Three Nigerian Designers Who Make Headlines At Every AMVCA

Style, Glamour, Affluence, and Culture are some of the defining elements of the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards, AMVCA. Every year designers across the world are employed to style some of Nollywood’s biggest stars in their most iconic pieces as they get honoured for their work and service to Nollywood in the year in review.

From Somkele Iyamah Idhalama’s brown dress designed by Andrea Iyamah in 2017 to Denola Grey’s twist to modern-day suit with the help of Mai Atafo at the 2022 AMVCAs, the limit to what levels designs can be stretched has been seen on the red carpet and these designers have done a great job at keeping themselves in the conversation.

Whether it is for their ever-changing designs that appeal to the public or the innovative designs that usually get them lots of backhanded comments regardless of their brilliance, these designers are usually the talk of the town after every AMVCA.

Here are some designers that have made the news at the AMVCAs.

Toyin Lawani

When you see a transformer dress wrapped in some form of extravagance, you can definitely tell that it’s a Tiannah Empire design. It is her signature design, and from time immemorial her red carpet looks have always caused polarising opinions because she never sticks to the ordinary or what she deems boring.

In 2022, when Ifu Ennada came to the AMVCA in an artsy masquerade dress, it caused a ruckus for days as opinions were polarised on whether the dress was a brilliant fit or just completely outrageous. The same thing happened in 2020, when Omashola wore a statement piece designed with added accessories like skulls and face masks, to represent the danger of coronavirus.

Toyin Lawani’s designs would always generate controversy, her translation of designs is not conventional, and for that alone, she remains the talk of the town. We are looking forward to what she is bringing to the table this year.

Lanre Da Silva

Designers come and go every year, but one designer that has managed to maintain her place at the top with her innovative and form-fitting designs is Lanre Da Silva.

From the BBNaija star Cee-C’s viral red dress that launched her into her first major award show after her participation in the reality TV show BBNaija to Toni Tones’ chic dress for the seventh edition of the AMVCA, she has had a long yet outstanding run.

Mai Atafo

From menswear to womenswear Mai Atafo has gotten it on lock. Every major award show is an opportunity to see Mai Atafo work his brilliance with his designs, and the AMVCAs are no different.

Aside from his Cinderella-esque dress for Adesua Etomi-Wellington that dominated conversations at the time, his twist and use of embellishments for menswear earned Denola Grey the best-dressed male award at the 2022 AMVCAs as he wore a red three-piece suit fully studded.

From then till now, Atafo has already released more groundbreaking collections, and we are simply excited to see who his muse for this year will be and what artistic direction he will be taking.