Abiola Olusola had no idea who was going to attend her debut London Fashion Week show earlier this year. ‘Once we saw the security and the King’s guard coming in, we realised someone important was arriving,’ says the Nigerian fashion designer as she beams down the camera over Zoom, recounting her surprise meeting with King Charles. Olusola is one of the five designers to be selected for the inaugural cohort of Brand63Africa, a social enterprise founded by Eva Omaghomi CVO to connect fashion designers of African heritage and the diaspora with the global luxury market.
Olusola’s fashion career was not set in stone – her first degree was a Bachelor’s in English Literature and Language. And before that? ‘As a kid I thought I wanted to be a lawyer, but fashion eventually took over.’ In 2015, she graduated with a BFA in Fashion Design from Istituto Marangoni, Paris and moved back to Nigeria where she launched her brand in 2017. Within the very first year Olusola was approached by leading luxury retailers, including Temple Muse in Lagos. Since then, she has continued to develop the brand; rooting its designs in Nigerian culture, working with local artisans, and manufacturing product via an in-house studio in Lagos that is staffed by a team of skilled female seamstresses.
Her designs are evocative, wearable and luxurious at once. Through bold prints, embellishments and vibrant palettes, she unlocks the modern woman’s wardrobe by creating silhouettes that feel decidedly elevated. The designer looks to movies, her mother and the ’60s for inspiration, explaining that she has ‘always been captivated by the grace, style and elegance’ of her mother’s generation. ‘I watch a lot of classic Nigerian movies from the 1960s to study that sophisticated era of style.’
At the end of 2025, Brand63Africa came across Olusola’s desk by way of consultant Lulu Shabell, who is tasked with curating the platform. ‘Every time I see a message from her, I know something exciting is happening,’ says Olusola of her longtime collaborator.
Through the Brand63Africa platform, Abiola Olusola was on the schedule at February’s London Fashion Week and this September, she has launched a select edit of designs at Harrods. One of the pieces available as part of the collection is a mini dress called the Asiri, which translates to ‘secret’. Featuring prints of fairies whispering to one another, the dress, as Olusola says, is designed to feel like a ‘precious little gem that holds something secret’.
Intrinsic to the brand is its implementation of a Nigerian hand-printing technique called Adire. ‘We aim to create beautiful, fresh clothes that women can dress up or down effortlessly,’ says Olusola. ‘Our collections are typically seasonless, so we carry styles over seamlessly. For us, it’s about creating a contemporary, unique and original brand for women who live modern lifestyles.’
Olusola laughs excitedly when speaking of Vaneesa Kingori OBE, who serves as chair of the creative committee for Brand63Africa. It had happened that before the London Fashion Week launch, her social media manager had reached out to Kingori on Instagram to send her a piece from the collection. On the day of the launch event – where Kingori acted as the host – she walked in wearing the best-selling black co-ord set, which, as Olusola explains, ‘created a real buzz around the brand.’
‘Brand63Africa is especially exciting as it platforms and positions Luxury African fashion alongside its global counterparts,’ Kingori explained to ELLE UK. ‘The world is finally learning what the continent has long known, that across multiple sectors, Africa and its diaspora’s innovation, creativity and quality is world class and foundational. Just as African art and creativity were once perceived as primitive crafts, to now projecting a generation value of $200 billion by 2030. Or just as venture investment’s recent historic surge to over $1.6 billion in African tech startups highlights the shift in valuing African intellect rather than just its natural resources. This cohort of designers [of Brand63Africa] and brands belong on discerning collectors across the world and Harrods as a partner could not illustrate this more perfectly.’
Credit: .elle
