Currently the inspiration for an emerging generation of designers, Shade Thomas-Fahm's imaginative takes on traditional garments revolutionized the post-independence era.

Considered Nigeria's first modern fashion designer and credited with formalizing the country's garment industry in the early 1960s, Shade Thomas-Fahm was the first woman in the country to create a new style of clothing.Shade Thomas-Fahm opened one of the first garment factories in Lagos, run on efficient production techniques she had observed in London.

Admired by such luminaries as Wole Soyinka, Africa's first Nobel Prize winner for literature, Hannah Awolowo, the first lady of the former Western region of Nigeria, and Princess Elizabeth of Toro, a pioneering model, government minister and politician.A pioneer model, government minister and Uganda's first female lawyer, the designer has combined elegance of dress with comfort because, in her words, "if you want to do business, you can't tie and untie all day.

An exhibition in Lagos dedicated to Ms. Thomas-Fahm's legacy is in preparation. To that end, Folawiyo is reinventing one of the octogenarian's signature looks: a skirt suit scalloped with glittering beads. And nearly half a century after her first appearance, Mrs. Thomas-Fahm's sparkle still shines.