Photo by Rebecca Marie Reynolds
At Fashion Bomb Daily, we’re also highlight brands you should know! Today, we would like to shine a spotlight on an African brand you should have on your radar: Torlowei! Torlowei is a family-owned brand that designs pieces out of Lagos, Nigeria with the concepts of sustainability, ethics, and timelessness in mind. Headed by Patience Torlowei, the brand has shown at Arise Fashion Week and caught the attention of fashion insiders like model Naomi Campbell and editor Andre Leon Talley.
It is no secret that Torlowei’s designs are rooted in Africa. In fact, the brand is heavily influenced by African’s artistic culture. Torlowei takes Africa’s classic silhouettes and reimagines them with vibrant colors and eccentric prints and shapes inspired by fauvism and cubism. Moreover, the brand tends to focus on generational traditions rather than the latest trends. They truly capture the brand’s notion of “timelessness” by providing the wearer with pieces that be carried on through many generations.
Torlowei also places a high level of importance on transparency, ethical responsibility, and sustainability when it comes to production and design. US Brand Advisors Vanessa Masters-Prempeh and Okey Nwoke expressed how Torlowei specifically selects suppliers and subcontractors who share their same views when it comes to sustainable matters like reduced water usage and ethics like safe, healthy working conditions for workers.
Additionally, Torlowei works with local charities and groups to provide individuals with knowledge and employment. The brand also combats period poverty (inadequate access of menstrual hygiene supplies for young girls) by supplying young women with sanitary products.
Torlowei is not only changing the African fashion scene but encouraging fashion brands as a whole to take responsibility when it comes to our planet and the planet on it. Torlowei is definitely a brand to watch, follow them for updates on Instagram (@torlowei) and check out their pieces on www.patiencetorlowei.com.
