Gozel Green

The brainchild of twin sisters Sylvia and Olivia Enekwe, Gozel Green is fashion’s demonstration of the phrase: “two heads are better than one”.

Some might still approach the brand with the caution often accorded newcomers, since they are barely two years in (after being selected as part of the 2014 LFDW Fashion Focus initiative). But the sisters have clearly not paid attention to that.

Their Hollow Outfits being featured as part of Vogue Italia’s Lost In Colour editorial in January was only a peek into the accomplished year they were about to have. With their AW16 “Band of Guerillas” and SS17 “Figures in the Dark” so different yet so identifiable as having come from the same designers, the sisters have proven that they own their original quirky aesthetic.

Everything they have presented this year – cut-outs, lines, patchworks, sensual-with-a-hint-of-androgynous and pops of colour – have served to create some form of amuse bouche that we can now use to identify their work as the definition of alternative womenswear in Nigeria.

And at a time when #uncool is the new cool, Gozel Green have definitely done well this year.

Eric & Anna

Eric and Anna is a new brand. Maybe even the newest of Nigerian Ready to Wear labels. It is for that exact reason that they have landed on this list. It is commendable when a brand actually puts its best foot forward. It launched as a women’s ready to wear label offering business casual to street wear and everything in between.

It is not only fabric choices vis a vis colourways and style options, it is also the seamless finish that can’t be missed, the wearability and finally, the immediate stocking at one of the top retail outlets in Lagos, Zinkata, that serves to show how much business this brand means.

Hopefully, this level of determination to present excellence continues till international high street brands find it inevitable to start to compete with them for the attention of Nigerian customers by opening outlets here.

Roqeebah

Creative mind. Enthusiast. Learner. Multipotentialite. And here, an assistant editor.