Fashion Icon, Funmi Ajila-Ladipo, Hits Diamond Age
Funmi Ajila-Ladipo’s face has many times in the past served as a reference point for the entire fashion industry in Nigeria, serving the industry in various human resource capacities. This has no doubt endeared her specially to many fashion designers/practitioners and fashion connoisseurs in and outside Nigeria.
She may not have pioneered the Nigerian fashion industry, but her role and impact in the industry are worthy of recognition, and her name deserves a special place in the history of the sector. The two-term former President of the Fashion Designers Association of Nigeria (FADAN) and CEO of Regalia By Fal, was able to connect a strong and abiding synergy between the earlier fashion designers and the newer generation, thereby creating a bridge that eventually birth a Nigerian fashion industry that today stands the test of time.
The fashion icon, perfectly blends a youthful beauty, style, grace and colours that her stitches perfect for her, that immerses her figure into being a model of models.
So when the fashion icon and glamorous woman stepped out last week for her 60th birthday, it was a perfect night for her as her friends also came out to share in her happy moment.
Married to an advertising guru, Rufai Ladipo, the woman of substance is not literally showing any sign of ending her romance with fashion design, a creative endeavour that has given her so much fame.
By all standards, she is a designer par excellence. The fair-complexioned woman, who hails from Ekiti State, is one of the few who have done the nation’s fashion industry proud. She launched her outfit, Regalia Couture, some decades ago, and she has trained and continues to inspire younger ones who love fashion design.
At 30, she won the Fashion Designer of the Year diadem, amidst a blaze of glory. Through that feat, her clientele grew astronomically because it further exposed her inventiveness and ingenuity. At different times, she represented Nigeria in a couple of fashion shows abroad.
