Lagos Fashion Week (LFW) has been named among the five winners of the 2025 Earthshot Prize, a global award recognising outstanding efforts to tackle pressing environmental challenges.
The Earthshot Prize, established by Prince William, celebrates exceptional climate leadership and innovation.
In a publication on its website, the Earthshot Prize said LFW was recognised for “transforming one of the world’s most wasteful industries by creating a new fashion economy rooted in sustainability”.
Founded in 2011 by Omoyemi Akerele, Lagos Fashion Week emerged as a winner under the ‘Build a Waste-Free World’ category.
Winners, selected from nearly 2,500 nominations across 72 countries, were announced at the awards ceremony in Rio de Janeiro on November 5. Each winner received £1 million to expand or replicate their projects.
“By placing circularity, craft-driven innovation, and community empowerment at their core, Lagos Fashion Week is tackling fashion’s biggest issues of overproduction and overconsumption,” the Earthshot statement reads.
Now in its 15th year, LFW has grown into Africa’s largest and most influential fashion event, promoting sustainability and redefining the continent’s creative economy.
According to the Earthshot Prize, the global fashion industry is one of the world’s most polluting sectors, with consumers buying 60 percent more clothing than two decades ago and recycling less than 1 percent of textiles into new garments.
“Against this backdrop, the need for a new model is urgent. Enter Lagos Fashion Week, whose forward-thinking ambition has been reshaping fashion’s DNA and proving that style and sustainability can go hand in hand,” the statement added.
Reacting to the recognition, Akerele described the win as a victory for Africa’s creative community.
”This is not just about me or Lagos Fashion Week, but about the community of designers, artisans, and young people who continue to prove that African fashion has something powerful and lasting to offer the world,” she said.
“Fashion has the power to create jobs, preserve culture, and transform lives – that is why we do this work, and why being nominated as a Finalist will allow us to keep pushing for a future where fashion is not just beautiful, but also meaningful and responsible.”