A new initiative aimed at supporting the emerging designers shaping the next chapter of African fashion has debuted.
As part of the project tagged: ‘The Design Table 2026’ is the Next Gen Design Impact Award, which will provide one emerging African designer with $5,000 in funding, mentorship, industry visibility and access to help take their work further.
The award will be presented at the event on October 31 in Lagos, where designers, tastemakers, founders, editors and creative voices from across Africa’s fashion and cultural landscape will come together under this year’s theme: ‘Legacy in Motion’.
Produced by So.Me Solutions, The Design Table brings together people shaping African fashion to explore the ideas, businesses and creative forces moving the industry forward.
This year’s theme examines how African fashion moves between what came before and what comes next, as creative practices, businesses and ideas are preserved, reinterpreted and given new meaning by each generation.
The Next Gen Design Impact Award builds on this conversation by placing an emerging designer and their work at the centre, providing practical support at a stage where funding, mentorship and meaningful industry access can help them build their business and move forward.
“We wanted to create an opportunity that goes beyond simply putting emerging designers in the spotlight. There is so much talent within African fashion, but visibility alone does not always provide the support needed to move a business forward. With the Next Gen Design Impact Award, we want to put real resources, access and industry support behind an emerging designer and give them an opportunity to build on what they have already started,” Elizabeth “Liz” Osho, Founder, So.Me Solutions, said.
The award jury brings together voices from fashion, media and the creative industry. They include creative professional and fashion & cultural figure, Eniafe Momodu; Ugonna, Editor-in-Chief at Guzang; Odio Mimonet, fashion designer and creative director; Dr. Yetty Ogunnubi, Founder/ CEO of YD Agency and FashionEVO; and Yoanna “Pepper” Chikezie, Founder, The Assembly Hub and Fashion Marketing Professional. The jury will consider the designers’ work, point of view, brand relevance and potential.
Three finalists will be selected to exhibit their work as part of The Design Table experience, with guests also taking part in the voting process. The winner will receive the $5,000 award alongside mentorship, industry visibility and access designed to support their next chapter.
The award forms part of the wider programme at The Design Table 2026, which will bring together designers, established fashion voices, tastemakers, textile and creative practitioners and other cultural voices for conversations around fashion, identity, business and creativity.
Lanre Da Silva, Mai Soafo, Beverly Nayla, Tenicka Boyd and Eni Popoola, alongside founders, editors and other voices from across Africa’s creative ecosystem, attended the previous edition held during Fashion Week in Lagos.
This year, Legacy in Motion asks what happens when the history of African fashion is not only preserved; but also carried forward, reinterpreted and reshaped by the people building its future. The Next Gen Design Impact Award is part of that conversation, giving one emerging designer the resources and access to take their next step.