Founded by Adeju Thompson in 2018, Lagos Space Programme is a non-binary fashion design project exploring traditions of Yorùbá culture. Its output focuses mainly on clothing and accessory pieces, created in small batches, although Thompson has started to create textile hangings as well.

Thompson draws inspiration from a wide variety of sources, ranging from pre-colonial knowledge systems and workwear to architecture and the work of Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto. Detailed research is a fundamental part of Thompson’s process, yet Lagos Space Programme's work is not a homage to the past, but a call to look forward and consider innovative forms of design. Àdire, a woven indigo-dyed cloth historically made by the Yorùbá, is a staple of Thompson’s work. The ongoing Post-Àdire project (of which Project 5 forms a part) explores the future of this textile, translating it into knitwear as well as creating new graffiti-like motifs in the resist-dye pattern. Thompson’s work is also a medium for exploring and de-constructing notions of gender and queerness in Africa: ‘There is a common misconception that this [queerness] is a western construct and by exploring design through a cultural lens I aim to educate and highlight Africa’s progressive pre-colonial past.’ Thompson uses the work of Lagos Space Programme to call for a better understanding and acceptance of queer identities: ‘I’m very proud of my identity as a queer man. I live in a society where you’re policed for who you are and my work is a resistance to that policing.’

These pieces come from Lagos Space Programme’s Project 5 released for Spring/Summer 2021 entitled ‘Aṣọ Lànkí, Kí ató Ki ènìyàn’ ( We Greet Dress Before We Greet its Wearer). It was an exploration into the centuries-old, gender-fluid Gélédé ritual of the Yorùbá.

The objects (top, coat, wrapper, trousers, scarf and shoes) are a selection from Project 5, chosen in conversation with the designer to show the range of types of àdìrẹ. They can be worn together in various combinations. All the pieces have been made in Lagos; the textiles were dyed locally using organic dyes.