Four days ahead of her show at Lagos Fashion Week, the sewing machines at Abasiekeme Ukanireh’s workshop were still buzzing.

Ukanireh, the founder of the popular Nigerian brand Eki Kere, met with models and tailors for the final preparations ahead of one of Africa’s biggest fashion events, which ran through Sunday.

On the agenda: local materials, upcycling and African craftsmanship.

“Every single year for a brand, for me, as a designer, I always try to take it a step further in terms of being sustainable,” Ukanireh, 35, told AFP.

Sustainability — long both a bugbear and a buzzword in the fashion industry — was a key feature of this year’s Lagos Fashion Week, with designers from across the continent tapping into everything from traditional fabrics to banana fibre and coffee grounds.

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