XRetail 2023 was a project undertaken on behalf of Lagos Fashion to address the ever-changing nature of commerce and consumers by supporting African fashion, beauty, and accessory brands with physical pop-up opportunities in key African markets - Lagos, Abuja, Accra & Cape Town. Historically Xretail as a stand alone event had supported over 100 independent brands by providing e-commerce solutions during the pandemic to sell to domestic and international markets with parters such as ANKA (formerly called Afrikrea).

XRetail Africa 2023

Project Director

For XRetail 2023 Artisans Advisory undertook all project duties for this project, finding and reaching out to collaborating stores.

We scoped out the project three months prior to ensure ample time to reach out and forge partnerships with key stores across Africa. These included Merchants On Long in South Africa, The Lotte in Accra, Zinkata and 41 Luxe in Nigeria.

Working closely with each store birthed a different expression of XRetail as an event across different stores. Ultimately each store celebrated the creativity of African design, highlighting a handful of designers already championed and showing new collections at Lagos Fashion Week. Each store brought a different contribution in terms of customer specificity, The Lotte, Zinkata, Merchants On Long, Vanestyle and 41 Luxe delivery unrivalled customer experiences for visitors entering into the vibrancy of design showcased at Lagos Fashion Week.

Content & Communications Management

Artisans Advisory also lead content and communications strategy for XRetail 2023. This includes but not limited to creative direction for all media assets. Press releases and digital communications for the project.

Collaborating with the Lagos Fashion Week team, contractors The Stamfordham Brand agency, we led content creation with partner stores remotely and also on ground in Lagos.