London Fashion Week: three Nigerian designers to watch from September 17 to 21

From September 17 to 21, London Fashion Week will showcase Mowalola, Onalaja, and Tolu Coker, three designers connected to Nigeria who approach fashion through very different paths, ranging from embroidered demi-couture to more radical silhouettes.

Tolu Coker, a British-Nigerian designer based in London, has focused on issues of diasporic identity since launching her label in 2018. Her official page at Fashion Week also highlights a penchant for deconstruction, craftsmanship, and sustainable creation methods.

Onalaja, founded by Kanyinsola Onalaja, takes a more luxurious approach. The house presents a women’s demi-couture wardrobe where African heritage intertwines with embroidery and embellishments. The brand also claims a size range from XXS to XXXXL, a detail that remains far from trivial in the luxury sector.

Mowalola Ogunlesi operates on a more provocative line. Born in Nigeria and now based in London, the designer has gained recognition for silhouettes that blur the boundaries between fashion, music, and culture. Her spring-summer 2027 show is among the highlights of the London calendar.

This array of proposals avoids reducing Nigerian fashion to a single visual grammar. BellaNaija Style has chosen to follow the three designers for this spring-summer 2027 edition, while the official Fashion Week platform features Tolu Coker and Onalaja within its designer community.

The British Fashion Council has scheduled the September edition from Thursday, September 17, to Monday, September 21. The announced calendar places Mowalola among the evening events, Onalaja on Sunday, September 20, at 6:00 pm, and Tolu Coker on Monday, September 21, at 12:30 pm.