Only late last year did the fashion doors at Balmoral palace close. The event championed and continues to champion the discovery of talented green designers, and encourages other designers to create social, economic, and environmentally sustainable designs. Cynthia Abila was part of the showcase, and according to the creative director, it was their third runway exhibition since the inception of the brand, and a breath of fresh air from the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, especially the lockdown.
Not only was the showcase a really good way to present their new colourful collection, she stated that it was also a pad given to the brand, geared towards further exposure to the National and international fashion community.
As a fashion platform that pilots the Nigerian and African fashion industry; by convening buyers, consumers, investors and the media to witness collection drops of designers, LFW has been impactful for many brands, one of which is Cynthia Abila. She spoke to the Moda Culture about how impactful the show has been on the brand.
“The impact has been very positively energising. It welcomed many accolades in fashion magazines and opened more doors to new stockists and potential partners. Generally, it was widely accepted and this made us appreciate how far we have come as a brand though we are still a work in progress.”
Cynthia Abila
Anyway, we know that the conversations around fashion have gone beyond press, design, product drops, exhibitions, supply chains, creating hems, tailoring fabrics, and mending fits, with all these contributing exponentially, to over 10 per cent of the global carbon emissions, and 21 billion tons of waste each year. A new conversation exists that suggests that fashion should be able to tailor and amend, fabric piece by fabric piece, the remains of our dying ecosystem.
It’s a fashion philosophy — now a movement — that lingers on right production practice, optimum working conditions, and fair-trade, while hitting heavily on recycling, upcycling, thrifting, sharing, renting, and eco-friendly/green fashion.
Our plans for 2022 will be approached in diverse ways. First, from the business perspective, we will strategically position set goals that are smart, focused, specific and realistic towards being a global ethical and sustainable fashion brand.
Cynthia Abila
Cynthia has been opting for second-hand and eco-friendly clothing in an effort to fulfil their altruistic intentions and our environmental needs. Her last collection proves it. It featured a properly cut-out, layered, and degradable raffia fringe dress, hand beads (done by local artisans), and her signature ‘agwu’ prints — centuries-old techniques of handmade fabric production.
Each piece, like every Cynthia Abila’s fit ever made, was unique, stunning, revering, and dialogued with culture. The label is apparently planning a release of passion, culture, remembrance and empowerment, all these elements are to be translated in new sets of designs for 2022.
Fashionably, the brand is culturally expressive but distinct in style, the new pieces will depict a bold free expression of the Cynthia Abila woman in a way she desires to be remembered making sure none of her elements is silenced.
Cynthia Abila
Read the full interview in Moda Culture April – June 2022 digital issue.
