Why is GTBank Organizing a Fashion Weekend, and Why Should I Attend?

GTBank Fashion Weekend is part of the bank’s long history of supporting the local fashion industry

Foremost African financial institution, Guaranty Trust Bank plc, last week announced the debut of the GTBank Fashion Weekend, set to hold on the 12^th and 13^th of November 2016, at the GTCentre, Oniru, Victoria Island. With the bank being the first financial institution to pioneer such initiative, it is important to understand its motive for organizing such an event and necessary to know what guests will gain from attending.

Why is GTBank Organizing a Fashion Weekend?

Perhaps the short answer is: To promote enterprise in the SME sector of the Fashion industry. The not-so-short answer would begin with the fact that GTBank actually has an extensive footprint in fashion that goes back several years. The bank has sponsored two of the country’s leading fashion events, The Arise Fashion Week and The Lagos Fashion and Design Week, for a combined period of five years. The bank has also contributed significantly to raising the international profile of African fashion through collaborations including the Ndani Installation at Selfridges and the “Double Club” Collaboration with PRADA.

The GTBank Fashion Weekend is thus an extension of the bank’s long tradition of supporting the local fashion industry and African fashion in general. However, the Weekend extravaganza is much bigger than whatever the bank has done in the past to support Fashion because it not only aims to celebrate African fashion but to directly boost both the expertise and exposure of small businesses and create a platform that will truly serve the stakeholders in the fashion industry. As Mr Segun Agbaje, the Managing Director of GTBank, puts it, “[it is all about] growing SMEs in a sustainable manner that is not driven by profits but focused on empowering our customers and growing our economy collectively.”

At the core of the Weekend are fashion MasterClasses, where entrepreneurs will have the unique opportunity to interact with and learn from global fashion industry leaders, and Retail Exhibitions which will showcase the wares of dozens of SMEs within the fashion industry for patronage from guests. An example of how effective retail exhibitions can be is seen in the very successful GTBank Food and Fair held in May where over 25,000 guests helped over 100 SMEs achieve record sales of their products.