Nigerian Fashion Moves Beyond the Catwalk
Published: 02:04 PM,Apr 15,2024 | EDITED : 06:04 PM,Apr 15,2024
Garments on display in Africa Fashion, an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum in New York, June 23, 2023. (Elias Williams/The New York Times)
Over the past decade, Nigeria’s music icons like Burna Boy, WizKid, Davido, Tiwa Savage, Asake, and Tems have propelled Afrobeats to global prominence. Now, Nigeria's fashion designers aim to seize the spotlight in an era where African culture captivates the world. Reni Folawiyo, owner of Lagos’ Alara, notes a surge in confidence and creativity among designers, producing contemporary and wearable pieces with pride in African craftsmanship.
In 2023, Alara showcased Nigerian fashion at a pop-up in Brooklyn Museum's 'Africa Fashion' exhibit, reflecting a broader trend of global recognition. Institutions like the Brooklyn Museum and businesses like United Airlines are increasingly tapping into Nigeria's cultural offerings, recognizing its importance in global expansion.
Nigeria's fashion industry, bolstered by international buyers and a growing middle class, thrives with designers like Lisa Folawiyo and Andrea Iyamah. Lagos pulsates with style, from fashion weeks to markets, blending tradition with modernity. Here are some designers shaping Nigeria's burgeoning fashion landscape.
Here are some designers making their mark on a rapidly expanding fashion scene.
Atafo
Mai Atafo’s decadeslong career has been about making garments that don’t fit much of the world’s stereotypical ideas of what African clothes are. “There’s a mindset that if something doesn’t have raffia on it, or if it’s not tie-dye print, if it’s not an explosion of colors, then it’s not African,” he said.
But that’s not Atafo’s style.
He loves suiting and tailoring. He makes menswear, womenswear and bridal garments with the intention of selling them — something he says is sometimes overlooked in favor of making artful but unwearable clothes. His “trad,” or traditional, designs include embroidered caftans and caps for men; his Western styles include suits, wedding gowns and business casual attire; many items — like his “tradxedo” — combine elements from his home country with silhouettes and details from Western styles.
Banke Kuku
After returning to Lagos from London in 2019, Banke Kuku — who spent the prior decade making a name for herself as a respected textile designer — realized that people wanted her prints and patterns, and not just on their walls and furniture. “I wanted to do something that you could wear and feel incredible in these spaces that I would design, so that’s why I started with pajamas,” she said of the silky pajama sets her brand has become known for.
During the pandemic, when the world went into lockdown and it suddenly felt as though everyone wanted pajamas and comfortable caftans, Kuku leaned in. “We call it occasional loungewear, because it’s loungewear that you can wear at home and out and still look amazing wherever you are,” she said. The brand now also makes bodysuits, corsets, skirts and accessories.
Cute-Saint
In 2019, Femi Ajose quit his job as a fashion stylist. “I wanted something that was mine — something original, something African, so I decided to make it,” Ajose said.
Ajose created Cute-Saint, a unisex — or, as Ajose describes it, genderless — brand. He has sent male models down the runway in wide-fitting pants with cropped mesh tops, knit asymmetric tank tops and corsets made of aso oke, a hand-woven cloth created by the Yoruba people. The clothes are all made in Nigeria with dead stock fabric that comes from prior collections or has been found at the city’s famous Yaba market.
Like many Nigerian and African designers, Ajose said that for much of his life, he had felt as though people in Nigeria placed higher value on products made in other countries, especially European ones. But that’s changing, he said. “That was the old belief,” he said, “but now as soon as Nigerians try things, they say, ‘Oh, are you sure this is made in Nigeria?’”
Dye Lab
After closing down her ready-to-wear brand Grey Projects in 2020, Rukky Ladoja wanted to create a brand that wasn’t dependent on fabric imported from Asia and Europe or use Western sizing, which doesn’t always flatter African women’s bodies.
“It was, ‘What kind of outfit can we make where the entire supply chain is local, the entire value chain is local, and the product is one size fits all?’” said Ozzy Etomi, Dye Lab’s brand director. Having started in 2021, Dye Lab’s signature agbada — a type of flowing robe akin to a kimono — was born.
“It was an existing style — something that you’d see people wear all the time, that our moms put on when they needed to quickly rush somewhere,” Etomi said. “We just said, ‘How do we take this traditional garment and basically make it cool?’”
Éki Kéré
Abasiekeme Ukanireh, the founder of Éki Kéré, created dresses for weddings, parties and other celebrations, as many seamstresses do, when the pandemic arrived. With a halt on parties and weddings, she found herself with time to be creative, so she turned to her hometown, Ikot Ekpene, for inspiration. The town is known as the Raffia City, thanks to its people’s long history of using leaves from the raffia palm tree — which is native to tropical parts of the continent — to build, decorate and dress.
