The Third Edition of the Gambia International Fashion Week (GIFW) has successfully concluded, solidifying the event not just as a showcase of design and creativity, but as a true Fashion Hub in West Africa. This year’s edition, held at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Centre (OIC) in Bijilo, demonstrated an organisational and strategic maturity that promises a brilliant future for the Gambian fashion industry.
The central theme for 2025 was explicit: to promote The Gambia as a tourist destination through fashion and culture. This strategy, actively supported by the Gambia Tourism Board successfully transformed the event into a platform for economic development.
Grace N Gomez, Miss Tourism Africa, The Gambia 2025 was the face of the show. She said the Gambia International Fashion Week represents a major milestone for Gambia’s growing fashion and tourism industry. An advocate for sustainable tourism through cultural diversity, Miss Gomez, added the event shines a global spotlight on Gambia’s cultural heritage and diversity and creates a unique platform for meaningful connections and empowering the local economy. “Gambia International Fashion Week shows the authenticity of our culture through fashion and it brings connections, creates open doors and opportunities, promotes models and designers by exposing them to compete in the international market,” Miss Gomez told The Standard. She averred that GIFW also positively positioned The Gambia as an appealing destination for international investors in the tourism and creative sector. “When we show our rich cultures through fashion we are selling it to the world, to investors who will come and boost our economy.”
Ismaila Jallow is the visionary architect behind the Gambia International Fashion Week (GIFW). His story is not just that of a CEO, but of a successful designer who chose to invest his creative capital back into his homeland. Jallow’s vision of making GIFW a bridge between Africa and the world’s fashion capitals (like Milan, where he is based) has been fully realised. “The dream is for the Gambia International Fashion Week to become a standard brand, capable of exporting Gambian talent, designers, and models to the world,” he stated.
Born and raised in the Gambian capital, Banjul, Jallow took his passion for fashion to the heart of the European industry. He built his design career in Milan, Italy, one of the world’s fashion capitals, where he founded his own clothing brand, YOULTY.
The impact of the third edition was particularly evident in the creation of concrete networking opportunities. Local models, in particular, had the chance to interact and work with international designers, a crucial exposure that can launch their careers far beyond national borders.
The Runway: An Explosion of Talent
The third edition saw a dynamic combination of established talents and emerging designers, both from The Gambia and across the African continent. The runway, culminating in the main evening show, featured collections rich in boldness, rooted in African culture but with an eye on global trends. Designers like ML Creation (whose debut celebrated the theme of “African Queens”) and Vian Design showcased the potential of African creativity.
The Future: Expansion and Standardisation
Having overcome the logistical and positioning challenges of the first two editions, GIFW 2025 has charted the course for the future: Jallow has already hinted at the possibility of hosting the event in different African cities in the future, turning GIFW into a touring platform.
Increased B2B Focus:
The introduction of a Fashion Expo before the main show expanded the commercial aspect of the event, creating a genuine marketplace where industry professionals could meet and conduct business. The Gambia International Fashion Week is no longer just a fashion show; it is a declaration of cultural intent and an economic engine set to redefine the narrative of African fashion on the global stage.
