Hello  Afronistas,
I hope everyone had a very good year . I promise that this year is going to be a very exciting one on Ciaafrique. I recently discovered  lot more African designers via Facebook. Anyways let' s start 2010 with the olori line .The Olori brand is one of my favorite African line.I recently find their website while conducting some research . Learn about  the designer below.

 Nigerian-born designer also known as “Leke”, a former model and the current creator of Adeleke the brand, collection and lifestyle, style and its spontaneity is the essence of his sole as a men and women’s wear fashion designer.  The self taught designer has amassed quite a fan base amongst entertainers, stylist, fashionistas and editors alike due to his intrinsic fashion sense. 
His vintage collection has been featured on musicians such as Common, Erykah Badu, Mos Def, Nivea and the Dey.  His tailored menswear line has been worn by artists such as Raheem Devaughn, Bryan-Michael Cox and Don Omar. Leke has also styled and dressed the dance troupes of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater along with the world traveling dance company Creative Outlet. His clothes and styling has appeared in the New York Times Style Section, Honey magazine, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette Daily News, Harlem World magazine, L’AG magazine, MODE magazine, and more recently in Giant magazine, XXL magazine and the Avenue Report.  In 2007, Leke was featured in the gallery showing of “Black Style Now”, an exhibit showcasing the best dressed African-American style icons of the century at the Museum of the City of New York. “I’m not inspired necessarily by places, but by the time.” Taking his inspiration from London in the 1960’s and period actors like Cary Grant, James Dean, Clarke Gable, Humphrey Bogart, Sean Connery and popular “Blaxploitation” actors like Fred Williamson, Jim Brown and Richard Roundtree. Adeleke the Collection includes tailored shirts, pants, vests, ties, jackets, coats and shoes.  Leke believes in providing both men and women a complete look.  This is evident in Leke’s Olori (princess in Yoruba) collection which uses an eclectic mix of bright colors and patterns from different cultures and eras. The ready-to-wear dresses are incredibly body friendly designed specifically to accentuate a woman form. “Women are a work of art...A women’s body is sculpted in such a way, that there is so much to tour...a woman’s neck, her shoulders, collarbone...I’m into the body expressing the clothes, not the clothes expressing the body.”  Staying true to this mantra, Leke’s collection offers a new twist on an old template.  “My designs focus on the human form and how it relates to the clothes rather than the premise that the clothes makes the person. Individuality is key for me; I’m ready to dress anybody that is interested in expressing themselves as an individual...”

What do you think about Olori?

Photos Credits: Olori




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