Introducing the Council for International African Fashion Education Advisory Board Member. Adebayo Oke-Lawal born March is a Nigerian based Fashion designer, influencer, and pioneer for the development of the fashion industry In Nigeria. Born in Lagos, he studied banking and finance at the University of Lagos and has a master’s degree in international management from Northumbria University, Newcastle.
Adebayo has been designing since the age of 10, officially launching his award-winning brand Orange Culture in 2011, after having worked with several Nigerian designers, to turn his unique vision of fashion into reality. Since starting the label and an official runway debut at Lagos Fashion & Design Week 2011, he’s been hard at work trying to showcase Orange Culture to the world.
Aside from fashion design, creative director Adebayo Oke-Lawal also worked for three years as the fashion editor for WOW! magazine and has styled numerous celebrities such as Kate Henshaw, Rita Dominic, Munachi, Lala Akindoju, Ice Prince and has done editorial work for magazines like Vogue Italia, Nataal, WOW and many more.
Most recently, Oke-Lawal was highlighted for his co-hosting part on Shade Corner as being one of the most hilarious characters on the aforementioned show by Accelerate TV.
Adebayo Oke-Lawal is also very concerned with the youth as he launched a CSR project called "Painting your Dreams", where he inspires young people through the art to believe in themselves and this led to him being listed under Forbes 30 under 30 people in the creative industry in Africa.
Adebayo recently also launched Orange mentorship which has gone on to become the go-to platform in Lagos for fashion knowledge transfer for upcoming designers, hosting sessions with designers like Andrea Iyamah, Clan, Shekudo, stylists like the Style Infidel and even retailers like Folklore. Adebayo went on to launch the orange mentorship prize supported by Folklore which gives a designer from Africa the opportunity to enter into retail distribution globally.
Adebayo Oke-Lawal has won and been nominated for numerous awards as a designer; from the prestigious nomination as the first African for LVMH Prize to the first African for Woolmark prize. He has also won the future awards prize for the designer of the year and has gone on to become a fashion ambassador for global brands like Remy Martin, Budweiser, and even Huawei.
Adebayo’s designs have been worn by numerous celebrities from Lupita Nyongo to Dua lipa and have gone on to become the face of androgyny and a path creator for genderless fashion in Africa. His brand Orange culture currently sells at retail giants such as Farfetch, Browns, and more.
Adebayo and the brand have achieved international recognition and has been featured in prestigious publications such as Vogue ( US, UK, ITALY), WWD, BoF, Fucking Young, L’Uomo Vogue, Huffington Post, New York Times, CNN, BET, MTV, Vanity Fair, ELLE, Marie Claire, L’Officiel, Style.com, The Guardian and The New York Times.