Afternoon Tea in Ankara otherwise known, as ATIA, is the initiative created by Temi Otedola. Temi is quite successfully carving a career of her own as a Fashion Blogger; her work has propelled her to become a social influencer and an advocate for homegrown fashion talent, which is no mean feat for the daughter of Nigerian Billionaire Femi Otedola.
Having been featured in British Vogue – Temi at Vogue, interviewed by CNN – Temi at CNN and most recently having been made Ambassador of Lagos Fashion & Design Week she is definitely on a path to grand and splendour things.
ATIA is Temi’s vision for the future of Africa’s young creatives, namely influencers in the Fashion industry. The concept is derived from the traditional British afternoon ritual ‘afternoon tea’ and the traditional African fabric ‘Ankara’. The idea is to combine the two cultures in which, the invited sits down for afternoon tea and delicacies in their Ankara inspired attire.
The blend of the two cultures is held in high value for Temi, and no one is better placed to bring those worlds together than Temi herself, has a well-travelled individual she understands how to navigate between both worlds with ease.
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The exclusive event is aimed at young budding fashion creatives of African descent who are aspiring to establish themselves in the Fashion Industry. The process to take part and ‘earn’ their spot onto ATIA requires the applicants to submit a video/written application, expressing their true passion for Fashion this allows the ones who are passionate to get the unique opportunity. It also gives them a unique insight into the ins and outs of the very competitive fashion world.
They also get a chance to partake in various relevant activities including networking events gearing them up for the very real world of fashion and it’s trappings.
The event is bi-annual, the first of which took place during London Fashion Weekend on February 27th at the Café Royal Hotel in London’s Piccadilly; the next event to follow is set to be held in Nigeria towards the end of the year. The event had some of fashion’s most prolific speakers from different areas of the fashion industry, including the highly esteemed British GQ Publisher Vanessa Kingori (keep an eye out for our up and coming interview with Vanessa), the Chief Executive of the British Fashion Council Caroline Rush, the Creator of ‘Style House Files’ Omoyemi Akerele and Founder of ‘Alara’ fashion concept store Reni Folawiyo. The winner of Rihanna’s ‘Style to Rock’ TV competition Zainab Van Du took centre stage to give a riveting workshop on the process of creating your own fashion line.
A delightful, sophisticated afternoon, with beautifully laid out tables for tea enjoyed by the guest speakers as well as the lucky candidates who got to take part on the day, a great precedent to set for future ATIA events to come.
To see Temi’s blog head to jtofashion.com
