Deborah Idowu, CEO of this luxury fashion brand sees a great future for aso oke, a most indigenous fabric.

By Funke Awodiya

How can you visit Iseyin, Oyo State without buying aso oke? Cecilia, the housekeeper, asked. I have spent almost six weeks at the Ebedi International Writer’s Residency, located at the foot of the monumental Ebedi hill in the ancient town. I yielded to her persuasion because of my love for the fabric. Iseyin is regarded as the home of weavers who produce aso oke locally. I took my fabric home with fewer options of what to do with it. I barely tie gele, so my aso oke remains locked in the wardrobe as a tourist artifact.  But my encounter with Deborah Idowu and how the CEO of Posh Luxury Fashion is breaking the grounds and making ladies step out in trendy fabrics from the hills of Iseyin changed my mind.

Famed for making brides gorgeous during their traditional weddings, aso oke’s popularity has continued to grow over the years as more fashion designers explore more creative ways of rocking the fabric. The name fabric from the hill was created by Lagosians, according to a Spice TV report. Originally called ofi, the then Lagos fabric merchants, in constant demand for the local fabric, renamed ofi as aso ilu Oke. That is, ‘fabric from uptown.’ Now shortened as aso oke, it has various patterns of the ethnic fabrics sanyan, alari, and etu (the vintage). The local production of aso oke extends as far as Igarra in Edo State; looms are a common sight in many homes in this community tucked in the northern part of Edo State.

For someone who has been in the fashion business for close to a decade, Deborah Idowu started with clients who did not want to use massively produced items and outfits. She was able to achieve that through the use of aso oke. The creative designer said: “I weave for customers based on specifications and then create whatever they want. Our designs are bespoke and customers love them. We currently have the social media buzzing with our #asookenotjustforgele to encourage more adoption and patronage.” She believes Aso Oke is like every other fabric and should be used for everything fabric do.  In the redefinition of the use of aso oke, the fashionista said vintage (alari, sanyan, and etu) which are substitutes of aso oke are still in use and will probably never go out of fashion.

The CEO of Posh Luxury Fashion affirms that creating modern designs with aso oke is not a popular terrain. She advised fashion designers who might want to plunge into that river of ethnic fabric (aso oke) to be focused and determined.  She lamented about the fading generation of weavers and the financial constraint of mass production of the fabric but foresees a brighter future for her brand that has traversed over seven countries.

The adoption of aso oke by Nigerian celebrities is growing exponentially. The second runner-up of Big Brother Naija Season 2, Idowu Tokunbo, popularly known as TBoss recently rocked the aso oke to an event.

Funke Awodiya is a medical sociologist and creative writer. She lives in Lagos

Ayodele Johnson

Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.