Mowalola Ogunlesi (born March 25, 1995) is a Nigerian-born fashion designer and singer working and living in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. She is known for working with a wide variety of textiles such as

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs, ...

and PVC to produce non-traditional silhouettes inspired by Nigerian and London youth culture.

Early life

Ogunlesi was born to two Nigerian fashion designers, her mother, Adenike Ogunlesi of

Ruff 'n' Tumble ''Ruff 'n' Tumble'' is a 1994 platform run and gun video game developed by Wunderkind and published by Renegade Software for the Amiga. An Amiga CD32 version was planned but never released. It was the only game made by Wunderkind. It stars Ru ...

specializing in children's clothing and her father working in traditional Nigerian menswear. At the age of 12, Ogunlesi moved from Nigeria to attend boarding school in the

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

countryside. Ogunlesi earned her

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in Fashion at Central Saint Martins - University of the Arts London, debuting a collection at the Graduation Press Show in 2017. She enrolled in the

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

programme at Central Saint Martins that year but dropped out in 2018 to have more creative freedom in her work.

Career and recognition

After leaving Central Saint Martins, Ogunlesi applied to the

Fashion East Fashion East is a non-profit designer support and showcasing scheme, a project established by the Old Truman Brewery and Lulu Kennedy MBE in 2000.Fashion East"About Fashion East"/ref> Designers can apply for support across three different programmes ...

mentorship and support programme. Her 2019

London Fashion Week London Fashion Week (LFW) is a clothing trade show that takes place in London twice a year, in February and September. Showcasing over 250 designers to a global audience of influential media and retailers, it is one of the 'Big Four' fashion wee ...

debut took place on Fashion East's stage. Ogunlesi came under scrutiny in September 2019 when

Naomi Campbell Naomi Elaine Campbell (born 22 May 1970) is an English model, actress, singer, and businesswoman. She began her career at the age of 15, and established herself amongst the most recognisable and in-demand models of the past four decades. Cam ...

was spotted wearing a Mowalola gown with a bullet wound design. The dress was interpreted as a statement on

gun violence Gun-related violence is violence committed with the use of a firearm. Gun-related violence may or may not be considered criminal. Criminal violence includes homicide (except when and where ruled justifiable), assault with a deadly weapon, a ...

, but on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

Ogunlesi clarified the garment was meant to convey a sense of being a walking target. Ogunlesi has attracted the attention of artists like

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

Solange Solange (died 10 May, c. 880) was a Frankish shepherdess and a locally venerated Christian saint and cephalophore, whose cult is restricted to Sainte-Solange, Cher. Saint Solange was the patron of the traditional Province of Berry, of which Che ...

, Steve Lacy,

Kelela Kelela Mizanekristos ( am, ከለላ ሚዛነክርስቶስ; born June 3, 1983) is an American singer. She made her debut in the music industry with the release of her 2013 mixtape ''Cut 4 Me.'' In 2015, she released ''Hallucinogen'', an EP ...

and

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

. In October 2020, Ogunlesi was named by ''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

'' as one of "10 Trailblazing Women Changing The Future You Need To Know", the others being: Tobi Kyeremateng,

Ngozi Onwurah Ngozi Onwurah (born 1966) is a British-Nigerian film director, producer, model, and lecturer. She is best known as a filmmaker for her autobiographical film ''The Body Beautiful'' (1991) and her first feature film, ''Welcome II the Terrordome'' ( ...

, Simi Lindgren, Balanda Atis, Magdalene Abraha,

Koffee Victoria Simpson (born 16 February 2000), better known as Koffee, is a Jamaican reggae singer, songwriter, rapper, and guitarist from Spanish Town, Jamaica. She released her debut single "Burning" in 2017, and in 2019 signed with Columbia Record ...

, Holly Fischer,

Celeste Celeste may refer to: Geography * Mount Celeste, unofficial name of a mountain on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada * Celeste, Texas, a rural city in North Texas ** Celeste High School, public high school located in the city of Celeste, ...

and

Margaret Busby Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's youngest and first black female book publisherJazzmine Breary"Let' ...

Collaborations

In 2019, she created outfits for Skepta's "

Pure Water Purified water is water that has been mechanically filtered or processed to remove impurities and make it suitable for use. Distilled water was, formerly, the most common form of purified water, but, in recent years, water is more frequently puri ...

" music video and was one of six designers approached by

British Vogue British ''Vogue'' is a British fashion magazine published based in London since autumn 1916. It is the British edition of the American magazine ''Vogue'' and is owned and distributed by Condé Montrose Nast. British ''Vogue'' editor in 2012 c ...

to style

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration. ...

dolls for the brand's 60th anniversary. On June 26, 2020 the

Yeezy GAP Yeezy Gap (stylized as YEEZY GAP) was a fashion collaboration between Kanye West's Yeezy and American clothing company Gap announced in June 2020, with its first wave of clothing releasing a year later in June 2021. In January 2022 the brand ...

10-year partnership was officially announced, with Ogunlesi appointed by West as Design Director. In 2022, she joined with

MGA Entertainment MGA Entertainment Inc. (short for Micro-Games America Entertainment; sometimes referred to as MGA) is a manufacturer of children's toys and entertainment products founded in 1979. Its products include, Bratz, L.O.L. Surprise!, Num Noms and Rainbow ...

as a designer for a line of their

Bratz Bratz is an American fashion doll and media franchise created by former Mattel employee Carter Bryant for MGA Entertainment which debuted in 2001. The four original 10-inch (25 cm) dolls were released on May 21, 2001 — Yasmin, Cloe, Jade ...

dolls featuring two of the doll franchise's characters: Jade and Felicia. The collaboration line is set to be released in fall.

Music

Ogunlesi releases music also under the name Mowalola. In 2021, she released two singles, "Truck" and "Wawa". She was later featured on Namasenda's single "Banana Clip".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogunlesi, Mowalola 1995 births Living people Nigerian fashion designers Yoruba fashion designers Yoruba women in business Nigerian fashion businesspeople Alumni of Central Saint Martins Nigerian women in business Black British fashion people Nigerian women fashion designers