Culled from BellaNaija
They’re young, have a deep passion for fashion and they’re paving the way for fashion’s Generation Next. Presenting the finalists for the GTBank British Council Lagos Fashion & Design Week Awards 2013.
With the Young Designer of the Year award, young fashion designers are offered the opportunity to be participants at targeted seminars and workshops facilitated by the British Council and a chance to exhibit their collection in front of a select audience and judiciary at the Lagos Fashion and Design Week.
This year, they’ve picked 10 of what promises to be the best young fashion designers out of Nigeria to show their competing collections and be crowed the Lagos Fashion & Design Week Young Designer Entrepreneur of the Year, win N4 Million Naira and a 6 month paid Internship with International Ethical brand, Edun to name a few.
First on the list is…
Ayo Elizabeth Olagoun | Ayo Van Elmar
The Ayo Van Elmar label has been described as having a uniqueness that stems from her ability to create designs that cut across cultures and continents.
Ayo Elizabeth Olagoun, the Creative Director of the young fashion brand, draws her main inspiration from her experience as an Afro-European. Her trans-cultural lifestyle has truly impacted her work. Ayo graduated from the University of Vienna as a certified nutritionist. After her graduation, she crossed over to the Master’s program for fashion, her real passion, at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, an institution renowned for its challenging curriculum and top-notch professors (the list of former visiting professors includes names like Karl Lagerfeld and Vivienne Westwood).
Ayo van Elmar creates for the one who is liberal, cosmopolitan, open-minded and the one who believes that elegance knows no bound… the one who embraces going beyond borders to add a fine touch of difference to their wardrobe.