Omoyemi Akerele
Omoyemi Akerele is the Founder and Executive Director of Style House Files, Nigeria’s leading fashion business development agency that focuses on the development of the fashion industry by creating initiatives to support young fashion designers and entrepreneurs.
Omoyemi Akerele is known as one of the key forces behind the growing fashion industry in Nigeria. On a mission to see Africa’s cultural and creative industries expand, Omoyemi advocates for young creatives on the continent to gain recognition and compete with their western counterparts on a global scale. She drives impact through different projects ranging from the Lagos Fashion and Design Week, Fashion Focus, Fashion Business Series, and the Style House Files Incubator.
Before venturing into the fashion scene, Omoyemi obtained a bachelor’s degree in Law from the University of Lagos and a master’s in International Economic Law from the University of Warwick. She later worked as a lawyer at Olaniwun Ajayi & Co in Lagos from 2000 to 2003 before joining True Love Magazine (West Africa) as a Fashion Editor in 2005.
In line with her commitment to influence sustainable fashion on the continent, Omoyemi established the Lagos Fashion and Design Week, an annual multi-day business and fashion and design platform that showcases the best of African fashion and style to the world. Lagos Fashion Week has developed into a platform that offers industry-standard masterclasses and incubation support for emerging talents while featuring a select list of talented designers and fashion entrepreneurs.
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Omoyemi has partnered with international organizations like the British Fashion Council and Pitti Immagine in Italy to showcase African designers to a more global audience. In the process, it has raised the profile of the Nigerian fashion industry while attracting worldwide attention and a host of international buyers.
Under her leadership in Style House Files, Omoyemi has collaborated with the Nigeria Export Promotion Council, (NEPC) to empower local designers to produce garments commercially for both local and export markets through the SHF Trains initiative, an industrial garment manufacturing skills acquisition training to aid employability and wealth creation in Nigeria.
Omoyemi’s passion to see young and aspiring designers rise to the peak of their careers have seen her earn multiple international awards including being featured on the Business of Fashion’s Global 500 list severally.
The fashion entrepreneur was on the advisory committee for Museum of Modern Arts’ ItemsMoma from 2016 to 2018, and currently sits on the advisory board of the Commonwealth Fashion Council, working to support and advocate sustainable development, education and youth and gender empowerment in the fashion industries within the commonwealth member states.
Omoyemi is a thought leader in the African fashion industry who has received noteworthy invitations to speak at conferences such as The Museum of Modern Arts New York Items Conference, London Business School, Business of Fashion (BOF) Voices, Conde Nast International Luxury Conference, Women in Business Conference (WIMBIZ), International Herald Tribune Luxury Conference, African Creative Economy Conference, and a host of others.
To know more about Omoyemi Akerele and her initiatives, visit www.stylehousefiles.com and www.lagosfashionweek.ng