BOLA:

BOLA’s runway asked a question rarely posed during London Fashion Week: what might fashion look like if it truly embraced stillness? Omobolanle Sulleman’s minimalist vision feels like a gentle rebellion against the churn of trend cycles, insisting instead on the slow beauty of garments made to outlast their moment. In Inheritance, her SS26 presentation, clothes become heirlooms. Threads binding mother to daughter, past to future.

Inspired by the Ojude Oba Festival of Ijebuland, Omobolanle reframes festival dress as both celebration and remembrance. Navy, cornflower blue and gold dominate the palette, a triad of colours that speak of solemnity, joy, and reverence as they cover these clothes in stripes. Dresses are rendered in Aso-Oke, a fabric whose handwoven nobility turns each look into a statement about continuity. These are not costumes but living artefacts, designed for women who understand the weight of history and the pleasure of wearing it.

The cuts in this collection are timeless, softly tailored to flatter without shouting. Sulleman seems to suggest that true luxury lies not in novelty, but in intentionality; in a garment’s ability to become part of a family’s story. Passed down like a treasured piece of jewellery. Watching this runway felt like watching a lineage walk before us, each look a branch of a growing tree.

Itele:
Loafers are a quintessentially British staple, a quiet marker of tradition found in wardrobes from Mayfair to Manchester. Seyi Agboola of Itele invites us to look past the familiar and towards Africa, repositioning the loafer as a canvas for cultural storytelling. His presentation playfully dismantled the shoe’s reputation for seriousness, infusing it with humour, gleam, and a distinctly African sensibility.

The designs danced under the runway lights, embroidered with motifs that surprised and delighted: industrious yellow bees, stacks of currency, proud badge emblems. It was as if Agboola had raided the iconography of work and wealth, only to reimagine it as something joyful. Corporate dressing transformed into streetwear, tradition set free to play. In quieter moments, the shoes gleamed with rows of silver studs, offering visual pauses between the bolder, more graphic statements.

What struck me most was the confidence of this collection. These loafers are demanding to be seen, and to be part of a larger conversation about who truly dominates footwear. They speak of a designer unafraid to bring the world’s attention to African craftsmanship, insisting that premium footwear made on the continent can rival and surpass its European counterparts.

KAYPEE FOOTWEARS:

Kolapo Omoyoloye’s work is a love letter to Yoruba heritage, translated through leather and sole. His SS26 collection, guided by the spirit of ÀPÁTA (stone), is as much about grounding as it is about elevation. These shoes do not merely accompany the models down the runway, they root them, reminding the audience of the journeys that have shaped Nigerian history. The loafers and mules have a lived-in dignity, each pair like an artefact excavated from a shrine, yet somehow still ready for the modern world.

Kolapo describes the collection as born from the rugged paths of Southern Nigeria, where young boys became men through journeys on foot. This idea is etched into the leather, in patterns that resemble footprints and roads weathered by rain. My favourite design was drenched in royal yellow and red, colours that felt almost ceremonial, as a nod to festival banners and warrior cloths. There is a tactile richness to these shoes: their painted leather conjures images of goatskin drums and folded wrappers. Rites passed down through generations. Each pair is both story and structure, meant to be walked in but also remembered.

LEKAN AARE:

Lekan Aare’s debut is a study in regality. Translating to “Homage of the King,” the brand’s very name sets the tone for a collection steeped in Yorubian tradition and reverence. These looks are coronations stitched into wearable form. Pinstripes appear throughout the five-look collection, not as office wear, but as royal insignia, bending to follow the body’s lines and honour its movement.

My favourite design paired a white pinstripe suit with a single trail of royal blue running like a sash from shoulder to hem, an ingenious detail that turned the model into walking nobility. Sleeve details fanned like butterfly wings, a sculptural flourish that balanced precision with playfulness. What Lekan has achieved is a delicate blend of ceremony and modernity, creating menswear that speaks to Lagos but resonates with the world. Each look feels ready for a throne room or a gala. Traditional African tailoring with small influences that make this collection intriguing to a global audience.

