How Venture Stack is advancing strategies for fashion entrepreneurs, creatives
Nigeria’s fashion and creative industry is fast becoming the sectors that contribute to the growth of the economy because players in these sectors are constantly leveraging new trends to empower creatives to grow their brands.
To create a platform for leading voices in the Nigerian fashion ecosystem, fashion entrepreneurs, creatives, and industry leaders can brainstorm on new ideas. The Community Collective (TCCo), in collaboration with MTN Nigeria and the British Council, have organised a Venture Stack 3.0 event to explore how desirability, value chains, and market access can be leveraged to grow the industry.
The one-day venture stack event with the theme, ‘Designing Desirability: Unlocking Value Chain and Market Assets for Fashion and Beauty Products and Brands’, Lagos, brought together leading minds in Africa’s creative and entrepreneurial space, who shared actionable insights on building with resilience and consistency, adopting scalable operations models, and positioning brands for market growth.
Speaking at the event, award-winning style icon Mai Atafo highlighted the importance of excellence and the need for constant learning, adding that creatives need to learn in every single way possible, being hungry to learn.
Dare Aliu, founder of TDA Group Africa, emphasised that despite the dearth of human capacity development across Nigeria, it is still possible to have good hands if entrepreneurs are willing to pour themselves into their staff.
According to him, the fashion and creative industry has fewer and fewer people who are willing to work; however, in the rot organisation and entrepreneurs can still find gold.
On her part, Moremi Dare-Aliu, founder of Pink Perfection Accessories, encourages entrepreneurs to start small and stay consistent regardless of the circumstances.
“You can start small with whatever business endeavour you identify, but you only need to stay consistent and build through the silent days”, she said.
Imogie Immanuel, founder, The Community Collective (TCCo.), said the organisation focused on building a culture where entrepreneurship in Africa thrives through collaboration, partnership and trust.
According to him, creators, founders, and innovators stand a better chance of success when connected through linkage systems that facilitate resource sharing and access to valuable networks.
“Our vision is a thriving, inclusive ecosystem that delivers support and inspires individual growth, with the potential to transform society at large. With Venture Stack, we bridge the gap between industry leaders and the next generation of entrepreneurs and business leaders to build smarter and scale stronger as a collective,” he said.
Commenting during the fashion showcase, special guests Debie Mangut, a creative strategist and market conversion expert, and Franklin Ozekhome, a pop-culture strategist, spoke to the importance of leveraging business data and consumer understanding in developing strategies for brand connection and growth.
In addition to the fireside chat, the first edition of the Venture Stack marketplace was launched, spotlighting curated style brands that showcased their made-in-Nigeria fashion and beauty pieces.
Featured vendors included: House of GDI; Laurens & Co; Imani; The Good Girl Fit; Sassy by Etty; Style by Empress Express; Noga Stephen; House of Xtyna; Esit and Bon Plaisir
Venture Stack 3.0 attendees engaged in robust Q&A sessions and benefited from mentorship in real-time, receiving candid and intentional advice from panellists who drew on years of industry experience.
The day combined education and commerce, from vendor stands to wisdom nuggets on unlocking distribution, pricing for desirability, and building market-ready products.
