LFW SS25: Tolu Coker

Tolu Coker’s spring-summer 2025 collection, titled Olapeju, was a vibrant, multi-layered homage to her British-Nigerian heritage, offering a deeply personal exploration of family, migration, and community. Coker’s inspiration was rooted in her mother, Olapeju, whose name means “where wealth gathers” in Yoruba, reflecting the strength and importance of matriarchs in both Nigerian and immigrant communities. This collection, however, was not simply a tribute to familial bonds—it was a narrative of how culture and identity evolve through migration, shaped by memories, displacement, and the power of community resilience.

Set against a backdrop designed to resemble a 1970s living room, the runway transformed into an immersive celebration of African diasporic culture. Mid-century furniture and retro graphics filled the space, conjuring memories of domesticity and belonging, especially within London’s black immigrant communities. Walls adorned with photos of proud black women—posing in carefully styled outfits, or caught in candid moments—reinforced Coker’s message: that fashion, like memory, is an archive of personal and collective histories. This was no ordinary runway—it was a portal into Coker’s world, where stories of migration and community survival were woven into the fabric of the garments themselves.

The clothing echoed the collection’s themes of cultural fusion, drawing from both Nigerian and British aesthetics. Tailoring was a cornerstone, with pieces like equestrian jackets, balloon-hem trousers, and corseted denim jackets showcasing Coker’s cutting-edge design skills. The juxtaposition of Yoruba-inspired silhouettes with references to West London’s Westway Stables highlighted the hybrid identities formed through migration. Cinched waists, intricate bust constructions, and lace-up details added a sculptural quality, while the use of recycled materials emphasised sustainability. The collection’s colour palette—vibrant yellows, lime greens, and bold wallpaper prints—channelled the rebellious spirit of the ’60s and ’70s, a time of cultural upheaval and self-expression, particularly for London’s growing African and Caribbean communities.

Yet, this wasn’t just a nostalgic look at the past. Coker’s collection also spoke to contemporary issues, notably the ongoing racial tensions that mirror those of the 1960s and ’70s. She pointed to her family’s four-generation-long connection to the North Kensington estates, areas that are now gentrified but were once sites of racial tension and anti-immigrant hostility. Despite these challenges, her family and their community maintained a sense of beauty, pride, and solidarity—a theme that ran through every piece in the collection. From flippy skirts to tailored leather Harrington jackets, the designs felt like a celebration of resilience in the face of adversity.

The show culminated in a joyous finale, with models—led by supermodel Jourdan Dunn—dancing down the runway in a collective expression of freedom and joy. This moment captured the heart of Coker’s vision: fashion as an inclusive, communal experience. In her words, luxury should be about “craft, story, and heritage” rather than elitism or exclusivity. By weaving her mother’s living room into the fabric of the runway and infusing the collection with the energy of a community gathering, Coker redefined what a fashion show could be—a celebration of family, history, and the ever-evolving story of migration.

Coker’s ability to merge the personal with the political, the historical with the contemporary, made Olapeju a testament to the enduring strength of immigrant communities and a reflection on how fashion can be used as a vehicle for storytelling and cultural preservation.