Master of Style winner emerges at Dare 2 Dream grand finale

It was all glitz and glamour as the 5th season of the youth-empowerment platform, Dare 2 Dream, sponsored by Imperial Leather and Canoe, came to a befitting end recently, at its grand finale event at Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The much-anticipated grand finale was the culmination of a series of activities and events that have seen the emergence of talents in the areas of modelling, performing arts and fashion design from across the country.

All the contestants in this year’s edition were pooled from 5 universities, namely: University of Jos, University of Port Harcourt, University of Benin, University of Lagos, and University of Calabar. 18 contestants from the five universities made it into the Dare 2 Dream Bootcamp, where they were groomed and put through series of tests before the finale, where eventual winners would be selected.

This edition, however, witnessed a twist as the competition and category sponsors of the Fashion Design category, Imperial Leather and Canoe, introduced the Masters of Style campaign. The Masters of Style campaign sought to discover and reward the best talents in the category of fashion design. The qualifying participants from each of the campuses were entered into an “Incubator” programme, where they were mentored and groomed by celebrity fashion designer, Mai Atafo, over a 4-day period as they prepared for the final contest.

The grand finale had in attendance, the biggest names in the entertainment and fashion industry, such as Kate Henshaw, Kelechi Amadi-Obi, Bovi, Samantha Walsh, Denola Grey, and many others. The adjudging panel was also not short on star-power as it comprised celebrities such as foremost fashion designer, Mai Atafo; multi-award winning Nollywood actress, Dakore Akande; Advertising guru, Steve Babaeko; and the eccentric Denrele Edun.

After a night of impressive talent showcase, the winners emerged – Emmanuella Alile, representing the University of Lagos, emerged as the winner of the Performing Arts category, while Olamide Olawaiye, representing the University of Benin, emerged as the winner of the Modelling category. The highlight of the night was that of the Fashion Design category which was keenly contested. After a pretty tense moment leading up to the announcement, Yahaya Taofiq, representing the University of Lagos, was named winner of the Fashion Design category and Master of Style 2018.

Each winner walked away with a prize money of N500, 000 while the Masters of Style winner, Yahaya, also got – in addition to the cash prize – a paid internship with a top fashion designer as well as an opportunity to showcase his designs at a major fashion show in Nigeria.

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Present at the event was Brand and Activation Manager, PZ Cussons, Busayo John, who expressed her joy regarding the outcome of the programme:

“We have seen amazing talents today, and we at PZ Cussons are pleased to be part of such a laudable initiative. This season, we decided to focus on the fashion design category, which happens to be one of the passion points for our brands; Imperial Leather and Canoe. Through the Masters of Style platform, we hope to discover and encourage many more hidden talents. We are excited for the future of the respective winners and we are certainly expecting big things from them,” she said.

The Dare 2 Dream youth-empowerment platform has continued to grow in recognition over the years and has been supported by PZ Cussons through its brands, Imperial Leather and Canoe.