Fashion in Nollywood has been bold. From the early 2000s, the Y2K aesthetics and glam were all over the screen, from baggy pants and shirts to mini skirts, strapless tops, bootcut jeans, chunky accessories, and dramatic head ties. These were some of the fashion pieces that defined old Nollywood, with popular titles like Girls Cot, Abuja Connection, and Women’s Cot, among many others. However, with cinema culture in the late 2010s and the inception of streaming platforms like Netflix, the Y2K fashion associated with Nollywood had been replaced with high fashion. At this time, the costume designs in movies were getting glamorous- thanks to the big budget that came with producing these high-end movies. Box Office blockbusters like The Wedding Party, Isoken, and New Money led the pack in terms of elaborate fashion with powerhouse Yolanda Okereke serving as the brain behind some of the best looks seen in these Nollywood movies. During this period, the Nigerian fashion industry was also brimming with hot talents and laying the bricks to becoming a multi-million landscape with platforms like Lagos Fashion Week spotlighting “it” fashion brands like Orange Culture, Lisa Folawiyo, Andrea Iyamah, Mai Atafo, and others.
Come Netflix’s debut in 2020, and despite the criticism that followed with some of the streaming platform’s rollout, like the badly written family drama “Chief Daddy 2: Going for Broke. Fashion in movies only got bigger, both the cinema flicks and streaming platform’s originals as it helped define the elite status of the character being portrayed.


This brings us to Christmas in Lagos, the latest rom-com holiday drama from Jade Osiberu for Amazon Prime Video. CIL marks her second rom-com movie following critic’s favourite Isoken which was released back in 2017. Set in Lagos, it tells the multiple stories of different characters intertwined in a love triangle, Fiyin (Teniola Aladese) is a twenty-something woman in love with her best friend Elo (Shalom C. Obiago) unbeknown to him. Elo returns from the US for the Christmas holiday and is planning a proposal to his girlfriend Yagazie (Angel Anosike). Subsequently, Ivie ( Rayxia Ojo) is Fiyin’s cousin who is also back from the UK for the holiday and also finds love. Fiyin’s mother (Gbemisola) played by Shaffy Bello is also caught in a love triangle with two men. What follows is a rollercoaster of love, drama, grief, and holiday festivities. From the opening scene, Christmas in Lagos depicts a fashionable feast. The two characters, Fiyin and Ivie both don colorful looks. Fiyin wears an aso-oke short with a yellow organza shirt and Ivie is wearing a sleeveless colorful top and pants. From their looks, we could tell the kind of character they both portray.
“For Fiyin’s character, her mother (Gbemisola) sells fabrics and she manages her mom’s store. It made sense to make her stylish as much as possible. The color and outfit choice in the first scene where Ivie and Fiyin are introduced to the audience helped set the tone for the rest of the movie, regarding the fashion to expect”. Damola Adeyemi, the costume designer and stylist who worked on Christmas in Lagos tells iMullar.
The two-hour-long drama had some of the most sophisticated looks yet for a Nollywood feature. Pieces from Fruche, Orange Culture, Andrea Iyamah, Ugo Monye, Titi Belo, Ejiro Amos Tafiri, Lisa Folawiyo, and House of Marvee were spotted in the movie.


“There were no basic looks”. Damola asserted.
In 2018, when Jade Osiberu produced her first-ever rom-com “Isoken” about a thirty-plus single woman being pressured to get married by her family, the storyline and style were applauded, and was nominated for best costume designer at the 2018 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCA) but eventually won Achievement in Costume Design at the African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA). CIL sits next to Isoken as another masterpiece in costume design.
A few days after Christmas in Lagos was released, I spoke to powerhouse stylist and costume designer Damola Adeyemi about creating unmissable looks for the holiday rom-com. Damola has worked as a television stylist and costume designer for 10 years curating looks for series like Skinny Girl in Transit, and Battleground and movies like Glamour Girls while also styling celebrities like Toke Makinwa, Sharon Ooja, and Bonang Matheba.
Hey Damola, how are you feeling today? How has the holiday been?
I’m very fine thank you. The holiday has been work-filled because this is a peak period for stylists and designers. Talking to you, I’m currently styling a wedding but life is good, everybody loves Christmas in Lagos, and good work brings more work and I am always happy to work.
Congratulations on working with Jade Osiberu on CIL. What was it like working with such a prestigious filmmaker?
It was such a dream come true, I am a huge fan of Jade. I have seen Isoken lots of times. One of the best movies, in terms of styling, storyline, and cinematography. It’s very timely and fresh. Although I worked on Ayinla, it wasn’t a one-on-one thing but for Christmas in Lagos, it was a dream come true. It felt like a masterclass, an experience. It felt like experiencing Jade, her thought process, her methods, and everything.

CIL is quite different from previous Christmas and rom-com flicks in terms of fashion. I think that one of the things that makes the movie so appealing is the looks. The array of designer pieces featured in the movie. How was it like pulling together these pieces? What was the mood board like and were there any obstacles?
Pre-production for CIL began at the end of September 2023 and creating the mood board for the looks took about 3-4 months. Jade is one of those intentional directors, whatever is in the mood board is what made it onto the screen. Getting designers to give out clothes/pieces was one of the biggest challenges because I think over time, stylists have abused the opportunities and again social media like Instagram has already broken the bridge between designers and celebrities. Celebrities can now reach out to these designers directly without even needing the stylist. Designers are often reluctant to give you their pieces for a project that’s coming out seven months later. For instance, the looks a stylist is interested in pulling might be sold out and it feels like at the end of the day, there might not be any real value for these designers – only that a stylist took the designer’s clothes. We also had several issues when it came to dressing the extras. We had about 350 extras, so getting them all glammed up required a lot of budgets and planning because we were working with different body sizes and all, including the accessory pieces.
Why was putting African fashion and mostly African designers at the forefront so essential for a movie like Christmas in Lagos?
The movie speaks to a younger demographic, so it made sense for the fashion to be vibrant, in addition to African and Nigerian designers being visible. The fashion industry is here to stay, to be honest, and I feel like that’s what made CIL even more exciting because we are seeing our looks in a very luxurious way. It’s very believable. It captures the essence of young and vibrant Lagos, the classic Lagos. I feel like that’s what resonated with the audience. It had good costume designs, beautiful shots, and gorgeous looks.
The fashion choices are so timeless, I feel like years from now, if anyone is watching CIL they’ll be able to tell. How does it feel like knowing you have created something so timeless in terms of fashion in the movie?
Firstly, I’m so grateful to God like I said earlier I have been a huge fan of Jade’s work for the longest time. When I got the call for the project, I knew I had to give it my all. It had to be 10 times harder. There were no basic looks. The feedback has been great so far and talking to you about the film is like another sign that the movie is a hit. So it feels good to have created another timeless piece/project.

Costume design in Nollywood has blown up over the years and you as a stylist and costume designer started in the industry when fashion in movies was still trying to find its foot- what has been the most interesting and exciting thing about evolving with the industry?
I feel like back then producers weren’t giving much attention to costume design. Costume design was mostly forgone for other things. Now I feel like the audience deserves better and is demanding quality. There are always conversations being had when a new project comes out, so filmmakers are always trying to top their work and come correct, and that is so exciting to see.
What’s one thing people don’t know about being a stylist?
Being a stylist is a full-time job. Some of the looks that go viral are the easiest like there wasn’t much thought process when creating it. Sometimes I also build a look with the client from scratch as opposed to just pulling off a look from a designer.
Written by Bolaji Akinwade.
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