Adaeze Oguzie: Our Stories Deserve to Be Seen
ADAEZE OGUZIE
“I like to consider myself a creative brand and cultural strategist redefining how fashion, style, culture, literature, and a sprinkle of art intersect.”
Adaeze Oguzie does not have a simple job description, and she would be the first to tell you that. As Project Director at Style House Files | Lagos Fashion Week, she oversees projects at the intersection of sustainability, designer discovery, and fashion curation. Outside that, she runs In The Library, a literary platform for emerging writers, and co-founded ILE ENYO, a creative management house for visual artists and writers who rarely find the representation their work demands. This portrait traces what connects those threads: a conviction that creative talent has never been the problem on the continent, and that the work, now, is building structures that will make them thrive.
HER CRAFT
Talent discovery, cultural strategy, and the art of building platforms
You describe yourself as a Jane of all creative trades. Could you walk us through what you actually do, and why it matters to you?
I fall into the category of people who can't describe what they do in two short sentences, but I like to consider myself a creative brand and cultural strategist redefining how fashion, style, culture, literature, and a sprinkle of art intersect. During the day, I lead projects at Style House Files | Lagos Fashion Week around sustainability, designer discovery, and sometimes fashion curation.
At night, I explore my love for literature and the visual arts by creating dialogue around contemporary literature and arts, around writers' and artists' representation, and around opportunities for them to further their practice. What fuels my passion is impact. I love the fact my work involves talent discovery and, in some shape or form, creating platforms and spaces for people to be seen, heard, and appreciated. It brings me great joy to see young creatives excel and advance in their fields.
How has your work evolved since you started and what pushed you toward founding In The Library and ILE ENYO?
I didn't always work as Project Director at SHF | Lagos Fashion Week. I started as the digital communications manager before progressing into project management. My first project was Green Access 2021. It opened my eyes to the world of sustainable and circular fashion, the problems with our industry, and the many possibilities around innovation in textiles, manufacturing, and design. Since then, I have been fortunate to plan, lead, and execute projects across different countries, borders, and continents.
I started In The Library out of my love for reading, but as time went on and as more conversations happened, my business partner and I decided to launch ILE ENYO. We recognised that visual artists and writers rarely find good representation and are often underserved. So we merged both our loves for art and literature, and In The Library now exists as a platform within ILE ENYO.
What is the message at the heart of your work?
It’s the belief that our stories deserve to be seen, protected, and remembered. I build platforms and projects that give designers, visual artists, and writers both visibility and structure, because talent should never exist without support.
My work sits at the intersection of culture and structure. I'm interested in how we curate, represent, and elevate African creative voices in ways that are sustainable, globally relevant, and rooted in dignity. And right now, I'm trying to do my part to leave the world more thoughtful, more just, and more beautiful than I found it.
What are you focused on building across your platforms at the moment?
For In The Library, I'm focusing on literary salons, writing grants, and workshops for emerging writers. For SHF | LagosFW, the focus is on more projects, initiatives, and activations that empower designers, manufacturers, and local artisans.
From left to right - Ezinne Chinkata (founder of multibrand store Zinkata), Omoyemi Akerele (Founder of Style House Files | Lagos Fashion Week), Adaeze Oguzie (Lagos Fashion Week Project Director) at Lagos Fashion Week’s Woven Threads VII exhibition
From left to right - Adaeze Oguzie with curator Sunny Dolat at Lagos Fashion Week’s Woven Threads VII in Lagos, presenting project IRAPADA to His Majesty King Charles at the Sustainable Market Initiatives exhibition Terra Carta, in conversation with designer Peter Acha during Makers Camp: The West Africa Project at Mason & Fifth, courtesy of Adaeze Oguzie.
First right - Adaeze Oguzie with journalists Ezreen Benissan and Ugonna-Ora Owoh during Makers Camp, © University of Arts London
HER LESSONS
On impact and being visible
What is a recent lesson that shifted the way you operate?
One story can impact many lives and generations.
A habit you're trying to build in your work.
To put myself out there. To speak more about what I do and why I do it.
HER ENERGY
Faith, responsibility, and service
Shelves at the Gather House concept store in Lagos during WELL WRITTEN event hosted by In The Library, courtesy of Adaeze Oguzie
What do you enjoy most in your work?
Discovering new talent.
What keeps you going?
Four things: faith and stewardship, love for the culture and ideas, responsibility to the talent, and impact over ego.
How do you stay inspired? How do you nurture your creativity?
Prayer is at the centre of it. I read a lot. I have loads of conversations with friends and try my best to cultivate my circle in a creative, intentional way.
A motto you live by:
Steward the gift well.
HER COMMUNITY
Conversations, collaboration and the work of paying attention
“Community is at the root of all I do. I’m always thinking about how people feel seen within it. A lot of my work is driven by creating spaces where African creatives, especially emerging ones, feel supported, valued, and connected to something bigger than themselves. It has definitely shaped the way I build and what I’m inspired by. A lot of the most meaningful ideas come from conversations, collaborations, and really paying attention to what people need versus what simply looks good from the outside.”
Moments during the WELL WRITTEN event hosted by In The Library at the Gather House concept store in Lagos, courtesy of Adaeze Oguzie
HER PERPECTIVE
Systems, structures, and what global African fashion actually needs
Any specific industry topics you've been digging into lately?
Lately, I have been thinking a lot about sustainability beyond materials. Particularly systems sustainability.
What are the real challenges and opportunities in the global African fashion ecosystem right now?
We have made progress in textile innovation and circularity, but the real challenge in the African fashion ecosystem is structural: access to capital, manufacturing infrastructure, distribution, and long-term brand building. At the same time, there is a major opportunity. Global audiences are actively seeking authenticity, heritage craftsmanship, and meaningful narratives, which African designers naturally embody. The gap is not talent. It is infrastructure and mediation.
Pettre Taylor designs at the WOVEN THREADS VII: CRAFTED exhibition in Lagos, courtesy of Lagos Fashion Week
Studio Namnyak designs at the WOVEN THREADS VII: CRAFTED exhibition in Lagos, courtesy of Lagos Fashion Week
ON HER RADAR
African Style Archive and an industry learning to define its own value
“Right now, I’m inspired by the work African Style Archive is doing. They’re documenting fashion history and also bringing together fashion and literature, which is the best of both worlds to me. There’s a real shift happening where African fashion and creative industries are becoming more confident in defining value on their own terms, and that’s something I find incredibly inspiring.”
HER STYLE
Intentional simplicity
Adaeze Oguzie wearing an Ajanéé full look at Lagos Fashion Week, courtesy of Adaeze Oguzie
AN EDIT INSPIRED BY HER
UNI FORM Big Blazer
AJANÉÉ Vented Back Tie Shirt Dress
LILABARE Jinko Pants
Y’WANDE Dera Dress
EMMY KASBIT Oma Skirt
PICHULIK Lucchi Earrings
Adaeze Oguzie always comes back to the same argument: the African creative ecosystem has the talent it needs. What it is still building is everything around it. The structures, the platforms, the representation, the mediation between what exists locally and global audiences. That is the work she has decided to do.
You can follow Adaeze on Instagram at @adaeze.og, @in.thelibrary, and @ile.enyo. NDAANE CURATORS is a portrait series of experts laying the groundwork for an inclusive, sustainable and collaborative fashion industry : researchers, strategists, archivists, founders, storytellers, operators building systems with Africa in mind. Read our previous portrait with Chloe Asaam.
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