The growing trend of Influencers penetrating expert industries with nothing but publicity is becoming worrisome. Nollywood has had its fair share of recruiting every familiar face to replace talented actors, and now this is being replicated on the Nigerian runway.
The 2024 Lagos fashion season kicked off with Lagos Fashion Week on the 23rd of October and concluded with GTCO Fashion Weekend on the 11th of November 2024. This magnetic event which draws fashion enthusiasts, fashion journalists, and photographers from every corner of the globe to Lagos, Nigeria to witness innovation and art has been ridiculed with an influx of influencers who desecrate the runway with catwalk crisis.
The precursors of what we know as Fashion Week or Fashion Season in Nigeria today go back to the mid-19th century and loosely originated in Paris. Charles Frederick Worth, often referred to as the “father of haute couture” was the first couturier who invited his customers to his atelier for a special event where he presented one collection during a dedicated show.
This was a practical way to market his creations and showcase them to his clients. This was an exclusive event and even photographers were forbidden because designers were afraid of design theft. The runway has always been about the dress and the best ways to display the dress.
The Lagos fashion season started with Lagos Fashion Week founded in 2011 by Omoyemi Akerele. This multi-day fashion week held in Lagos was set up with the mission to support creativity, and entrepreneurship, create opportunities for fashion retail to thrive in Nigeria, explore artisanal skills across the country, and most importantly present African fashion to buyers, media, and fashion enthusiasts through the platform’s initiatives.
It is disappointing that with these strong pillars, influencer culture still manages to infiltrate the foundation and send the worst message to aspiring models. This year is not the first time influencers have appeared on the runway, however, it becomes evident with the way they hop, sway their hips, speed walk, and zigzag on the runway that brands do not understand the origin nor do they have respect for runway art.
2020, the pandemic era, birthed a new career path in the job market known as influencers. This, in turn, created a marketing strategy known as influencer marketing. The influencer marketing strategy involves collaborating with individuals who have a significant and engaged following on various social media platforms or online communities. Their nurtured community is leveraged to promote products or services to their audience to sway consumer behaviour.
“Influencer marketing is not new, to be fair. Consumers have always bought into personalities as opposed to buying into brands. Influencers are amplifiers for brands and they give them the chance to sell a product without sounding too corporate” Gerry Oigiangbe, a marketing strategist, explains the benefits of influencer marketing for fashion to Modaculture.
He fawns over Davido’s appearance on Ugo Monye and reiterates that this introduces Ugo Monye to a new audience.
The people in music who don’t really care about fashion will tap into this. An Influencer’s asset lies in reach and brand awareness is very crucial.
Gerry Oigiangbe, Marketing Strategist
While considering the dire importance of publicity for brand owners we must also count cost. Abuoma Otukere, a model working hard to get her foot into the fashion industry, expresses her disappointment. “I think it made me realize that in a lot of ways we’ve forgotten that runway modelling isn’t just about putting a dress on a person,” she says.
Modeling a dress on a runway is actually a skill, an art form even. The right turn, strides, or even tilt, could entirely bring a design to life. I think we’ve forgotten the glamour in that.
Abuoma Otukere, Model
Abuoma goes ahead to point out the level of hard work and perseverance models have to possess to get on the runway and deems it sad that the runway ends up being heavily filled with celebrities and influencers when there are people who have to train to be there.
Misturah Abisola Owolabi, the director of Misty Glam Company, a modelling agency, weighs the business aspect and the bigger picture that is unknowingly being painted by brands.
“I’ve had a lot of first-hand experiences as it relates to the shifting dynamics of the modelling industry. I’ve watched how the rise of influencers has disrupted the scene”.
I won’t deny that influencers come with a certain appeal. Their star power, amplified by the thousands of followers, is an attractive proposition for any brand. And when a campaign involves someone with a large audience, it’s a no-brainer for businesses that are focused on quick visibility and engagement. From a business perspective, I get it, it’s all about the bottom line.
Misturah Abisola Owolabi, Talent Manager
Misturah tells us that while this trend may make sense for brands, for models, it feels like a slow erasure of everything this profession stands for. “Modeling is a craft. It’s not just about looking good in an outfit, it’s about discipline, training, and understanding the art of storytelling through movement and expression. When influencers are chosen over models purely because of their following, it can feel like the industry is saying, ‘Anyone can do this.’ And that couldn’t be further from the truth.”
Misturah also brings up the question of longevity. She believes the attention influencers bring to a dress on the runway is always short-term as models will, without fail, be the canvas on which designers paint their art. They are the professionals who bring credibility and authenticity to the industry. Influencers, on the other hand, often come into campaigns with their own brand identity, which sometimes overshadows the actual product or collection being promoted. She points at Dorathy Bachor, the Big Brother Naija star who walked for Hertuba at Lagos Fashion Week.
She believes everyone ended up talking about Dorathy on the runway, not what she was wearing or even who the designer was. The focus shifts from the art to the personality may generate immediate buzz, however, it can also dilute the essence of what makes fashion a timeless craft.
The concern about the influencers overtaking models for the runway spotlight is not only shared by Nigerian fashion enthusiasts but has become a global concern. During this year’s New York Fashion Week, a sportswear brand, BOSSI, partnered with Creators Inc. to send influencers down the runway, most memorably Paige Niemann. Paige, an Ariana Grande lookalike, outraged fashion critics with her horrifically clumsy walk. Once again, this raises the question “What are influencers doing on the runway?”
Nevertheless, the natural link between fashion, media, celebrities, and influencers cannot be denied. They amplify these brands in their movies, social media, music videos, magazine covers, premieres, and red-carpet appearances. They are even most likely to be friends with a lot of brand owners. And this fuels the inevitability of their appearance on the runway.
Chinelo Igbegbunam, a runway and pageant model with over seven years of experience, has the perfect words on finding a middle ground for coexistence.
It’s okay for influencers to walk the runway, however, it is crucial they are not exempted from learning how to walk the runway. They should be trained properly so the 2024 Lagos Fashion Week doesn’t repeat itself.
Chinelo Igbegbunam, Model
The runway is a culture that must not be desecrated; it is a form of art for many, hence the importance of preserving it. Making sure to train influencers appearing on the runway is the only way forward. Brand owners get to have their publicity while simultaneously respecting runway art.
