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Merging 5 years of fashion and art with Ashluxe

Vaseline

When Yinka Ash left college in 2014, little did he know that five years later he would begin the transition into a nationally recognized brand, and another five years later that brand would partner with Olalemi Ghariokwu, who designed 26 album covers for Fela Anikulapo Kuti . That’s what 10 years of pure dedication to your craft will get you.

The perfect T-shirt was his goal, but everything happened quite quickly. Speaking to GQ South Africa, he stated that his target audience was not a man or a woman, but a confident person who chose style over fashion. “They are not afraid to mix streetwear with formal pieces”

To celebrate the milestone, ashluxe held the #Ashluxe5Design Competition in 2024, their aim was to support emerging fashion designers and encourage the creativity of the next generation of talent in the fashion industry.

What does this mean for them?

Ashluxe’s ​​primary focus upon inception was on the retail sale of luxury brands and clothing items. The conceptualizing idea of ​​their shift in the fashion industry was that of a perfect shirt before they ventured into designing full-body outfits and turning their brand into a luxury brand that could be sold at retail. and to celebrate five years of this amazing journey, they’re holding a competition, going back to the source of how it started the design of 1 t-shirt.

Thanks to Forbes 30 Under 30, Ashluxe gave the founder of Yinka a ticket to the White House in 2023. Not only is their core expanding, but so is their ethos. With their SS21 collection they were able to find a balance between streetwear and classic fashion. Now every piece they drop sells out within a week and that’s no surprise considering that at the very first opening of the pioneering Ashluxe store, free hats were given to customers and to prove the commitment to quality at Ashluxe, a callback was made to continue purchasing these hats.

Ghariokwu Lemi’s involvement;

Ashluxe has collaborated with Lemi Ghariokwu to create a special limited edition t-shirt design. Ghariakwu is known for his artwork with Fela, and his expertise has added impressive history and expression to this exclusive collection. This partnership reflects Ashluxe’s ​​commitment to celebrating Nigerian artistry and storytelling.

For Lemi, art is not just a job or a way to express herself. It’s much more than that. Art is a powerful tool that can inspire hope and tell stories that resonate with people. It is a power that can set you free. Lemi is a man of many hats, but one he wears with pride is: For over a decade in the early 1980s, he designed album covers for many musicians around the world.

He designed 26 album covers for Fela Anikulapo Kuti and also created covers for other artists such as Osita Osadebe, James Iroha, Bob Marley, Kris Okotie, Lucky Dube, Gilles Peterson and Miriam Makeba. During that time, he worked for eleven years as a consulting album cover designer for Polygram (Phonogram + Polydor) records in Nigeria.

The collaboration with Lemi Ghariokwu builds on Ashluxe’s ​​“Kalakuta Republic” collection, inspired by the legacy of Fela Kuti and authorized by his legacy. This collection pays tribute to the iconic musician’s revolutionary spirit and reinforces Ashluxe’s ​​position as a pan-African brand that preserves cultural history.

This event was held in December 2023 and was created based on the unity between Fela Kuti’s estate and the Ashluxe brand. It was held in a Grade II listed events center and streamed live on YouTube. They were the first African fashion brand to be licensed to showcase Fela’s images.

Ash, the designer behind the collection, believes it embodies the spirit and creativity of Fela, making it a true work of art. The future holds many possibilities for ashluxe and we can’t wait to see what they are.

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