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LIFE’S RICH TAPESTRY
from left: Designer and creative consultant
Vanessa Iloenyosi; artist and architect Fadekemi
Ogunsanya; DJ, photographer, and creative
consultant Baingor Joiner; consultant Bolaji
Animashaun; lawyer Busola Ogunsanya; Kenneth
Ize; and artist Joy Matashi. Clothes by Kenneth Ize.
WHEN KENNETH IZE ARRIVED in
Lagos, Nigeria, in 2015, fresh out of
art school, it was something of a home-
coming. Though he had spent almost
all of his life in Vienna, the designer
fell instantly in sync with the buzzing
energy of the city where he was born.
Still, getting the lay of the land in this
sprawling megatropolis would require
the right support system. “I really
didn’t know anyone in Lagos,” says Ize,
now 29, who counts his adorable dog
Cosmos—an American Eskimo—as
the closest thing to immediate family
there. “That made it even more import-
ant for me to find my community.”
To meet like-minded people, Ize did
what any other young, creative Nige-
rian would do: He plugged into the
city’s vibrant nightlife scene. “Lagos
can be a very stressful place, so going
out is important for our sanity,” says
Ize (it’s pronounced “ee-zay”), who
faces challenges ranging from power
outages and unreliable internet con-
nectivity to road-blocking traffic with
a good sense of humor. “And when we
go out, we like to get dressed.”
Ize’s cohort is a stylish, well-
connected bunch, part of a new gen-
eration redefining what it means to be
young, gifted, and West African:
There’s Faridah Folawiyo, whose
mother runs Alara, the city’s must-
visit, David Adjaye–designed concept
store; Jomi Marcus-Bello, the master-
mind behind cool skate-surf brand
Wafflesncream; Baingor Joiner, a DJ
and photographer who regularly
appears in Ize’s look books decked out
in aso oke, the distinctive Yoruban
hand-woven fabric that has become
the designer’s calling card.
And yet it wasn’t until a little over a
year ago, when Ize started working with
a collective of craftspeople in Ilorin, a
city five hours northeast of Lagos, that
his fashion community was made
whole. “Nigeria has such a rich tradi-
tion in textiles, but those practices are
dying out,” he says. “It was only after
asking elders at craft markets in Lagos
that I even learned of these weavers.”
And so one morning last September,
Ize set off on the long drive to Ilorin.
The circle of
Kenneth Ize
By Chioma Nnadi
CONTINUED ON PAGE 163