MIDETUSH:

Olumide Oyewumi’s MIDETUSH LONDON is streetwear with a soul. His clothes carry the breeze of Lagos while striding confidently through London’s streets. The SS26 collection, titled AFEFE ATI ILA (air and stripes), feels like a warm city night captured in fabric. The silhouettes are oversized but intentional, as though breathing deeply, allowing air to pass through.

The highlight for me was a striking jacket and trouser set striped in orange, blue, and tan, creating a visual rhythm that could equally remind you of an arid plane or a late August night. These jackets skimmed rather than hugged the body, granting movement without losing structure. Cowrie shell details gleamed on collars like quiet amulets, grounding the look in West African heritage. Elsewhere, yellow-striped shorts and shirts added lightness, perfect for long summer days.

This is global streetwear at its finest: rooted, but roaming. Oyewumi’s vision bridges continents, making clothes that speak equally to Londoners and Lagosians. His runway felt like an invitation to reimagine streetwear as both fashionable and cultural testimony, a reminder that identity need not be sacrificed for edge.

MOTUNRAYO:

If memory could be sewn into fabric, it would look like Motúnráyọ̀’s collection. FunmiLola Akande’s work feels less like fashion and more like invocation, summoning ancestral spirits through colour and form. The collection, Of Water and Spirit, takes its inspiration from the Osun Festival and the sacred river goddess Oshun, whose mythology flows through every hem and fringe.

The standout piece for me was a golden headdress paired with a tailored yellow bandeau, trousers, and jacket. The headpiece draped like liquid light, cascading to the model’s chest, making the entire look feel like a ritual in motion. Fringe details swayed as the models walked, as though the garments themselves were dancing.

Akande’s use of beadwork is particularly affecting; beads here are not decoration, but currency, carriers of memory and prayer. This is a collection that insists on reverence, asking the audience to witness. It was made as a reminder that clothing can be sacred, and that fashion can be a ceremony.

OBIREEN:

Salami Oluwaseun’s OBIREEN collection is an ode to Queen Idia of Benin, a designer’s bow to the first Iyoba and her enduring power. From the very first gown, strength was the through-line. Not the brittle kind that thrive during great wars, but the rooted, expansive power of women who take up space unapologetically. The deep coral reds and burgundies were made to be living echoes of Benin’s sacred coral beads and worked together to create a cohesive presentation for London Fashion Week. 

One gown was layered into a sweeping skirt that seemed to inhale and exhale with every step. Fitted bodices offered a counterpoint, structuring the drama with discipline. Satin shimmered under the lights like ceremonial regalia, elevating the silhouettes. The beadwork, delicate but purposeful, traced along bodices and straps like protective charms.

OBIREEN’s craftsmanship is all about the detail, born from a background in shoemaking where precision is survival. Oluwaseun’s in-house team in Lagos approaches couture with a storyteller’s patience, and it shows: every seam feels like a sentence in a larger narrative about power, longevity, and legacy.

OOMO AJADI:

Yusuf Kareem’s OOMO AJADI collection felt like a ritual unfolding before the audience’s eyes. Inspired by the Ẹyọ Masquerade of Lagos Island, the runway became a living archive of Yoruba tradition. Models emerged in white, their faces veiled, moving like spirits walking between worlds. One model struck the ground rhythmically with an opá staff, an act both theatrical and reverent. In historical context, this staff has been a gesture of order and dignity.

The clothes themselves were deceptively simple: light, airy fabrics that allowed the body to speak. Yet their minimalism belied the depth of their symbolism. The veiling, initially disconcerting, revealed itself as an homage to masqueraders who act as mediators between the living and the divine. Kareem’s collection turned the catwalk into a sacred procession, inviting the audience to contemplate rather than consume.

This is storytelling through absence as much as presence. The white fabric, the covered faces, and the quiet dignity all serve as a reminder that fashion can hold space for memory. Catwalks can be the site of ritual.

PEM:

Princess Mary Obeya’s IRI OGRINIA The Spirit Wears Red is a celebration in motion. Drawing from the ceremonial dress of the Idoma people of Benue State, the collection transforms sacred attire into contemporary silhouettes, honouring heritage without diluting its spirit. Red the colour of vitality, passion, and ritual dominated the runway like a heartbeat.

