Documentary shows Lagos as Nigeria’s fashion hub

At Jazzhole, Ikoyi, Lagos, a private screening of a documentary on the history of Lagos fashion rekindled the interest of United States’, Germany’s and Nigeria’s critics and scholars. Chinyere Elizabeth Okoroafor reports.

To respond to the seeming lack of a concrete history of fashion in Lagos, a documentary: A history of Lagos Fashion, which gives a clear and accessible overview of post-colonial and contemporary fashion and fabric in Lagos, was screened in the city. The documentary, directed by Bolaji Kekere-Ekun and Francesca Tilley-Gyado, was supported by research and the script written by Sesu Tilley-Gyado.

It is common knowledge that Lagos, a former capital city of Nigeria, with the sobriquet: Eko for show, is a pulsating scene for style and fashion, which has lasted over 50 years. Proprietor and Curator, Nike Art Galleries, Mrs Nike Okundaye, noted in the documentary that Lagos is the bright star of Nigeria. “Without Lagos, nobody will know you if you haven’t come to Lagos to make your star shine,’’ she said.

How did Lagos become the centre of fashion? The documentary digs into archives of the early 18th Century when women, apart from using clothes to adorn their bodies,  also beautified themselves with symbolic marks.

The documentary was part of a campaign titled: The Spirit of Lagos, and specifically aimed at investigating this spirit through the lens of the city’s fashion.

Kekere-Ekun, whose company was commissioned to research and document the history of fashion in Lagos, showcased decades of fashion scenes, adding voices and bringing the fashion pictures unforgettably back to life, although without using state-of-the-art digital technology to restore flicks of old black-and-white archive footage of Lagos fashion in colour.

In 1862, Lagos as a city colonised by the British experienced lots of social changes. The narrative said at the sametime, tens of thousands of freed wealthy Brazilian, Cuban and Creole men, women and children returned to settle in Lagos, the land of their African slave ancestors. This came with a new fashion sense with fashion used as a political rebellious behaviour. Even when the film didn’t talk about the type of male and female fashion brought by the Brazilian settlers, it captured the Edwardian style of men’s suit with bow tie and high hat, which Herbert Macaulay’s black and white photo depicted with an imposing white handle bar moustache. This adoption of European trend was, of course, a step in the fashion of the time.

At this time, Adire, an indigenous Yoruba tie and dye fabric, existed among the locals. Mrs Okundaye was described in the film as the fifth generation Adire fabric maker. She explained the artistic symbols on Adire as having information that people can relate with.

In her words: ‘’The zero symbol on Adire represents water from Lagos. Sekere represents the music, Lagos owambe, and the people always made Sekere. In those days, if you were in love with your husband, you would wear your Adire that had little gecko, then your husband will say: ‘Oh my wife is telling me she needs a room in my heart, I need a room in her life. The gecko represents accommodation, no matter how small the house is, you must find me a room,’’ she said.

Aso Oke, another pre-ndependent Yoruba fabric, is pretty much in use now and dominates most Yoruba weddings. It is hand woven in two or multiple blend of colours. According to founder and creative director of Ethnik, Tunde Owolabi, Aso Oke fabric then were produced from silkworm and the finished material looked rustic, but organic.

As Okundaye explained, the cultural attachment and value of the fabric was seen in a picture of the late Oba of Lagos, Oba Sir Adeniji Adele (11), who was wearing a blue indigo Aso Oke called Sanyan to receive Queen Elizabeth in 1956. “ In the history of Lagos in those days, before the King would meet any important guest, he would wear Aso Oke because it was a very important traditional fabric. It depended on who was coming, if it was the Queen, he would show love by wearing the blue indigo of Etu. If it was to receive the Head of State, he would wear Sanyan, which is silk,’’ she said.

Just as Aso Oke fashion is still found in today’s Lagos weddings, a 1968 picture of women wearing the knee length wrapper of Aso Oke fabric, popularly called Oleku with petite lady’s handbags portrayed same.

The film, which fills you with an intensified version of all the old feelings, takes you to the industrial revolution fashion period, which led to mass production of textiles across Europe. With Vlisco Textile Company, a Dutch popular batik inspired wax print, specifically for the West African market, taking over the local fabrics, which were hand woven and required a long process. Along with the wax print were also British and Austrian Lace and other European textiles that were developed for the West African market.

Also visible are various ethnic groups in Lagos displaying their cultural attires to celebrate the Independence Day. As much as Nigerians and Africans were trying to incorporate their culture through dressing, they were also influenced by Western ways of dressing, directly or indirectly, by way of cultural exchange. As the narrative noted: ‘’The black civil right movement connected black people across all nations, a back and forth of fashion with blacks in America looking to Africa, while blacks in Africa looked to America.’’

Owolabi noted that the black civil right movement in the 1960s as well as more African countries gaining independence from their colonial masters motivated the adoption of the fashionable afro hair style and ethnic Dashikis among young people.

“There was this emphasis on being able to express yourself in unique ways; many black people are coming from United States, United Kingdom and Blacks in Africa were travelling out to study. So, there was a lot of cultural exchange at the time,” he said.

During the wake of cultural exchange, Sade Thomas Fahn, the first Nigerian to open a boutique, which was Lagos’ style haven of the time, incorporated traditional and Western styles. She created a fashion highbreed that persists till date and has come to characterise modern Lagosian and African fashion, using lace or Ankara fabric.

In the documentary, a footage of Nigerian fashion made with Aso Oke and Ankara was shown at the Commonwealth in 1967 with Fahn championing it. She had a hard time trying to convince Nigerians to wear Western dresses made with local fabrics.

Her words: “I didn’t find it easy to convince women to wear Western styles made in Africa because the elite wouldn’t take it. And the Europeans had actually lifted it up with me, they too wanted us to grow, so they helped a lot.”

Oil boom in the 1970s reflected in the fashion of Lagosians. The number of boutiques continued to rise in Lagos according to demands from socialites. Nnamdi Azikiwe on Broad Street at the time had a boutique and there were boutiques at Eko Hotel, Federal Palace, among others. Fahn was noted in the documentary as the first person to use the word boutique. “People never used the word boutique. When I did they wondered what a boutique was. Some pronounced it boutike and other funny pronunciations,” she said.

The documentary records that there was a lot of money in circulation and people were able to bring in more materials.

Lace materials, which took over the fashion scene in the 70s were expensive. The legendary musician, Ebenezer Obey, wrote a song on lace titled: Oro Nipa Lace. And as Thomas Fahn put it: “You can’t be seen wearing a dress you wore in a previous wedding to another. That means you will have to cough out another huge amount of money to buy another one.”

The huge demand for lace in Lagos weddings showed it had been adopted by all. The younger generations now mix the fabrics in Western silhouette and style, continuing the long tradition and inter-cultural exchange.

Another fabric synonymous to Lagos fashion is Ankara. Like lace, this Dutch wax fabric manufactured for the African market predominantly in the Netherlands, is seen everyday. But, it wasn’t until the early 2000s that it became a fashion statement to wear Ankara.

The past decades have given rise to Lagos’ best designers establishing clothing lines locally and abroad. The new waves of the designers are inspired by this mega city. Designers like Maki Oh, Adeola Sagoe, Lisa Folawiyo, among others, have continued to redefine African fabrics narrative.

The documentary shows that Lagos is indeed ‘Eko for show’ where parties happen. Lagos is where there is night life; it is where you have every excuse to dress as fashionably and trendy as you can because you have to make a show of it.