“The models are carefree in their outfits because the outfits are very comfortable, even though they’re giving very snatched,” said Esther Chukwujekwu, the student fashion designer behind last Thursday’s Nigerian Wedding collection.
Chukwujekwu debuted her wedding collection in the Arabic Club’s second annual Multicultural Fashion Show.
“The hardest challenge was sourcing the fabrics. I’m used to, in my country, just going into an open market and picking the fabrics that I like,” the Nigeria-born artist said.
Hailing from Nigeria, Chukwujekwu graduated from fashion school and is now pursuing a Master’s of Business Administration.
“When I moved here, there’s no open market for that. There’s a few stores, but I couldn’t find the traditional outfit I really needed, and so I had to order online,” she said.
Even then, Chukwujekwu ran into challenges with fabric, having to return some due to low quality or just choosing the wrong fabric.
“Nigeria is a very diverse country. And so using clothes to represent culture is really interesting because you have to use stones and the beads. We have a particular kind of beads, the red coral beads, the gold colors, the red colors which the South-South use,” she said.
Chukwujekwu has had her designs featured in one other collection back in Nigeria. “This is the first time I’m actually showing my outfits here, so I’m a little bit nervous about the reaction, but I’m not nervous about my work.”
The audience reacted with audible gasps as her pieces descended down the runway, and again in the final closing walk.
