Nigerian Luxury Retail Pioneers Tayo & Ayo Amusan join the Business of Fashion 500 List | Iman moves to Hall of Fame

The 2014 list for the annual Business of Fashion 500 is out and we have new entries.

The list was launched last year by Business of Fashion and is a list of the movers and shakers of the Fashion Industry worldwide; a comprehensive network profile of the most accomplished professional working in fashion which includes African fashion stakeholders such as Iman, Omoyemi Akerele of The Style House Files and Lagos Fashion & Design Week; Ethiopian model Liya Kebede, Alber Elbaz and more.

In their 2014 list, Nigerian luxury retail entrepreneurs Tayo & Ayo Amusan joined the list and Iman was moved to the Hall of Fame. See the 2013 list here.

To compile the list, the team – “Polymaths & Multitaskers” reached out to last year’s BOF 500 and asked them who they think is worthy of inclusion. According to BOF – “We received hundreds of new names, which we added to our existing database of more than 2,000 people. And after months of additional research and analysis, we whittled it down to this year’s BoF 500, representing 55 nationalities in 40 countries, across eight distinct categories: Designers, Executives, Retailers, Models & Muses, Fashion 2.0, The Creative Class, Media and Catalysts.“

Here is a brief profile of the Amusans

“Tayo and Ayo Amusan are a couple with a vision to grow the Nigerian retail sector at a steady pace,” said Omoyemi Akerele. “Persianas [their development company] built the first mall of international standards in Nigeria and currently own five spread across Nigeria in Lagos, Ibadan, Kwara, Enugu and soon to be launched Abuja. The company’s retail arm has successfully launched franchises such as Hugo Boss and Lacoste.”

An early entrant into the burgeoning Nigerian retail scene, Tayo used his 25-year property experience to build The Palms, a 45,000 square metre property. Situated on Lagos’ Lekki Peninsula, the mall-complex has 69 retail stores, among other facilities.

While Tayo is focused on the property aspect of Persianas, Ayo oversees its retailers. Appointed director of retain in 2011, Ayo has been involved in the retail industry since 1998. She holds an MSc in Risk Management from Cass Business School, City University, London, the city in which she began her career working in strategy and budgeting. It was Ayo who led Persianas’ negotiations to secure the Hugo Boss, Puma and Lacoste franchises.”

Iman was moved to the Hall of Fame on the list. Click here to read Iman’s biography

See the rest of the list at www.businessoffashion.com/bof500/2014