The 9th edition of the AMVCAs kicked off on Thursday with the opening night and cultural day event, and has dominated conversations and attention ever since.
In association with Africa Magic, MultiChoice put together a lineup of events for this year’s awards, one of which is the second edition of the AMVCA runway show. The event, which was held at The Jewel Aieda Event Centre, Lagos, promoted Africa’s rich cultural fashion heritage showcased over the years through Africa Magic and the AMVCAs.
Here’s everything that happened at the Runway Show and Nominees Gala:
• The top four designer finalists showed their original collections and pieces:
Emmanuel Goodnews, Udiahgebi, Funmibi Olayinka, and Ayobami were selected as the finalists for the second edition of the AMVCA ‘Design For Stars’ competition. These four finalists brought their A-game with original pieces that wowed the crowd and left them pondering whose outfits they loved the most.
• Mai Atafo and media personality Ify hosted the show
Fashion guru, Mai Atafo, and media personality, Ifunaya Igwe, hosted the Fashion Runway Show and Nominee Gala. Ify made her AMVCA hosting debut alongside Mai, who returned for the second year in a row to host the prestigious fashion competition.
• Guests and attendees voted Ayobami as the winner:
Even though we were rooting for all four designers, there can only be one true winner. This evening, the audience voted Ayobami’s carefully crafted red dinner dress as their favourite outfit at the fashion show. With so many creative collections to choose from, picking a winner was not an easy task but Ayobami earned her win.
• Ayobami won 3.5 million Naira:
The winner of the runway show received a two million Naira grand prize for creating unique pieces that resonated best with the audience. She also won the Pepsi design competition that earned her another 1.5 million Naira, bringing her total wins to a whooping 3.5 million.
• Buju and Praiz had exciting performances:
It’s not an AMVCA nominees gala if there are no incredible and unexpected surprises. This time around, it was Buju and Praiz that took to the stage. Buju performed hit songs like ‘Gwagwalada’ and ‘Finesse’ while Praiz serenaded the guests with songs like ‘Folashade’ and ‘I Love You’ .
• Dakore Egbuson-Akande, Hermes Iyele, Beauty Tukura, and Saskay stunned on the runway:
Some of your favourite celebrities showed off their modelling skills at the event. Dakore joined the runway as part of Amstel Malta’s models in a green and orange aso-oke beaded two-piece, complemented with a bob fringe and orange earrings. Hermes, Beauty and Saskay walked the runway as one of Pepsi’s models. Hermes wore a queer fit that featured a red skirt on blue palazzo pants, a metallic crop top, and Pepsi-colour-coded jacket, topped with a furry hat. Beauty wore an athletic-looking blue and red jumpsuit with a white sheer hat while Saskay wore a white, red, and blue Pepsi-branded playsuit with white pumps.
The ninth edition of the AMVCAs will round up at 7 pm tonight with the awards show. For more information, visit www.africamagic.tv/AMVCA and follow all official handles of Africa Magic on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
The eighth edition of the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards is brought by Africa Magic in association with MultiChoice and is proudly sponsored by Amstel Malta and Zagg.
