Unfiltered Realness With Fola Francis ! Gtb Fashion Weekend 2019 :Day 1

This time I’ll be discussing GTBANK FASHION WEEKEND DAY 1. The fashion weekend kick started on the 9th of November 2019, at their usual location in Oniru.

I left my house for the event around 2pm, because I wanted to make it to LAW ROACH’s masterclass which I missed by the way, thanks to the horrific traffic. I was so livid.

By the time I arrived, their wasn’t really much going on the street style, just vendors and regular folks roaming about, the actual fashion kids hadn’t arrived. I felt so overdressed because of the stares. As time went by, they started the presentation. And the first designer to present was my friend Edwin, the creative director of STUDIO IMO. I enjoyed his presentation so much, he dressed the models, they got their hair and makeup done live right in front of us, which was pretty cool. I loved the pieces as well. For those who aren’t familiar with the designer, he knits dresses, like a full gown, making them in couture master pieces. I can only imagine the hours that goes into a dress. Kudos to the designer.

After the presentation which took place around the exhibition hall, I stepped outside to see if the fashion kids had arrived yet, and yes they started showing up, and I felt relief.

Cardi B needs to know she’s started a trend in the Nigerian fashion scene, because I spotted about four people covering their faces on the street style, some were good, others were just not it at all. Other trends on the street style were tules, and green on different people.

My look was styled by LAUREL MARIS, I was wearing a white shirt from CEDARWOOD STATE, boots by DOROTHY PERKINS, a yellow cape from DESIRE 1709, and a brim from ELL BRAND.

When it was time for the runway shows, we all found our way into the hall. The shows started right on schedule. The opening designer for the night was international brand THREE AS FOUR. The pieces were so ethereal, I love the translation of nature on the pieces through leaf prints. Really liked the skin colors, and the somewhat exaggerated pleated organza pieces. It was a very coordinated show.

The second designer to show was ODIO MIMONET. The collection was elegant, and luxurious. I am obsessed with the fabrics present in this collection. The metallics, the damasks, the dry lace, the tule dress with lace and floral details, the pastel jumpsuit, the white dresses, and the fine sequin pieces. Love them all. My favorite part of the show was the hair the models rocked. They were all red heads.

The third designer to show at the day one of GTBANK fashion weekend before the break was, MANTSHO. The South African designer’s infusion of the Ankara print and tule was stunning, the tule were in different colors representing every color on the Ankara, i thought it was really stunning. The kimono pieces were also gorgeous. But my favorite part of the entire show was the styling. The pieces were not jaw dropping, but the styling made them appear so, I mean high ponytail, chandelier earrings, red highlighter on their cheekbones, even the sound track of the show was on point. Tribal has never looked so high fashioned.

Before the MANTSHO’s show started, two fully painted ladies in white came on stage and blended into the background, they were on stage throughout the entire show, I don’t really understand what that was about, It was pointless to me.

During the break, the DJ was playing music, and we were all having fun, it was pretty loud as the audience was singing and dancing along to the music, I was like okay, these are not the usual fashion audience but everyone seems to be having fun so it’s all good. Then they started sharing cashew nuts and popcorn to the audience, but because they were so many people, they started throwing cashew into the crowd, literally folks started jumping to grab cashews and it got super loud, in my mind I was like (whew chillee tha ghetto) Then someone literally jumped on my head because they were trying to grab snacks, it was in that moment I told myself ………

Thanks for reading…..