The Church of IAMISIGO

Lagos came out to play, and the playing started at the door. The energy at the IAMISIGO Lagos Fashion Week show on 1 November was electric and eclectic, and most of it came from the guests. Every high-fashion eccentric in the city seemed to be in attendance, dressed in full editorial, each of them taking the brand's own language as the dress code: grunge, metal, fringe, frills, colour, bold hair, bold makeup. Everyone came to be looked at. From a few steps away, the models in their artistic ensembles and the guests in theirs were hard to tell apart, which is the finest proof I know of a brand's reach. IAMISIGO has grown from a fashion label into a subculture with its own identity and its own community. Membership asks for understanding: to attend a show you have to understand the brand. Bubu Ogisi always does something a little different, and this time her presentation was an art installation, staged at a gallery inside Eko Hotel. The clothes and the models suited the setting so closely that a visitor might have walked into an exhibition and found the exhibits dressed for the occasion. The models posed, keeping very still under intense observation, and the slight discomfort in that stillness was very Yeezy. Bubu Ogisi, IAMISIGO founder The details were everywhere: jewellery matched to the buttons, nails matched to the checkerboard patterns, veils, tassel earrings, anklets and bracelets, rings, bags, and hats made of fibre, the beaded ones doubling as face coverings. Silk, raffia, faux cowhide and metal gave the textures their range. The makeup was glowy and otherworldly and the hair made one statement after another, while the volume of the clothes completed the picture. All of it said that IAMISIGO knows exactly how much is enough, and that the answer is a lot. There was a great deal of work and vision behind all of it, visible in the beadwork alone. The adidas collaboration was in the sporty silhouettes and in the adidas markings joined to IAMISIGO's own visual language. A cowprint sports jacket, worn by a model holding a pair of horns, came with matching pants. A sports jacket and skirt set followed, plus more pants and bags. The checkerboard beaded vest was t…