Self-taught designer Adebayo Oke-Lawal founded Orange Culture in Lagos, Nigeria in 2011. Established as a menswear label, Oke-Lawal created Orange Culture as a space to discuss and challenge toxic ideas of masculinity, creating designs which explore male vulnerability and emotionality through use of perceived ‘feminine’ colours, styles and fabrics. Since its foundation the brand has become increasingly genderfluid, which Oke-Lawal attributes to him becoming more comfortable with his vision for Orange Culture, and less concerned about societal expectations. Central to his design philosophy is the belief that ‘clothing should be fluid and have the ability to be worn by any- and every- one.’

The ensemble is from Orange Culture’s Spring/Summer 2020 collection, Shadow Man. Oke-Lawal explores the idea of the shadow man as a manifestation of our inner demons. He collaborated with Nigerian artist Eloghosa to create the shadow-print, which is an abstracted design of shadow men hunting. The ensemble comprises a blue polyester organza blouse with zipper and blue flared trousers, both printed with the shadow-print design. Organza is a staple fabric for Orange Culture, with Oke-Lawal noting ‘we’ve been using organza for 9 years even when buyers told us men would never wear such a fabric – it expresses that soft vulnerable side of the man that the world represses.’