A burgeoning wealthy class is settling into one of Africa’s
fastest-growing cities, Lagos is now attracting designers, world-class
architects and a growing creative community that seeks to preserve its culture
through art and fashion.
The Land Cruisers and Range Rovers began lining up on a
steamy Sunday afternoon outside Tafawa Balewa Square long before sunset. The
banking tycoon, Otunba Subomi Balogun
was hosting his 80th birthday party and nobody wanted to be late, and there was
also the matter of inching past the press of beggars living in the square’s
arcade. Once through a security line, women in gold headdresses and men in
white robes disembarked. Balogun lives in a mansion modeled on the White House,
furnished entirely in white and gold, and the invitation had asked guests to
wear his favorite colors.
