By Christy Anyanwu
African fashion ambassador, Lexy Mojo-Eyes, is the President/CEO of Legendary Gold, the company behind the showcasing of Nigerian designers globally before year 2000.
Speaking with Sunday Sun, he shared his experience as a game changer in the fashion scene as a Nigerian.
You are known as the doyen of fashion shows in Nigeria; why the silence on what you started in the Nigeria fashion scene?
Yes, I was a key player in pioneering Nigerian fashion. I reoriented the entire Nigerian fashion industry in looking inward to local fabrics, accessories and designs in their production line. I also reoriented Nigerians to start wearing Nigerian clothes which has changed the Nigerian fashion, garment and textile industry landscape till today. After reorienting the local industry, we started taking Nigerian designers since 2000 to the catwalks of Paris, Milan, London, New York, Tokyo, Sidney etc. After my appointment as the only African on the Board of Governors of the World Fashion Organization in 2008, my focus changed to expanding my mission from just Nigeria to the whole of Africa. Also, my appointment relocated me to various WFO offices around the world
Does it mean Legendary Gold has shunned it’s first love, fashion for other businesses?
Not at all. For Legendary Gold Limited, it is fashion for life. Since 2010, our operations moved from just Nigeria to the rest of Africa. This was most especially when we launched Africa Fashion Reception (AFR) in Paris in 2013. With AFR, our goal is to expand our services across Africa. We wanted to replicate the success story we helped to initiate and execute in Nigeria in the fashion, textile and garment industry and all its value chain to the whole of Africa. And this we are executing with the partnership of the African Union and UNESCO.
What really are the goals of Africa Fashion Reception?
The major goal of Africa Fashion Reception is to expand the potential power of fashion as a tool of fighting poverty in Africa by creating wealth through the empowerment of women and youths in the various fashion vocations through training, capacity building schemes, workshops and setting up of micro, small/medium scale businesses thereby supporting the African Union Agenda 2063 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Every year, two AFR events are organized. They are the African and global editions hosted in Addis Ababa by the African Union and UNESCO in Paris. The Africa Fashion Reception (AFR) is a pan-African initiative. Every year, the AFR brings together fashion designers, models, textile and garment manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers, buyers, ministers, ambassadors, media and other top dignitaries from all over Africa, in a celebration of cultural diversity expressed through the artistic fashion discipline with the proud theme ‘Africa is the New Inspiration of Global Fashion’. So, what has happened in the last 15 years is not that we have moved to other businesses, we have just expanded our operations with less operation in Nigeria
Tell us about your new project, ‘Africa Celebrates’, of what significance would that be to African?
Africa Celebrates is our new pan-African event. It was introduced in 2021 with 18 participating African countries. Last year, 32 African countries participated while more countries are participating this year. Africa Celebrates is Art, Culture, Heritage, Tech and Business. The theme for Africa Celebrates 2023 is “Achieving African Integration through Art, Culture, Heritage & Business Leveraging on AFCFTA Implementation’’ This year, Africa Celebrates comes up in October at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa.
What has kept you going all these years as Lexy?
The zeal and enthusiasm to positively inspire and empower the next generation of African youths with the ideals of pan-Africanism as long as God gives me life.