Rivers Rocks At Native & Vogue

Garden City was destinationlast weekend for seasoned models, celebrity and budding designers as they hit the runway of Rivers State to showcase their best at the Native & Vogue Port Harcourt International Fashion Week  2013

AWAY from the political impasse that has characterised the landscape of Rivers State in recent months, the capital city went frenzy with fashion and glamour last weekend, to prove that there is more to the state than the ongoing acrimonious power game.  Governor Rotimi Amaechi has proved to the entire world that Rivers State is still the place to be for fun, fashion, entertainment and investment.
   The event was the much-publicized Native and Vogue International Fashion Week that attracted some of Nigeria’s best designers and international designers, too. It was also organized by the state government to recognize and encourage talented young budding designers from the state.
   The Aztech Arcum on Stadium Road was the venue for the maiden event organised by Neo Mantra, an intellectual property development company in partnership with Allure Magazine and Bunor Creazioni, Nigerian based fashion design, consultancy and model management firm headed by Frank Osodi. It was done in conjunction with Red Dahlia Production, a South Africa-based Company renowned for seasoned fashion and pageant show management and Rivers State Government.
      The three-day glamorous show that took off on Friday September 20 was laced with colourful runway shows, workshop for young designers, entertainment and cocktails.
    Welcoming guests on the first day, Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Ibim Semenitairi, said the show was in tandem with the plans of the state government to further give life to Port Harcourt and make it a destination brand in order to drive investment, adding that the brand campaign was to showcase the numerous possibilities that exist in Rivers state.
  “We have a state that was the nerve centre of the economy. It was a destination place, it was a Garden city, and then the Niger Delta militancy came and Port Harcourt was the centre of that struggle and bore the brunt. We lost businesses and even the night-life of Port Harcourt died,” she said. “When Governor Amaechi came on board, one of the few things he decided to do was to reposition Port Harcourt and to drive investment.”
   Semenitairi noted that in order to deal with issues that were the bedrock of militancy among which is unemployment, the government put in place policies to ensure job creation and to ensure that the economy is vibrant. “The government can’t employ everyone but it can create an environment that enables businesses to thrive and there’s no such earner like the creative industry because it tends to employ lots of people and provide opportunities to create entrepreneurs.”
  House of Bunor, Ituen Bassey, Adebayo Jones, Davida Couture, Mai Atafo, Alvince Couture, Sunny Rose and international guest designer Paul Van Zyl from South Africa were joined by Port Harcourt designers- Zhalima Grazioni, DakVal, House of Odysee, Beelicious, Tejiri, Revamp Your Style and Rosbinna Collection on the runway.
  Day one saw Davida Couture with her monochrome-themed ultra feminine shirts, Beelicious, Zhalima Couture, Alvince Couture and Tejiri dishing out their best on the U-shaped runway. Former Miss World Agbani Darego was the key anchor-person who was later joined on the stage by Uti Unachukwu.
   The following day, Saturday, was the Young Designers Competition Day where Rivers based upcoming designers- Ady By Linda, Joon, Joe Pagatanga, Jason Porshe, Promzy Collections, Imikan & Stephens, Omos Fashion, Jazz Effects,  Dilem Designs, Sira Stitches slugged it out for the best designer award. A workshop was also organized for them that day.  Grazioni, Beelicious and Davida Couture also recapped with their best 10 designs in the evening. They were joined by Dakval with his neat male collection, Ituen Basi’s metallic collection, Sunny Rose sheer delight Ankara mix and House of Bunor with his signature corsets of elegant bustier and evening wears.
   Adebayo Jones Couture opened the runway on the last day with daring lace evening wears, innovative gele on short gowns and his rich metallic damask collection. Mai Atafo also proved that he was still is a master of the corporate dress world for men. He was joined by Revamp in a brilliant Ankara mix with lace, House Of Odyce and Joon in proudly Nigerian parades. The show was capped by international guest designer from South Africa Paul Van Zyl with his sheer floaty fabrics on the svelte models. Some seasoned models from the rainbow nation also graced the catwalk.
 Highlight of the evening was the Allure Vangured Style Awards and announcement of the winner in the young designers category. Governor Amaechi was on hand to dish out the winning prize to Jazz Effects, the female designer who won a trip to South Africa for further training.
  Senator Florence Ita-Giwa was named Style Patron of the Year; Ituen Basi- Designer of the Year; Eunice Efole- Style Icon of the Year; House of Tara- Innovative Product of the Year; Helen Ajayi and Nike Oshinowo- Enduring Style Personalities of the Year and Stan Mukoro- Stylist of the Year.
  The event was beautiful.