On a recent trip to my hometown in Sapele, Delta State, I discovered the word OMIZU. My mom and my aunties would go to the market and the women would greet each other cheerily, "Omizu", "My sister."

I knew working with Oroma on a collection for women would be a delicate but invigorating experience. Our brands share similar values – finding beauty in the essential aspects of daily life.

I wanted clothes that feel like me: pieces that capture the beauty of women in my hometown, the mothers who run the markets, my elder sisters linked by soil, whose strength make me who I am.

The textile design explores techniques used in South West Nigeria (Adire), traditional northern methods and a style that is similar to Japanese Shibori dyeing. I designed all the textile mentally – imposing various levels of control on the interaction between indigo dye and cotton. I knew I wanted prints that exposed the true nature of each fabric and as a result its underlying beauty.

To explore in real life, I called up Vetum Galadima – the only person I knew who had explored dyeing as a craft and was open minded enough to explore my ideas with me. Together we took to the indigo pits in Kano, with my instructions in hand and the confidence of Vetum’s 3 year exploration of Adire dyeing in Osun state. We knew we would create something different but hoped it would be beautiful.

We learned that the more control one has over the interaction between dye and fabric, the more predictable the outcome and as result the easier it is to perfect the technique. Conversely, less control led to more unique outcomes. We appreciate the beauty in both the precision design and in the slow and organic perfection. The result is that no two garments in these prints can ever be the same.