Omoyemi Akerele

Founder and artistic director of Style House Files | Founder of Lagos Fashion Week

As the Founder and Executive Director of Lagos Fashion Week and its parent company, Style House Files, Omoyemi Akerele has been instrumental in the prolific rise of the African fashion industry. 

A former magazine editor of True Love West Africa with multiple degrees in Law, Omoyemi established the fashion business development agency, Style House Files, to create opportunities for African designers by spearheading initiatives that promote the advancement of designers and the evolving ecosystem. Since the company’s inception, Omoyemi has advocated for African creatives to be recognized and be given the same opportunities as their western counterparts. 

Her commitment to nurture, develop and promote the African fashion industry led to the establishment of the biannual Lagos Fashion Week, a multi-day platform that presents African designers in Nigeria and beyond. Lagos Fashion Week has also expanded its scope of work, providing advocacy for the industry with government and investors, offering industry masterclasses and incubation support for emerging talent, and supporting all parts of the fashion industry value-chain to achieve their full potential. 

Omoyemi has also collaborated with African designers on various projects to promote their work and earn their brands creative and commercial success. This devotion to seeing designers from the continent thrive has earned her multiple awards on the continent and the rest of the world, including a placement on Business of Fashion’s Global 500 list for consecutive years.