Design Brand to Know: Tiffany Amber NG

Tiffany Amber is a 20-year-old fashion and lifestyle brand with global appeal and a distinctly African attitude headed by Folake Akindele Coke.

When mentioning word-class and top-rated fashion designers in Nigeria, Folake Akindele Coker would be a part. The fashionista has over 20 years of experience in the fashion industry. Even though she was a lawyer with a Master’s degree in petroleum, she has created and showcased excellent designs to the world as well as breaking new grounds.

Folake Coker first entered the world of fashion in 1996 when she designed a collection for herself upon returning to Nigeria to start Law School.

Born in Lagos, Folake schooled in Switzerland, England and Scotland. Despite qualifying as a lawyer with a Masters degree in Petroleum Law, her love for the world of fashion reigned supreme over all.

In November 1998, Folake launched Tiffany Amber revolutionizing the Nigerian Fashion Industry. Having spent most of her childhood in Europe, Folake successfully translated her passion to a foremost fashion brand in Africa with outstanding global recognition.

In 2008, Folake for the first time showcased at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in New York. The collection was heralded by such rave reviews that she was invited to showcase for the second time, making her the first African based designer to showcase for two consecutive shows at the New York Fashion Week. By 2009, in addition to her main line, Folake extended her creative borders by adding two more lines under Tiffany Amber Nigeria: TAN by Tiffany Amber (a Diffusion line) and Folake Folarin (a Couture line). Each line in distinctive but represents the designers iconic style.

The multi-award winning designer received the Designer of the year at the inaugural African Fashion Week (AFI) in 2009 in Johannesburg. In 2012, Franca Sozzani, Editor of Vogue Italia, met with Folake on her visit to Lagos, and was so impressed with the brand, she invited Folake to be a part of the Fashion for Development Project.

In 2013, Folake became the first African Fashion Designer to make the Forbes Women Power List. Also in 2013, the designer was awarded the Enterprise Award by the Women Inspiration and Enterprise (WIE).

In 2014, Folake launched her home line, Tiffany Amber Living, fortifying Tiffany Amber as a complete lifestyle brand. The home line captures the rich African culture embodied by the brand, and the high sophistication of fine living. In celebration of her brands 15th year anniversary, Folake launched a Women of Vision campaign, in partnership with Diamond Woman as a platform to mentor a younger generation of entrepreneurs.

20 years going, Folake remains one of the strongest forces in the African fashion industry.

She has won different awards including 2009 African fashion week designers of the year, Arise Magazine fashion brand of the year, and so on. She is also thought to be the first African fashion designer to win the New York Fashion Week for 2 years in a row.

In November 1998, Tiffany Amber was born, revolutionising the Nigerian fashion industry and pioneering the ready to wear market. Today it has become a leader in the African fashion world, with a singular designer who has an innate sense of glamour and unfailing eye for timeless chic.

The Tiffany Amber brand aesthetic is dedicated to a vision of style that is as sophisticated as it is indulgent, iconic as it is modern and has become a luxury lifestyle brand with global reach. Following the vision of empowering artisans from all over the continent, all Tiffany Amber products are made in Nigeria using the most skilled craftsmen Africa has to offer.

The brand has won numerous accolades over the years including Designer of the year at the Inaugural African Fashion Week (AFI) in 2009 and Fashion Brand of the Year at the Arise Magazine Fashion Week in 2012, and it’s collections have been seen in some of the World’s most prestigious cities including New York, London, Milan, Paris and of course all over our beloved continent of Africa!

To commemorate the brand’s 15th anniversary, Tiffany Amber launched the “Women of Vision” Campaign, celebrating and empowering women whilst nurturing the next generation of future leaders.

The past 20 years has seen the brand receive rave reviews in some of the World’s biggest fashion titles with features on CNN, in Women’s Wear Daily, Vogue and Vanity Fair among countless others.

The Tiffany Amber brand has now expanded its frontiers firstly by introducing a diffusion line called TAN by Tiffany Amber and also by entering into the luxury home-ware market, with TA Living, a line which captures the rich African culture embodied by the brand and the high sophistication of fine living.

Tiffany Amber has dressed celebrities like Naomi Campbell, who the brand partnered with to make some creative and artistic pieces come to life.

Here are some of our favorite looks from the brands from their passed and new collections.

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