Patience Torlowei (born 24 July 1964) is a Nigerian fashion designer. She is the creator of the "Esther Dress", the first piece of couture ever to join the
Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African Art's permanent collection.
Early life
Born in
Enugu to
Ijaw Ijaw may refer to:
*Ijaw people
The Izon people or Izon Otu, otherwise known as the Ijaw people due to the historic mispronunciation of the name ''Izon'', are an ethnic group majorly found in the Niger Delta in Nigeria, with significant populatio ...
parents, Torlowei graduated from the Textile Arts and Technology faculty at the
Yaba College of Technology
Yaba College of Technology, popularly known as YABATECH, was founded in 1947, and is Nigeria's first higher educational institution. It is located in Yaba, Lagos. It has a student enrollment of over 16,000.
Overview
Yaba College of Technology ...
. She moved to Belgium in 1989. As a fashion designer she has worked to create bridal clothes and
lingerie
Lingerie (, , ) is a category of primarily women's clothing including undergarments (mainly brassieres), sleepwear, and lightweight robes. The choice of the word is often motivated by an intention to imply that the garments are alluring, fash ...
as well as ready-to-wear attire. She founded her fashion line, Patience Please, in 2006.
Career
A dress designed by Torlowei, ''Esther'', is currently owned by the
National Museum of African Art
The National Museum of African Art is the Smithsonian Institution's African art museum, located on the National Mall of the United States capital. Its collections include 9,000 works of traditional and contemporary African art from both Sub-S ...
(NMAA) in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
; it is the first piece of ''haute couture'' to enter the museum collection. It depicts scenes of oil and diamond extraction and of war, and is made of a variety of materials including gold fabric.
The piece had been previously featured in a fashion show at the museum in 2014.
Torlowei was included in the 2019 show "I Am… Contemporary Women Artists of Africa" at the NMAA.
See also
*
Fashion in Nigeria
*
Lingerie
Lingerie (, , ) is a category of primarily women's clothing including undergarments (mainly brassieres), sleepwear, and lightweight robes. The choice of the word is often motivated by an intention to imply that the garments are alluring, fash ...
*
List of 20th-century women artists
This is a partial list of 20th-century women artists, sorted alphabetically by decade of birth. These artists are known for creating artworks that are primarily visual in nature, in traditional media such as painting, sculpture, photography, print ...
References
External links
''The dress comes out of pain: Patience Torlowei creates fashion from the highs and lows of modern Africa''Washington Post, August 22, 2019 (with photos of the "Esther Dress")
{{DEFAULTSORT:Torlwei, Patience
1964 births
Living people
Nigerian fashion designers
Nigerian women fashion designers
Nigerian women artists
21st-century Nigerian artists
21st-century women artists
Yaba College of Technology alumni
Nigerian expatriates in Belgium
People from Bayelsa State