Designers’ Lounge, a social brand marketing platform which focuses on promoting evolving and upcoming African fashion designers is gathering momentum and spreading across the West African Market, from Nigeria where it originated. According to the organizers of the event, there are plans to extend the Designers’ Lounge to Ghana very soon.
Designers’ Lounge was started in September 2010, in Lagos by its vibrant and enterprising CEO, Muyi’ Olaitan, to create the much needed platform for upcoming designers, by focusing on promoting their fashion brands, and generating brand identity and Merchandising. Through its monthly fashion sales meet party project, the Designers Lounge is able to create an experience between emerging fashion brands and their target fashion market.
According to Muyi’ Olaitan, Designers’ Lounge has so far worked with about 26 local upcoming designers, or ‘partner designers’. So far, there has been two “Fashion Sale Meets Party” events for emerging designers to showcase their creations to a fashion public, spiced with music performances, special profiling by the host, with media focusing on the uniqueness of each of the exhibiting designers. There is also a special “FunRunWay” for designers to walk around the event venue, with friends, family and sometimes models, showcasing their designs.
Designers' Lounge, according to the CEO, is not a fashion show or a fashion sale, it’s a fashion experience. In addition to hosting such events there would soon be online retail merchandising of exclusive stylish items from these upcoming fashion brands. The online store, www.shopdl.com is due to launch in December 2010.
To further enhance its drive for brand exposure for designers who sign up for partnership, Designers’ Lounge is also working on an indigenous fashion store that would exclusively sell locally made fashion items. There would be spots open to designers for monthly, quarterly and annual rental, allowing for branding and identity marketing via a “you stock: we sell” partnership agreement.
Designers’ Lounge is also looking at getting into neighbouring fashion cities, across the West African market, with Accra being the first zone to be penetrated. Plans are in motion to have the first Designers’ Lounge Ghana event in February 2011, with about 10 upcoming designers from Nigeria and 10 upcoming designers from Ghana, showcasing to a Ghanaian Fashion Audience.
Muyi’ Olaitan comments: “We are gradually looking at grounds outside our immediate environment, where we can build the project on, and coming from our research, we have discovered that based on the fashion-consciousness of the people of Ghana, and based on our affinity, we have decided to penetrate into that market.
Upcoming Designers from the Ghanaian Fashion Industry can brace up and look forward to an avenue to further promote their fashion brand, collections and designs to a target fashion market in Ghana, and outside Ghana, with plans for a launch fashion party in London for summer 2011 on the cards.
Some of the designers that have worked with Designers’ Lounge include, Effeci Clothings, Guapa, Kola Kuddus, Marayah O, Prime Rogue, Glue Clothings, Ejiro Amos Tafiri, Accessories by Ariaba and a host of others.
