Omoyemi Akerele.

is the Founder and Executive Director of Lagos Fashion Week and its parent company, Style House Files, Omoyemi Akerele has been instrumental to 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 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 master- classes 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 see designers from the continent thrive has earned her multiple awards on the continent and the rest of world, including a placement on Business of Fashion’s Global 500 list for consecutive years. 

As part of a continuous mission to contribute to the growth of a sustainable fashion industry, Style House Files, under Omoyemi’s leadership is working with the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) to strengthen the Nigerian fashion industry’s local capacity to produce garments commercially for local and export markets through an initiative called SHF Trains. This involves end to end industrial garment manufacturing skills acquisition training for employability and wealth creation in Nigeria. 

Omoyemi was on the advisory committee for Museum of Modern Arts #ItemsMoma (MOMA’s first fashion exhibition in 70 years) and currently sits on the advisory board of the Commonwealth Fashion Council. The CFC works to support and advocate sustainable development, education, youth and gender empowerment in the current and emerging fashion industries within the 53 members nations of the Commonwealth. 

As a thought leader in the African fashion industry, she receives notable invitations to speak at conferences ranging from Business Of Fashion (BOF) Voices, 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, Creative Enterprises Forum and many more. 

Omoyemi’s vision is to see Africa’s cultural and creative industries contribute substantially to the overall growth and development of the economy. She lives in Lagos with her husband and three beautiful daughters.