Abuja (AFP) – Folded in all shapes, modeled into gigantic silhouettes or superimposed like feathers... the colorful textiles dazzle the eye like at carnival, to the rhythm of the models' parade on a stage in Abuja.
Published on: 03/10/2026 - 16:34
Nigeria Fashion Week, which ends on Sunday, moved from Lagos this year, temporarily abandoning the megacity of more than 20 million inhabitants - the country's economic and artistic heartland - for the quiet federal capital, better known for its administrations and its peaceful atmosphere than for its avant-garde couture.
"Abuja is slow, slow in all respects. People here are very relaxed," Lexy Mojo-Eyes, the elegant organizer of the fashion week, who cut his teeth in Lagos, told AFP. “We want to change the dynamic, we want to build Abuja as a fashion city,” he promises.
Nigeria officially moved its capital from teeming and overpopulated Lagos in 1991 to Abuja, in a savannah region heralding the aridity of the Sahel zone further north.
Even in 2026, Abuja (with nearly 4 million inhabitants) still seems under construction, with its city center of modern office buildings alongside vacant lots and even a few farms predating its founding.
It does not have the famous and sulphurous effervescence of Lagos. And it cannot compete with its cinema industry, “Nollywood”, nor with its large corporate headquarters and its host of Afrobeats stars.
Encourage tourism
As Abuja has gradually grown over the years, however, it has developed its own cultural scene, hosting a photography festival, an international film festival and a thriving literary scene.
The organizers of Nigeria Fashion Week explain that its trip this year to Abuja also aims to strengthen dialogue between the fashion world and the government.
"The government must provide a more conducive environment" to the fashion industry, in particular by reforming intellectual property or supporting tourism, assures AFP the Minister of Culture Hannatu Musa Musawa, dressed in a silver, pink and blue metallic dress, seated in the front row of a fashion show on Friday.
At his side, the Libyan designer Rabia Ben Barka, doyenne of fashion in her country, is full of praise for Abuja. Her square-shaped creations evoke the retro shoulder pads of women from the 80s.
On the podium suddenly appears a man in a silver and black metallic striped suit, over leather heels: a supercharged office outfit for a Nigerian capital which is gradually shedding its staid image.
“It’s a somewhat sleepy city, but it’s starting to move,” judges Chinwe Ezenwa, CEO of Le Look and handbag designer who opened a second factory in the capital in 2021.
It remains to be seen whether Abuja can provide the skilled labor and talent needed to sustain an arts sector, designers, fashion students and entrepreneurs.
In Abuja as in Lagos, some things do not change in Nigeria, however, such as the sluggish electricity network as famous as the monster traffic jams in Lagos: while the models were getting ready backstage on Friday, the power was briefly cut off. Once the blackout was over, one spectator joked that the parade was now, officially, "very authentic."
© 2026 AFP
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