New York set the tone this month—craft got louder, tailoring relaxed, and street codes sharpened. With Lagos Fashion Week locked for Oct 29–Nov 2, 2025 and Dakar Fashion Week slated for Dec 3–7, 2025, here’s what emerged from NYFW and how it might translate on the continent in the coming weeks.
Rachel Scott pushed handwork past “pretty”—lattice, net, and high-impact surface treatments read as power dressing rather than resort. Expect those open structures and festival-adjacent references to morph into raffia, macramé, and bead-dense textiles in West Africa’s hands.
Two very different ends of the spectrum landed on the same headline: loosen up. Kallmeyer’s cool, sloping silhouettes and scarf/shirting tricks made minimalism feel lived-in; Michael Kors leaned into travel-light sensuality—liquid drape, soft jackets, and utility jewelry. Lagos will read this as tropical-weight suiting and louche sets; Dakar will pair ease with ceremonial finish.
IB Kamara’s New York return underscored city energy with graphic surfaces and head-turning accessories—casting included Mayowa Nicholas, which will register instantly with Nigerian audiences. Anticipate Lagos street style to echo the show’s moodboard within days.
Designers leaned into single-hue looks this season, proving restraint can be as commanding as embellishment. Head of State, for instance, sent out lavender and ivory sets cut with sharp tailoring, where color unity spotlighted form. In Lagos, expect bold tones — cobalt, crimson, emerald — to carry the message of power through saturation. Dakar will likely render it in ceremonial whites and layered boubous, making monochrome a tool of cultural clarity as much as style.
Oversized blazers → airy, half-lined jackets in mohair blends and aso-oke; scarf-wrapped shirting → ingenious ties and detachable panels for heat management. (See Kallmeyer’s scarf/shirting ideas as a cue.)
Kors’s pendant/wallet-necklace moment → Lagos artisans scaling up leather mini-pouches and talismanic pendants for daywear.
Diotima-style nets reimagined via raffia, ajrak/indigo lattice, and dense Yoruba beadwork on column dresses.
Expect sculptural ease (Kors) to pick up Sahelian jewelry scale and formal headwear; Off-White’s graphic language will surface in wax-print placements and raffia overlays.
The season’s metallic impulse becomes hand-applied sequins, glass beads, and gold-foil accents on boubou-adjacent silhouettes.
KÍLÉNTÁR. Already bridging heritage craft and modern silhouette (see Mama Ibeta), the brand is well-positioned to echo NY’s craft-with-teeth message on a Lagos runway or presentation.
Tokyo James & co. For Lagos tailoring with attitude, expect takes that mirror Kallmeyer’s loosened rigor and Off-White’s graphic confidence (less copy, more localized swagger).
With Lagos in late October and Dakar in early December, expect those ideas to arrive quickly—but translated through heat, ritual, and handwork. That’s where the originality will be.