“Most people stopped buying raffia clothes — not because they couldn’t afford it or they had a cheaper option, but because they’re just tired of seeing the same thing over and over again,” she said. To shake things up, she uses raffia liberally, adorning the hems, pockets and sleeves of her eccentric garments. —NYT
In 2023, Alara showcased Nigerian fashion at a pop-up in Brooklyn Museum's 'Africa Fashion' exhibit, reflecting a broader trend of global recognition. Institutions like the Brooklyn Museum and businesses like United Airlines are increasingly tapping into Nigeria's cultural offerings, recognizing its importance in global expansion.
Nigeria's fashion industry, bolstered by international buyers and a growing middle class, thrives with designers like Lisa Folawiyo and Andrea Iyamah. Lagos pulsates with style, from fashion weeks to markets, blending tradition with modernity. Here are some designers shaping Nigeria's burgeoning fashion landscape.
Here are some designers making their mark on a rapidly expanding fashion scene.
Atafo
Mai Atafo’s decadeslong career has been about making garments that don’t fit much of the world’s stereotypical ideas of what African clothes are. “There’s a mindset that if something doesn’t have raffia on it, or if it’s not tie-dye print, if it’s not an explosion of colors, then it’s not African,” he said.
But that’s not Atafo’s style.
He loves suiting and tailoring. He makes menswear, womenswear and bridal garments with the intention of selling them — something he says is sometimes overlooked in favor of making artful but unwearable clothes. His “trad,” or traditional, designs include embroidered caftans and caps for men; his Western styles include suits, wedding gowns and business casual attire; many items — like his “tradxedo” — combine elements from his home country with silhouettes and details from Western styles.
Banke Kuku
After returning to Lagos from London in 2019, Banke Kuku — who spent the prior decade making a name for herself as a respected textile designer — realized that people wanted her prints and patterns, and not just on their walls and furniture. “I wanted to do something that you could wear and feel incredible in these spaces that I would design, so that’s why I started with pajamas,” she said of the silky pajama sets her brand has become known for.
During the pandemic, when the world went into lockdown and it suddenly felt as though everyone wanted pajamas and comfortable caftans, Kuku leaned in. “We call it occasional loungewear, because it’s loungewear that you can wear at home and out and still look amazing wherever you are,” she said. The brand now also makes bodysuits, corsets, skirts and accessories.
Cute-Saint
In 2019, Femi Ajose quit his job as a fashion stylist. “I wanted something that was mine — something original, something African, so I decided to make it,” Ajose said.
Ajose created Cute-Saint, a unisex — or, as Ajose describes it, genderless — brand. He has sent male models down the runway in wide-fitting pants with cropped mesh tops, knit asymmetric tank tops and corsets made of aso oke, a hand-woven cloth created by the Yoruba people. The clothes are all made in Nigeria with dead stock fabric that comes from prior collections or has been found at the city’s famous Yaba market.
Like many Nigerian and African designers, Ajose said that for much of his life, he had felt as though people in Nigeria placed higher value on products made in other countries, especially European ones. But that’s changing, he said. “That was the old belief,” he said, “but now as soon as Nigerians try things, they say, ‘Oh, are you sure this is made in Nigeria?’”
Dye Lab
After closing down her ready-to-wear brand Grey Projects in 2020, Rukky Ladoja wanted to create a brand that wasn’t dependent on fabric imported from Asia and Europe or use Western sizing, which doesn’t always flatter African women’s bodies.
“It was, ‘What kind of outfit can we make where the entire supply chain is local, the entire value chain is local, and the product is one size fits all?’” said Ozzy Etomi, Dye Lab’s brand director. Having started in 2021, Dye Lab’s signature agbada — a type of flowing robe akin to a kimono — was born.
“It was an existing style — something that you’d see people wear all the time, that our moms put on when they needed to quickly rush somewhere,” Etomi said. “We just said, ‘How do we take this traditional garment and basically make it cool?’”
Éki Kéré
Abasiekeme Ukanireh, the founder of Éki Kéré, created dresses for weddings, parties and other celebrations, as many seamstresses do, when the pandemic arrived. With a halt on parties and weddings, she found herself with time to be creative, so she turned to her hometown, Ikot Ekpene, for inspiration. The town is known as the Raffia City, thanks to its people’s long history of using leaves from the raffia palm tree — which is native to tropical parts of the continent — to build, decorate and dress.
“Most people stopped buying raffia clothes — not because they couldn’t afford it or they had a cheaper option, but because they’re just tired of seeing the same thing over and over again,” she said. To shake things up, she uses raffia liberally, adorning the hems, pockets and sleeves of her eccentric garments. —NYT