At the start of 2018, it was glistening gold on the Milan Fashion Week catwalk as Wizkid took his place at Dolce & Gabbana, sharing the runways with supermodel Naomi Campbell and even designer Stefano Gabbana himself. It was a dream come true-not only because a Nigerian pop artist had made it onto one of the most élite catwalks in the fashion world but because at that moment, the international fashion world deflected to the aura of African talent. That golden strut was more than a celebrity cameo. It was a harbinger of something more: a time when Nigerian creatives shifted from style adopters to style authors. They weren’t just wearing luxury brands. They were beginning to rewrite what global fashion should be.

Burna Boy, for instance, doesn’t just perform like a force of nature; he dresses like one. He sported a black leather trench coat and combat boots dripping with that Afrofusion swag that turned him into an international celebrity at Paris Fashion Week FW25 show for Off-White. The ensemble wasn’t arbitrary. It was a calculated ensemble—one that braids Fela’s legacy, Lagos streetwear, and high fashion into something inimitably Burna.

When I wear something, it has to speak, he said to a backstage interviewer. My music speaks. My style also does. And it does, openly and without apology.

Davido, renowned for his blingy jewelry and boyish mix of street and high-end style, was more physically refined when he walked for Puma at New York Fashion Week. That moment wasn’t about showing off, it was about being there. A Nigerian legend, at the helm of a global sporting brand, on one of the world’s biggest fashion platforms. Davido needed less fashion and more global exposure. It was a novelty-based soft power, one based on culture, confidence, and charisma.

Where Burna and Davido occupy space with largeness and swaggering, Tems does so with elegance and purpose. In 2022, she appeared on the cover of Tommy Hilfiger’s “Play to Progress” campaign, wearing silky folds and ice-colored knits. It was simple, poetic, and powerful. Afterwards, she took over the Oscars’ headlines when she arrived in a custom Lever Couture gown, a weightless white tulle halo that both captivated and divided the internet. Whether they were praising or criticizing the look, one thing was for sure: Tems had arrived, and she wouldn’t be ignored. Her sense of style, just as her music, is a balance between vulnerability and revolution.

Rema is a different frontier altogether, the convergence of youth culture, street, and sports style. As a Jordan Brand ambassador, he’s one of the African artists to represent a brand that’s as iconic as basketball’s worldwide style. In his online videos and on-stage performances, he sews together giant cargos, high-end sneakers, and sometimes vintage Maison Margiela into something that’s not just cool, it’s otherworldly. “I don’t dress to match. I dress to move,” he recently explained to a magazine writer. And that kinetic, brazen, fluid energy has established him as one of the most innovative voices of his generation.

But most importantly, Nigerian designers aren’t just being invited to don the garments, they’re being invited into the design studios. In 2023, Ayra Starr crashed a Di Petsa runway show in London. Di Petsa, which is known for its water-logged silhouettes and dreamlike materials, found its match made in heaven in Ayra’s otherworldly vibe. It was a poetic one but a strategic one too, a sign that African creatives are no longer aesthetic footnotes but central muses in the fashion narrative of the globe. Burna Boy’s feature in Burberry’s holiday campaign, Jean Paul Gaultier working with African stylists, Wizkid on campaigns for Dior and Tommy, these are signs of something bigger than trend. They are signs of a cultural realignment.

What’s mind-blowing is how the stars toggle between the international and the local with such ease. When styled by Puma, Off-White, and Louis Vuitton, they’re also using local designers in their outfits and aesthetics. Tiwa Savage sported Lanre Da Silva Ajayi. Wizkid’s “Essence” video featured custom wear by Lagos-based stylists. Burna Boy wore Kenneth Ize’s woven brilliance to Coachella. These artists, including Fireboy DML, Seyi Vibez, and Victony, are fusing Rick Owens with WafflesNcream and Lisa Folawiyo, proving that the greatest fashion is always hybrid—half roots, half runway.

And it’s not just about looking fashionable. This transformation of fashion is also generating economic and cultural ripple effects. Local seamstresses are gaining a global following. Nigerian fashion is getting listings in Vogue. Whole fashion systems are being built on the shoulders of music videos, brand sponsorships, and world tours. Lagos is no longer a sound-based creative hub—it’s fast becoming a capital of fashion creativity.

It’s not a story of excess anymore about Nigerian musicians swanking up international brands. It’s not about language. The musicians are talking through fashion, occupying space, redefining how the world listens to African imagination. Whether Wizkid in gold brocade, Tems in sculptural tulle, or Rema in space-age sportswear, each ensemble is a sentence in a larger, bolder narrative. One that says: we are here. We’re not taking the stage by default. We’re building it, and we’re doing it in style.