Jazz Effect

Doris Gam Dede

Ms Doris Gam Dede is the CEO and Creative director of Jazz Effect, which started officially as a registered business in 2008.

Her designs expresses the fusion of fine art and fashion, an exciting high-end fashion commercial perspective. Her creative force is imagination and a reflection of lifestyle: we live it, so let’s wear it! By creating strong relations between fine art products aesthetically and commercially, her creative talents are a mixed bag of drawing, installation, painting, printmaking, sculpture and fashion. She graduated from The department of Visual Art, University of Port Harcourt.

Doris Gam Dede has always been a key player in the creative industry space since her graduation from the University in 2002. This flare for creativity spurred her to host her first exhibition in 2004 – “Celebration of Womanhood” which had in attendance Late Mrs Stella Obasanjo, wife of the former president of Nigeria. The success of this event midwifed the birth of Jazz Effect, which has grown over the years to become one of Port Harcourt’s leading fashion and lifestyle brands. Her work engages through emotions, ideas and the fascination of forms, lines, space, dimension, juxtaposition, and the harmonious flow through aesthetic representations. The extension of expressions forms a sense of light heartiness, essence of youth, humor and adventurousness. She never studied fashion but her passion for craftsmanship and interest in fashion are taking the creative industry by storm. The extension of art into garments was a way she chose to display her artistic talents after years of painting.

Her label includes menswear, womenswear and children's wear. It is bold, daring, edgy, lively and trendy. She has won several local awards in recognition of her contribution to the fashion industry. She has also shown her designs on runways around the world including the US, South Africa, London and Germany.

With a business lifespan of over 13 years and a certification from the Nigerian fashion training institute, Doris Gam Dede began the jazzeffect fashion school, which has trained over 250 women in the span of 10 years , including the training and rehabilitation of the Niger delta amnesty program in fashion design. Her style and mode of teaching is what differenciates Jazz Effect fashion school from other fashion schools. Her students stands out and are unique even as they begin their own labels.

Doris Gam Dede is the incumbent president of the Port Harcourt Female Designers Association.

The Port Harcourt Female Designers Association is a none governmental organization, formed by a group of female fashion designers to bring about change,visibility and growth for the fashion industry in port harcourt.

In recognition of her hard work and drive for excellence, she has won so many awards locally and internationally which include;

• First Runner-up, Bayelsa Fashion Week 2009
• Winner, Native and Vogue International Fashion Show, Port Harcourt 2010
• Winner, Designer of the Year Lavente Marche 2013
• Winner Garden City Fashion Awards 2015
• Winner, Best Designer Rivers 2016
• Winner, Designer of the Year Fashion Gala Awards 2020
• Winner, Outstanding Woman in Fashion 2020
• Honorary recognition award for her contribution to the growth of the fashion industry, Fashion

Gala Awards 2022.

Jazz Effect is no doubt a force to reckon with in the Port Harcourt fashion industry.