In a groundbreaking moment for African fashion, Lagos Fashion Week (LFW) has won the prestigious 2025 Earthshot Prize in the “Build a Waste-Free World” category. The recognition comes with a £1 million grant, celebrating LFW’s pioneering efforts to promote sustainability and circular innovation within Africa’s fashion industry.
Founded by Omoyemi Akerele in 2011, Lagos Fashion Week has evolved into a leading platform championing creativity, craftsmanship, and responsible production across the continent. Over the years, the event has transformed into more than a fashion showcase, it has become a movement driving conversations about ethical design, eco-conscious materials, and local empowerment.
Transforming Fashion, Building a Waste-Free Future
The Earthshot Prize committee praised Lagos Fashion Week for its forward-thinking model that integrates sustainability into every stage of production. Designers participating in the event are required to embrace practices such as ethical sourcing, natural dyeing, waste reduction, and circular design principles.
LFW has also revived traditional African craftsmanship while encouraging new generations of designers to adopt eco-friendly approaches that reduce the industry’s environmental footprint. Through education, community collaboration, and innovation, the platform has redefined what it means to make fashion in Africa.
According to the Earthshot Prize board, Lagos Fashion Week’s impact extends far beyond Nigeria. With its new funding, the initiative aims to scale its model to other African fashion hubs, including Accra, Kigali, and Dakar, fostering a pan-African network for sustainable fashion.
A Global Recognition for African Creativity
The Earthshot Prize founded by Prince William in 2020, celebrates organizations tackling the planet’s most urgent environmental challenges across five key areas: nature, air, oceans, waste, and climate. Other 2025 winners include re.green (Brazil), the City of Bogotá (Colombia), the High Seas Treaty (Global), and Friendship (Bangladesh).
For Africa, Lagos Fashion Week’s win signals a powerful shift in the global fashion narrative. It highlights how creativity and culture can become vehicles for sustainability, job creation, and social transformation.
“This recognition is not just about Lagos Fashion Week,” said founder Omoyemi Akerele. “It’s about our designers, artisans, and communities proving that African fashion can lead the global conversation on sustainability.”
What Comes Next
The £1 million prize will fund new projects focused on textile recycling, artisan training, and the establishment of a Circular Fashion Hub in Lagos. The hub will serve as a center for research, education, and innovation in sustainable production, helping reduce textile waste and strengthen local supply chains.
Globally, the fashion industry faces mounting challenges, consumers buy 60% more clothes than two decades ago but keep them half as long, while less than 1% of textiles are recycled into new garments. Lagos Fashion Week’s approach offers a model for meaningful change, proving that sustainability and creativity can coexist in powerful harmony.
A New Chapter for African Fashion
This victory positions Lagos as a leading voice in sustainable fashion and affirms that the continent’s creative industries can drive global solutions to environmental problems. From the runway to recycling hubs, Lagos Fashion Week is charting a path toward a waste-free, inclusive, and culturally rooted fashion future.
