Omoyemi Akerele

Omoyemi Akerele
Status	active
Genre	Founder, Lagos Fashion Week
Location(s)	Lagos Nigeria
Activity	Executive Director and Founder of Style House Files
Website	"Official website".

Omoyemi Akerele is the founder and executive director of Style House Files, a fashion business development agency that primarily focuses on the Nigerian and African Fashion Industry. She launched the Lagos Fashion and Design Week and her creative development agency gives African brands the opportunity of showcasing at the Lagos Fashion and Design Week and various international platforms.

Omoyemi’s quest for fulfilment led her to fashion, where she pioneered image consulting and styling in Nigeria. Thereafter, as the Fashion Editor of True Love West Africa; a prominent and best selling lifestyle magazine in West Africa for over 5years, Omoyemi made a significant contribution in the industry which she believes was influenced by her strong legal background.

Her commitment to promote, nurture and develop the fashion industry led to the establishment of Lagos Fashion and Design Week, a multi-day fashion week platform that presents African designers in Nigeria and beyond. LFDW 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 worked with African designers on various projects to promote their work and earn their brands pan African and international recognition. This dedication to see them thrive has earned her multiple awards in Nigeria and the rest of Africa including a listing on Business of Fashion’s Global 500 list of people shaping fashion in the world for consecutive seasons.

As part of a continuous mission to contribute to the growth of a sustainable fashion industry, Style House, under Omoyemi’s leadership is working with the Nigerian Export Promotion Agency (NEPC) to strengthen the Nigerian fashion industry’s local capacity to produce garments commercially for local and export markets. This involves end to end skills acquisition training for job and wealth creation in Nigeria.

Omoyemi is also a spokesperson for the Nigerian fashion industry with notable invitations to speak at conferences ranging from The Museum of Modern Art New York Items Conference (she also sits on the Advisory Committee for #ITEMSMOMA), Fashion Business Series at LFDW, African Development Bank Fashionomics Launch, International Herald Tribune Luxury Conference, Retail Congress Africa, British Council’s Creative Industries Expo, African Creative Economy Conference, Creative Enterprises Forum and more.

She has worked extensively with African designers on various projects to promote their work and earn their brands international recognition. She worked on positioning designers in global stores like Selfridges London, Dolce and Gabbana Via Spiga Milan and Luisa Via Roma Rome; E-commerce websites Moda Operandi and MyTheresa.com have also worked with designers via the Style House Files network, a feat that’s yet to be achieved by other platforms. This dedication to see them thrive has earned her multiple awards in Nigeria and the rest of Africa.

Education

Omoyemi attended the University of Lagos where she obtained a bachelor's degree in Law. She proceeded to the University of Warwick where she received a master's degree in International Economic Law. She worked at Olaniwun Ajayi a Nigerian law firm & Co from 2000 to 2003 and worked as a stylist at Aston Hayes Image consultancy. She was the fashion editor for a Lifestyle magazine called True Love.