Ololade Ayelabola, a student of the University of Lagos, has recently appeared in a catwalk to set a new Guinness World Record in the longest distance covered as a model on the catwalk. In a surprising feat, Ayelabola successfully walked an incredible 130.62km and surpassed her projection of 120km within the indoor sports centre of UNILAG. She began the walk on the 1st of October and, after reaching the 120km mark extended it by 10km, eventually completing 2,058 laps around the arena.
In a post on her Instagram on Monday, Ayelabola said the reason for her attempt. The walk was to draw attention to Nigeria’s burgeoning fashion industry and break stereotypes that hold back many models. “I’m not walking for myself alone. I am walking for many models who have been limited by stereotypes and standards set by rigid systems”, she said. Her record catwalk is also a bold statement of the creativity and resilience of the Nigerian fashion scene.
It is yet to be verified by Guinness World Records. When confirmed, the feat by Ayelabola would beat the record of Roberta Brown and Lorraine McCourt, which at 71.1 miles (114.4 km), was reached in Dublin, Ireland, on September 21st, 1983.
This feat has not only brought Ayelabola to the fore but also put Nigeria in a better place on the global fashion map. She achieved this through determination and passion, breaking through cultural and religious barriers in the process, thus inspiring would-be models and creatives across the country.
