Manchester Fashion Institute students showcase designs with Africa Fashion Week London

26 September 2025

Students collaborated with Africa Fashion Week London and the Adire Oodua Textile Hub, exploring the heritage of Adire fabric and presenting their designs on an international stage.



Students from Manchester Fashion Institute have taken part in a unique live brief with Africa Fashion Week London, led by Founder Queen Ronke Ademiluyi-Ogunwusi and delivered in partnership with the Adire Oodua Textile Hub.

The project introduced students to Adire, a hand-dyed fabric with deep cultural roots in Nigeria, and challenged them to combine traditional craftsmanship with contemporary fashion technologies. Along the way, they explored complex questions around cultural appropriation and broadened their perspectives beyond a western-centric approach to design.

To support the project, students were mentored by Samson Soboye, stylist, designer and educator at Africa Fashion Week London, and Anna Marie Benedict, Press Director, who visited campus to guide the process and later returned to judge the final concepts.

Our project film captures the story of the collaboration — from the heritage of Adire to the students’ design journey — with contributions from students, staff and partners.

From the submissions, three student designs were selected to be made into finished garments and presented on the catwalk at Africa Fashion Week London 2025. The winning students were:

  • Andrea Georgiou
  • Isabel Longthorne
  • Jia Wei Ng

A further three designs were developed digitally in CLO3D, showcasing the growing role of fashion technology. These were created by:

  • Maryam Al Nakeeb
  • Benjamin Brown
  • Erinne Ho

See the garments on the runway
Watch highlights from the Africa Fashion Week London catwalk show, where the three winning student outfits were unveiled to an international audience.

Explore the digital fashion showcase
View the innovative CLO3D designs created by three students, bringing Adire heritage into the digital fashion space.

This collaboration gave students a unique opportunity to engage with the heritage of African textiles, develop new ways of thinking about design, and see their work reach an international audience.

Manchester Fashion Institute would like to thank Africa Fashion Week London and the Adire Oodua Textile Hub for their partnership and support in making this project possible.

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