Orange Culture Makes Fashion into a Metaphor for Revolution

If the style is edgy, if it is eccentric, if you can buy it for your boyfriend and wear it too; chances are, it’s Orange Culture. In the space of 8 years since the inception of the urban streetwear brand, Adebayo Oke-Lawal’s unconventional designs have translated fabric to fashion; and fashion, to revolution.

In November 2019, Adebayo Oke-Lawal gracefully accepted an invite to mentor a classroom of fashion Designers at the Mbari Uno Hub.  He was running a bit late but no one was complaining. They were all going to wait. It is not strange for a person of his status to be late. In fact, some would deem it stranger if he were early.  However, this idea of celebrity most of the students had about Adebayo quickly dissipated within a few minutes of his arrival. His posture was confident but unimposing. His personality was familiar. Within an hour, most people in that classroom will eagerly entrust Adebayo with their silliest ideas. They went ahead to tell him everything. As he said himself;

”I wouldn’t judge you. Nobody could” and it was true. Nobody should have the power to decide your lifestyle or judge your ideas. Within a few hours in his presence, it was obvious that was what the man stood for. It is what his brand represents.

A designer since the age of 10, Adebayo in his childhood developed an affinity for the unusual. ‘Unusual’ in the sense of fashion gender clichés; socially acceptable norms for the male gender. He was consistently bullied due to his color preferences, his way of speaking, and other idiosyncrasies many might construe as being ‘not man enough’.  However, rather than shrinking to the socially acceptable standards, Adebayo rose above it. The voice he needed to express himself was Orange Culture- his inspiring fashion brand that provoked the ire of some locals at birth and commanded the respect of a whole lot more. His success is a testament to this.

Since the inception of the label and her debut at the Lagos Fashion & Design Week 2011, Adebayo Oke-Lawal and his team have not looked back. The brand has gone on to create over 18 different collections- each one, with its own unique story. Orange Culture has consistently won local and international acclaim due to the brand’s originality and novelty of idea. Featured in Vogue, WWD, BoF, L’Uomo Vogue, Huffington Post, New York Times, CNN, BET, MTV, Vanity Fair, ELLE, Marie Claire, L’Officiel, Design Indaba, Dezeen and basically every notable fashion and design publication globally, saying Orange Culture is doing something right is putting it mildly.

Made in Lagos, the designs of Adebayo Oke-Lawal are primarily meant to create a culture of open-mindedness, acceptance, freedom, and unbridled expressionism for Nigerians and the observing world. To Adebayo, the color Orange is not boxed, marginalized, or suited to the taste of any particular person or group of people; the color orange is fluid, transitional, and free. This is what Adebayo looks to promote with his fast-rising fashion brand.

Indeed, as he said on that hot afternoon in November to a class of eager fashion enthusiasts and fans, ‘fashion can save lives’. Anyone who knows this understands what it means to create.