Lagos spent the last week of October in its best clothes, with a fashion week built around craft, a box office number that keeps climbing and a film festival about to open.
Fashion
Heineken Lagos Fashion Week ran from 28 October to 1 November under the theme CRAFTED: Heritage, Innovation, Circular Futures. It opened on Wednesday with offsite presentations from Sisiano, Alára with Emmy Kasbit, and Orange Culture, per Marie Claire Nigeria. Thursday brought 19 runway shows at the Federal Palace Hotel, where Hertunba opened the night in beaded and woven looks, Dust of the Earth sent out fringe and menswear crop tops, Ajanée reworked denim into patchwork and Cute Saint Lagos went tie dye. On Saturday, Lagos governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu walked for Ugo Monye and wrote that he was, for one night, a part time model, according to Halmblog.
Music
Ayra Starr and Zayn's "Heaven Baby" held number one on the Official Afrobeats Chart for 25 to 31 October, with Blaqbonez and Asake's "Ikebe 3000" at two. In New York on 28 October, Martell unveiled an Afrobeats Limited Edition bottle designed by Davido with artist Prince Gyasi, per Black America Web.
Screen
Nile Entertainment says Agbara Nla: The Return reached ₦408.3 million on 26 October, second only to Call of My Life among 2026 Nollywood releases. That is the distributor's figure and we could not confirm it independently. AFRIFF opens its 15th edition in Lagos on 1 November with Olive Nwosu's Lady, per ThisDay, while in London Film Africa screened Dear Ajayi on 30 October and closed with Lady the same Sunday.
Next up
AFRIFF runs to 7 November, The Perfect Spec reaches Nigerian cinemas on 6 November and the Black Muse Art Festival returns to Benin City from 7 to 10 November. EscapeMag Issue 15 is out now on our website.
Sources
Marie Claire Nigeria, "Heineken Lagos Fashion Week kicks off the 2026 season with a waterfront cocktail reception", 27 October 2026
Marie Claire Nigeria, "Here's everything you missed at Day 2 of Lagos Fashion Week 2026", 30 October 2026
BellaNaija Style, "Lagos Fashion Week 2026" (Ajanée), 31 October 2026
Halmblog, "Sanwo-Olu Walks Runway for Ugo Monye at Lagos Fashion Week 2026: 'For One Night, Part-Time Model'", 1 November 2026
Official Charts, "Official Afrobeats Chart", 25 to 31 October 2026
Black America Web, "Davido And Martell's Afrobeats Launch Brought Out The Melanin [RECAP]", 30 October 2026
Geeky Nigeria, "Agbara Nla: The Return passes ₦400m at Nigerian cinemas", 27 October 2026
ThisDay, "Olive Nwosu's 'Lady' Set to Open AFRIFF 2026", 26 October 2026
Keep The Faith, "Film Africa 2026 marks its midway point with world premieres, Oscar submissions and award winning African cinema", 30 October 2026
What Kept Me Up, "Limoblaze Makes Lead Role Debut in Nollywood Romcom 'The Perfect Spec'", 30 October 2026
EscapeMag, Oreoluwa Mojola, "For Those Who Astonish the Gods: Black Muse Art Festival Returns to Benin City", 24 October 2026