Following the official visit to Saint Lucia by Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in June, the island continues to strengthen ties with the African nation.
On October 26, a delegation from Saint Lucia left for Nigeria to participate in this year’s Lagos Fashion Week, described as a platform that drives the Nigerian and ultimately, the African fashion industry.
The event brings together designers, buyers, consumers, and the media to view current collections at what is fast becoming a global “A” list event.
Saint Lucia’s Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Industries, Information and Broadcasting, Dr Ernest Hilaire has disclosed that the Saint Lucia delegation in Nigeria is led by Donalyn Vittet, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism.
The team also includes head of production at Events Saint Lucia Kayode Francois, creative director Trevor King, music executive and performer Irvin Ace Loctar, owner of Christy Creations Christine Samuels, and Tamla Lionel of the Luxutoire: the Luxury Laboratory.
Hilaire says the initiative came about following discussions during the visit by the president of Nigeria and his ministerial team earlier this year.
“During that visit a memorandum of understanding for joint cooperation between the governments was executed, where we agreed to promote cooperation in the culture and creative industry space. We specifically agreed that Saint Lucia would participate in an initial set of activities surrounding Lagos Fashion Week and ‘Detty December,’ which is a huge musical experience in Lagos.”
The minister explained that Saint Lucia has been actively pursuing the MOU and its provisions and that thanks to the commitment of the Government of Saint Lucia and its support for the creative arts sector the delegation was able to fulfill the commitment to participate in Lagos Fashion Week, as well as Art X Lagos a leading film event.
He expressed excitement that the two designers Samuels and Lionel will actually showcase on the catwalk a first for Saint Lucia as well as numerous other opportunities that the delegation can explore.
The main purpose of the visit, according to Hilaire, is to establish professional and institutional relationships with the Lagos Fashion Week as well as Art X Lagos.
“Our view and desire is that it will build long-term relationships and really help support the development of the creative Industries – music, film, fashion and craft,” he pointed out.
The team he says will also attempt to identify and source textiles, skins for drum making, making connections with film producers, and further discussions for the support of developing a film industry in Saint Lucia.
“We are also excited about the music scene which is why Ace is there, again to build the relationships so that Saint Lucia can feed into the Afro beats music scene and how we can reciprocate hosting people from Nigeria and also to cause creatives to start interacting more,” Hilaire explained.
The Ministry of Tourism has made provisions to cover the delegation’s travel expenses while the internal costs in Nigeria will be that of the Nigerian Government.
Lagos Fashion Week, which was founded in 2011, will be held from October 29 to November 2.
