Emmanuel Olamide Balogun has over 30 years of industry experience, from running his own business to roles such as Designer/Pattern cutter, Head of Design, Design & Development Director production manager and academic tutoring of fashion design at Department of Industrial / Fashion Design, School of Art ,Design and Printing Technology. Yaba College of Technology. He is currently a board member for Grand Significant and Association of Professional Fashion Practitioners of Nigeria.
Emmanuel graduated from the Yaba College of Technology in 1990 with Higher National Diploma in Fashion Design, has worked with international Brand, Nigeria designers which including the following: Sofisticat, Macs Bridal, Vivid Imagination, Grand Significant. He also consult for many fashion houses like Vivid Imagination, Sofisticat, Odua Creation, Art of African ,Tiskies and Mason de Helen on the basic of Design and Production process/development in our fashion houses in Nigeria.
He has an in-depth understanding of contemporary fashion design higher technical education, the fashion design industry practice as well as expert skills in fashion design creative design process, creative pattern cutting and garment manufacture. Demonstrate a consistently high rating of over thirty years of industrial and academic professional experience, skilled effectiveness, as well as a commitment to improvement, and professional growth in fashion design. A highly technical fashion designer in both female, and male apparel design; for over eighteen years before moving into the academics (Higher Technical Education). Scholarly and applied industrial experiences activity focuses applied design and production process. He developed the current cut and fit in the Nigeria mens Kaftan, which was termed contract and Senator’s caftan in the early 90’s while working as Chief Designer and Factory Manager with sofisticat Nig. Ltd using the shirt and suit draft. This later became the contemporary Nigeria/African kaftans Cut.
Emmanuel Balogun has taught at undergraduate Higher National Diploma level for over 16 years at Yaba College of Technology.
He was nominated, selected and awarded for the Phase 1 Tedfund /Yaba College of Technology staff development scholarship scheme in 2009 to study fashion design; the first of its kind in the 54 years of the history of fashion design higher education in Nigeria. He obtained his MA Design (Fashion Design) at the Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton (a research-intensive university and a founding member of the Russell Group) .United Kingdom.
Emmanuel Olamide Balogun founded the Association of Professional Fashion Practitioners of Nigeria, with other co-funders as an advocacy fashion professional group that recognize the value of design, culture and professionalism as a vital component of economic development and social well-being of our country Nigeria.
of to drive the industry
I strongly believe that: “Our competitiveness as a global economy in Nigeria hinges on our ability to harness that power of innovative design, fashion education and the fashion industry in Nigeria is a valuable asset, which must be nurtured so it can go from strength to greater strength.
We need a sufficient number of professional fashion practitioners and designers in Nigeria to drive the fashion education, fashion industry and to devise solutions to face up to challenges such as sustainability, smart cities, operation clean the nation, Innovation ,and effectively delivering public services. We also need the methods of design education and capable professional in our industry to inform the pedagogies of other faculties of learning”.
In order to secure intellectual leadership of the future of the professional fashion practitioners in Nigeria and enhance the fashion innovation capacity of the nation, we need to invest more in design education and collaboration of the industry.