Omoyemi Akerele (born 13 May 1978 in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

) is a Nigerian executive, businesswoman and entrepreneur. Akerele is the founder and CEO of

Lagos Fashion Week Lagos Fashion Week (LagosFW) is an annual multi-day clothing trade show that takes place in Lagos, Nigeria. It was founded in 2011 by Omoyemi Akerele and it is Africa’s largest fashion event drawing considerable media attention, nationally a ...

, Style House Files and special advisor to the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC). She has several advisory positions including Industrie Africa and Jendaya, and has been an advisor to the

MoMA Moma may refer to: People * Moma Clarke (1869–1958), British journalist * Moma Marković (1912–1992), Serbian politician * Momčilo Rajin (born 1954), Serbian art and music critic, theorist and historian, artist and publisher Places ; Ang ...

, the

Victoria & Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, UN,

British Fashion Council The British Fashion Council (BFC) is a non-profit organization that aims to enable sustainable growth of British fashion in the global fashion economy. Founded in 1983, the BFC organizes biannual womenswear and menswear showcases, London Fashi ...

and State of Fashion Netherlands.

Career

Akerele was born in Lagos, Nigeria. She gained a Bachelor's degree in Law from the

University of Lagos The University of Lagos, popularly known as UNILAG, is a public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria and was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the first generation universities in Nigeria and is ranked among the top universities in th ...

and a Master's degree in

International Economic Law International economic law is an increasingly seminal field of international law that involves the regulation and conduct of states, international organizations, and private firms operating in the international economic arena. As such, internationa ...

from the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

. From 2000 to 2003, she worked at the Nigerian law firm Olaniwun Ajayi & Co. In 2004, she left the law industry to focus her efforts on establishing and promoting the Nigerian apparel and textile industry. In 2004, she founded the consultancy Exclusive Styling with Bola Balogun, and they styled celebrities for TV shows including

Big Brother Big Brother may refer to: * Big Brother (''Nineteen Eighty-Four''), a character from George Orwell's novel ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' ** Authoritarian personality, any omnipresent figure representing oppressive control ** Big Brother Awards, a sat ...

, Idols West Africa and

Deal or No Deal ''Deal or No Deal'' is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which (launching the format) was the Dutch ''Miljoenenjacht (Netherlands), Miljoenenjacht'' (''Hunt/Chase for Millions''). The centerpiece of this f ...

. Akerele was from 2005 to 2010 fashion editor of the fashion, beauty and lifestyle magazine for black women True Love. In 2008, she founded Style House Files, a fashion business

development agency An aid agency, also known as development charity, is an organization dedicated to distributing aid. Many professional aid organisations exist, both within government, between governments as multilateral donors and as private voluntary organization ...

that primarily focuses on accelerating the

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Fashion Industry Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

. She has collaborated with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) on initiatives to strengthen the Nigerian fashion industry’s capacity to produce garments commercially and help the retail footprint across the world. In 2011, she launched

which is an annual four day event showcasing Nigerian and African fashion. Based in Lagos, it is Africa’s largest clothing trade show and brings together designers, buyers, manufacturers and the media. More than 60 African designers are represented and over 12.000 people visit each season. Akerele has in particular pushed the agenda for sustainability and craftsmanship through initiatives such as Woven Threads and Green Access. She has also worked with international fashion weeks to give African brands the opportunity to showcase, including

London Fashion Week London Fashion Week (LFW) is a clothing trade show that takes place in London twice a year, in February and September. Showcasing over 250 designers to a global audience of influential media and retailers, it is one of the 'Big Four' fashion wee ...

and

Pitti Immagine Pitti Immagine is a collection of fashion industry events in Italy. Pitti Immagine Uomo Pitti Uomo (in English, "Pitti Men"), is one of the world's most important platforms for men's clothing and accessory collections, and for launching new projec ...

. She was in 2017 on the advisory committee for exhibition Items: Is Fashion Modern? at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). The exhibition featured African designers including Loza Maléombho and African textiles including

Kente cloth Kente ( ak, kente or ''nwetoma''; ee, kete; Dagbani: Chinchini) refers to a Ghanaian textile, made of handwoven cloth, strips of silk and cotton. Historically the fabric was worn in a toga-like fashion by royalty among ethnic groups such as the ...

, African inspired textiles like real Dutch wax, and

Dashiki The dashiki is a colorful garment that covers the top half of the body, worn mostly in West Africa. It is also known as a Kitenge in East Africa and is a common item of clothing in Tanzania and Kenya. It has formal and informal versions and var ...

from Lagos. Akerele also spoke about the global impact of African fashion at the accompanying MoMA Live conference. She was in 2021 named Zero Oil Ambassador for Nigeria by the CEO of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council & President ECOWAS TPO Network, Mr Olusegun Awolowo, and given a five hundred million Naira grant to support thirty brands in the fashion industry. In 2022, runway footage from

was featured in the

’s exhibition Africa Fashion and several African designers, photographers and creatives were exhibited. Omoyemi Akerele gave the keynote address at the private view and was an advisor to the curatorial team. Akerele has spoken at international conferences including Business Of Fashion (BOF) Voices, Global Fashion Agenda’s Copenhagen Fashion Summit, Conde Nast International Luxury Conference, The Museum of Modern Arts New York Items Conference, London Business School, Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT New York), Lagos Business School, Museum of Ethnology Hamburg: Flow of Forms, Fashion Business Series at Lagos Fashion Week, African Development Bank Fashionomics, Women in Business Conference (Wimbiz), International Herald Tribune Luxury Conference, Retail Congress Africa, British Council’s Creative Industries Expo, African Creative Economy Conference and Creative Enterprises Forum.

Personal life

Akerele is married to Tokunbo Akerele, a Nigerian executive and board member. They have three daughters and live in Lagos, Nigeria.

Awards and honours

* Business of Fashion’s Global 500 list, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 * Outstanding Contribution to African Fashion, AFI Fashion Awards, 2014 * Zero Non Oil Ambassador for Nigeria, 2021

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akerele, Omoyemi Living people University of Lagos alumni Nigerian fashion businesspeople Alumni of the University of Warwick Nigerian fashion designers Nigerian women in business Nigerian women lawyers Nigerian women fashion designers 1978 births Nigerian fashion entrepreneurs Fashion entrepreneurs