Fashion Runway: Grace Wallace Live From Vlisco Fashion Show in Cotonou, Benin

Since 1846 Vlisco has been designing and producing colorful fashion fabrics that form an essential part of the lively West and Central African culture.

Vlisco’s mission is to provide high-end fashion brand for women in Africa. However, the increasing imitation of Vlisco designs offering low-end printed fabrics prompted a strategy change in 2006 which was implemented in mid-2007. Some aspects of the strategy change include more emphasis on design, the introduction of Vlisco boutiques, quarterly collections with pre-determined themes, image campaigns, and consumer brand innovation. Presently, there are three boutiques in: Cotonou (Benin), Lome (Togo) and Abijdan (Cote D’Ivoire).
Togolese designer with Nigerian origin, Grace Wallace, presented her collection during the Annual Vlisco Fashion Show in Cotonou. Here is the collection that she presented in Cotonou:

Credits: Frederic de la Chapelle via Ciaafrique.com

Event: ECOWAS Fashion Week

Event, Fashion Weeks

Official Release (August 2014) — Fashion is one huge contributor of economic growth for any country and/or region if the right things and structures are in place. Take for example, Milan, regarded as the current fashion capital of the world has major fashion houses labels such as Versace, Gucci, Armani, Valentino, Prada, Moschino and Missoni headquartered in the city. This greatly contribute to its economy. The United States of America enjoys about 25% of its GDP through fashion alone!

Arguably, China, the world’s biggest fashion land mine “is a rapidly growing consumer market and more companies are looking for ways to develop marketing, branding and communication that is relevant to Chinese consumers.” [SOURCE: marketingtochina.com]. From the foregoing, Africa, particularly the West African region could enjoy attendant benefits of fashion given the raw talent and creativity available, moreso the continent is overly blessed with mineral and human resources. Again, with the right structures in place, West Africa and extension could be a fashion “land mine” just like China.

OBJECTIVES OF ECOWAS FASHION WEEK 2014
Being the maiden edition, the organisers of ECOWAS FASHION WEEK will seek to cash in on the growing African fashion market, especially the West African region. ECOWAS-governed region is comprised of fifteen (15) countries, namely: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. The objectives of the upcoming fashion week will be to:

To revive the African culture through fashion.
To promote the dignity of womanhood.
To open new windows of business opportunities.
To encourage indigenous fashion designers.
To redefine fashion shows by showcasing other fashion accessories.
Billed to take place between 22nd to 24th August 2014, ECOWAS FASHION WEEK will be holding at the ultramodern, world-class Landmark Event Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos State. Studio24 is the event planner. World Press Conference with major sponsors will hold in Lagos and is expected in July 2014.

For more on ECOWAS FASHION WEEK 2014, visit http://www.ecowasfashionweek.com

Grace Wallace: Fashionably Social

Social Media

According to Blue Fountain Media, social media is one of the most powerful tools a brand can use to build their business online. For fashion brands in particular, reaching out to customers on social in a way that makes them engage with a brand can lead to massive increases in brand loyalty as well as in sales. Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest in particular are fantastic resources for fashion brands to show customers what they have to offer through stunning visuals and witty copy.

In an effort to spotlight the Grace Wallace brand that deserves recognition for the work we are doing, the team has made sure the brand joins powerful platforms where everyone can follow and support our work online…

•FACEBOOK