aspect of the experience that won the hearts of the masses. The music experience, with several astonishing singers serenading the audience as the models walked. The audience loved the ATAFO show and this is what they had to say about it.
“The set-up was out of this world, this is a global standard.” – Chioma Mmeje.
“The experience of having music was genius, I am impressed with Mai’s creativity.” – Mbadiwe twins.
“The choir had me moved to tears, I love the fact that I could dance to it.” – Nyekachi Douglas.
