Nigerian designer, Mowalola Ogunlesi got tapped by Kanye West as the Design Director for his new Yeezy collaborative venture with clothing retail giant Gap. Kanye West, who disclosed his latest venture-a 10-year deal-on Twitter, also announced Ogunlesi as the Design Director.
YZY GAP BEGINS
MOWALOLA JOINS AS YZY GAP DESIGN DIRECTOR
KSG CARTOON MURAKAMI CUDI
JESUS IS KING FILM ON APPLE JAMES TURRELL
YZY SPLY DOC NICK KNIGHT
FOAM RUNNER RELEASE MADE IN USA
JESUS IS KING DR. DRE VERSION
WASH US IN THE BLOOD VIDEO ARTHUR JAFA#WESTDAYEVER— ye (@kanyewest) June 26, 2020
The 25-year-old designer also took to Instagram to share the good news:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CB5v8kgAPLa/?utm_source=ig_embed
Mowalola Ogunlesi came from a family of fashion designers. Her parents, Scottish grandmother are all fashion designers. Her grandmother married Ogunlesi’s grandfather,then moved to Nigeria in the 1960s to launch a fashion label that used locally produced textiles.
Mowalola was raised in England but she still stays closely connected to Nigerian culture which she draws inspiration for most of her designs. She first snagged attention with her graduate collection from the prestigious Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in 2017. Working as a fashion stylist, she has styled the likes of Drake, Solange and Super Eagles’ jerseys for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
A major milestone for her career was when she was commissioned by Vogue along five other young designers to dress Barbie in honour of the iconic doll in August 2019.