Fast forward 11 years later, the ancient city of Zaria whose streets witnessed protests over the pageant hasn't really changed much. Although, home to the famous Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria remains unrepentantly traditional, even bothering on the rustic and very much fundamentally islamic. And while Lagos and Abuja might be catching up with fashion capitals of the world, the idea of a fashion show in Zaria would have been laughable to some, and approached with a good measure of caution for others. Enters Aisha Yahya, a 200 level student of Economics at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and CEO of Protege Media , and things change a little bit with a breath of fresh air, that isn't political, blowing through the campus environment.
"The most entertainment an ABU student gets is probably a night at the University drama village when our thespians have a production on show. But the idea behind Euphoria wasn't just to give students excitement. Beyond that, Euphoria is a huge building block of what Protege Media is set to become in the years to come" She says.
After a not too successful foray into magazine publication, Aisha Yahya shrugged from the disappointments of the project and put together a first of its kind fashion event in Zaria tagged Euphoria. While support from corporate organizations might have been hard to come by, Aisha plunged right in and staged a fashion show that has had people talking about for weeks and many looking forward to subsequent installments.
"It was great to have the support of House of Tara, who made up the girls and Ambassador Chris, who is an international fashion and model promoter. 2 models and 2 designers got picked from my show to represent in an event in Abuja and hopefully these girls can go from there into the fashion hub of the world" Aisha Yahya.
Designers who exhibited at Euphoria include a 16 year old senior secondary school student ________ of Dee's Clothing; Cindy Aliyu Tarfa of Wamnee Couture; Kwaya Kahyivena of Kahyi Applique Designs; Shamil of Shamil Designs...
"Euphoria wasn't an experiment, even though many of the people I wanted to work with said to me 'its a good idea, go ahead with it, when you are done, come back to us', maybe to them it was an experiment but not for me, I knew exactly what I wanted to achieve and its been beautiful" Aisha Yahya
Aisha says her vision is to see young people have the platform and opportunity to achieve their dreams and that Euphoria wasn't just about her or Protege but more about the talented young designers and dreamy eyed models who wanted to walk the runways of Milan.
She describes Protege Media as 'grand' with 'all sorts of things' getting into the mix in the foreseeable future. "TV, radio, everything. I'll get into it all, not because I'm a jack of all trades but as much progress that has been made in this industry, I think there is still more to be done and I've got plenty to offer."
Aisha who says she used to have 'crazy urges' to design, is firm about not going into fashion but might need to learn how to sew for when tailors mess up her dresses.
What would she change about her immediate environment? "I hate the way women and children suffer and I wish I had the power to change that."
On what next after Euphoria, "we are still assessing and since many have been asking, yes there would be another Euphoria Fashion Show, maybe in Lagos, maybe in Abuja. Zaria is still too small to contain us for what we have in mind" she says with a laugh.
While many have been quick to congratulate Aisha for a fantastic event, she's not been basking in it and mentions her colleagues as the ones who deserves the praise. According to her, "its a team. A family. Sandra Malgwi, Aisha 'Laylah' Ribadu, Blessing Tarfa, Uche Okafor, I have these awesome people around me and we've achieved all this together".
Enjoy pictures from the Euphoria Fashion Show: http://mudasiruayoola.blogspot.com/2013/02/official-euphoria-fashion-show-photos.html?m=1
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