The native and vogue fashion week of the Rivers State Government was a spring board to showcase the state as a destination brand. The event was designed to communicate a new brand identity for Port Harcourt in particular and the state in general. It was also aimed at exploring the huge potentials of the talents that abound in the fashion industry.
The fashion fiesta was poised to deliver a new brand image and exemplify the possibilities of a new Rivers State. Governor Rotimi Amaechi underscored his commitment to the new brand campaign with his presence throughout the fashion week events.
He explained the rationale for the events as a potent avenue to communicate the identity of Port Harcourt whose image has been smeared by criminal activities especially kidnapping. The fashion event was one of the several strategies identified to reposition the image of the state in order to build a new brand identity.
The Governor stated that the event was aimed at showcasing the new things that are occurring in the Rivers of possibilities. The fashion week event was a veritable platform the state government utilized to explore the creative economy for maximum impact. It was a high ground to exemplify the positive values of the Rivers State People especially Port Harcourt.
The event paraded top notch international and local designers as part of the governments' effort to create an exciting brand image for the state.
The couture fiesta aptly tagged Native and Vogue is a thematic message that exemplifies its whole essence. Nativity translates to mean the impact of the local talents while Vogue raises the pedestal of the in-thing in today's fashion world.
The strategic thinking behind the concept is mainly to bring out the distinctive features of the local talents and leverage on this to enhance a robust and vibrant image for the state.
This was further buttressed with the array of fashion icons of Rivers State origin that featured at the event. Agbani Darego, a former Miss world was the host at the event.
Prior to the event, a keenly contested competition had taken place to determine the official faces of the native and vogue event. To undergraduates form the University of Port Harcourt, Gedoni Ekpata (male) and Doris Adaugo Uche emerged.
The event was to celebrate creativity and excellence and most importantly according to Amaechi that Port Harcourt has regained its original image and lost glory. It was also to showcase Port Harcourt as a destination of choice for entertainment, fashion and hospitality.
It was one platform that leveraged impactful image for the Rivers state government with the array of fashion icons such as Frank Oshodi, Alade Vincent, Paul Van Zyl, one of South Africa's top courtiers, Femi Adebayo Jones, Ituen Bassey, Davida Okpara and others.
The event indeed resonated with the target audience who thronged the Aztech Arcum venue of the event in Port Harcourt.