Fringe, cowries, and bold shapes shifted throughout the presentation, their movement turning each model into a figure of a dancer. My favourite piece was a backless gingham dress with a dramatically folded skirt that seemed to shift with every step forward. Its open back introduced a modern sensuality, balancing the traditional references with a sharp contemporary edge.

Obeya’s work feels like choreography rendered in cloth. The collection does not just reference Idoma festivals it replicates their energy, their thrum, their insistence that culture is alive. 

RBA (Robes and Blings by Akokomali):

Olaitan Maria Olatoke’s RBA collection redefines pre-wedding bridalwear not as a private moment but as the beginning of the celebration. Known for her beaded robes and coral-drenched gowns, Olatoke approaches the bridal morning as a canvas for narrative. The opening look of a sheer red robe pooling into sculptural tulle was pure theatre, as if the bride had arrived not to be dressed but to be crowned.

Cowries and coral beads glittered across the collection, not as mere adornment but as talismans of protection and wealth. A white beaded floor-length dress drew gasps, its simplicity elevated by the meticulousness of its construction. What struck me was Olatoke’s ability to balance grandeur with intimacy; these pieces are dramatic, yes, but never overwhelming.

RBA’s vision is one where the African bride stands at the centre of her own myth, clothed in a garment that holds the weight of history and the promise of the future. It is bridalwear as a cultural declaration, and a look into the potential for the next generation who want to tie the knot with glamour. 

THE IDEAL CRAFTSMEN:

Olutoba Odetomi’s work was a bridge between fantasy and tailoring. A place where blazers could be portals. His SS26 collection was a parade of refined wardrobe staples reimagined with a sense of wonder: weighted bell sleeves, angular shoulders, and most memorably a tailored jacket and trouser set adorned with a sword and silver facial jewellery.  

Some looks felt almost science fiction, particularly an all-white ensemble that draped across the body like a Jedi’s robe. Yet despite the whimsy, the craftsmanship was impeccable. These were clothes cut with precision, built for men who want to command a room without saying a word.

Odetomi’s greatest achievement may be his ability to make classic tailoring feel strange again, to remind us that the suit can still surprise. His work lingers because it refuses to settle into familiarity; it asks us to see menswear as something mythic.

TWIN by Tare Isaac:

TWIN’s chapter The Water Bearers is a poem rendered in fabric. Continuing Tare Isaac’s ongoing series In My Blood, the collection explores the maternal line of the Ijaw people through garments that seem to ripple like river currents. There is a softness to this work, a gentleness that carries immense emotional weight.

A sea-blue gown lined with jewels shimmered like sunlight caught on water. Two triangular cut-outs reminded us that this was not costume but contemporary design; fashion firmly placed in dialogue with the present. Another standout was a white net dress studded with shells and beads, which created an audible rustle as it moved. This sound felt like waves breaking on the shore in an excellent example of fashion immersion. 

Isaac’s genius lies in turning the runway into a living river, inviting the audience to step into its flow. Each garment feels like a vessel, carrying us downstream.

ZUBERE:

Nancy Chizubere Johnson-Chidiadi’s ZUBERE collection is the result of combining movement, colour, and history a jubilant ode to the Igbo bride and the ceremonial spectacle of her entrance. From the moment the first look appeared, the runway seemed to pulse with life. This catwalk aimed to become a re-enactment of tradition, aiming to take the audience to a different place: a room filled with the distant echo of drums and the rhythm of aunties’ feet stamping into the dust.

Chizubere’s approach blends the past with the present, translating ancestral memory into silhouettes that feel distinctly modern. Layered raffia cascades like dancing skirts, swaying with each step. Coral embellishments frame sleeves and necklines, symbols of purity and wealth transformed into sculptural statements. A particularly striking look featured custom-made fabric adorned with lions, a powerful motif of strength and guardianship turning the model into both bride and queen.

This collection thrives on its duality: rooted in ritual yet designed for today’s woman, grounded in heritage yet resolutely fashion-forward. Watching ZUBERE felt like witnessing a visual chorus proclaiming that design is not just decorative, but deeply narrative. Nancy Chizubere Johnson-Chidiadi invites us to see the Igbo bride as a figure of power, joy, and continuity, her garments marking not just a wedding day, but a moment in cultural time that bridges between generations.