Nigerian Designer Onalaja Didn’t Let A Studio Fire Stop Her Staging A Joyful LFW Debut

British Vogue spotlights @onalajaofficial the 33-year-old Nigerian creative who lost a decade of work in a 4-day studio fire and rebuilt her 2014-born brand into a joyful, inclusive phoenix collection for London Fashion Week.

British Vogue has spotlighted Nigerian designer Kanyinsola Onalaja of @onalajaofficial — and her story is pure resilience, joy against the odds, and Yoruba excellence.

The building was on fire. Beneath Onalaja’s studio, people were hammering on the door trying to get out. “We finally made it, but the fire took on a life of its own,” says the 33-year-old designer. It took four days for it to stop burning, by which time Onalaja had lost over a decade’s worth of work. “It was very scary and confusing. I’m still processing a lot of things.”

The Nigerian creative, whose mother had just shipped over her Istituto Marangoni graduate edit and every collection she’d made since, gave herself two days to mourn the bespoke commissions and wholesale orders that had also turned to ash. “If I stay in this slump, I’m going to stop designing,” she says of her show-must-go-on attitude.

Rising From The Ashes: The Phoenix Collection

She signed the lease on a new studio and began re-evaluating what her 2014-born brand stood for. A 2020 collection, called “Rising from the Ashes”, popped up as an iPhone memory. “It was crazy,” she says.

Onalaja went back to the founding principles of her label — to elevate the artisanal fabric painting, dyeing and embellishment she learned from her Yoruba and Edo roots into a maximalist dress lover’s dream — and funnelled them through the “narrative of a phoenix”.

• The Narrative: “You have the looks from the fire, then the ash greys, the stillness of black, the glimmers of hope and, finally, a bird of paradise in full bloom.”
• The Sign: She knew she was on the right track when she visited her show venue and the word “phoenix” was emblazoned on a screen.
• The Vision: “I think even I’m going to be shocked when I see everything [that’s] exploding in my brain in the line-up together, but hopefully it will be a good shock.”

Disco Glam With Purpose: XXS to XXXXL Inclusive

Aside from being a celebrated embroiderer — she consulted for luxury brands like Mary Katrantzou, and interned for Christopher Kane and Giles Deacon before going it alone — Onalaja’s self-described “disco glam” dresses have cut through the noise because of authenticity and inclusivity.

Tems, Olivia Dean and Ciara are all fans. But the mission is deeper. Kanyinsola herself has an auto-immune disorder that means her weight fluctuates. She has been a size 26, a size 12 and every size in between.

“I like to say our mission is to create pieces for women that luxury often forgot.”

The hope, she says, is that no other woman will struggle, like she did, to find a birthday dress, a wedding guest look, or “even something just a little bit fancy”. And so, her craft-focused garments — in all their beaded, tasselled, feathered glory — are available in sizes XXS to XXXXL. No other brand on the London Fashion Week schedule offers this range.

Onalaja: At A Glance

Why This Matters

Onalaja’s British Vogue spotlight is more than a fashion feature — it’s a masterclass in resilience and inclusive luxury. A Nigerian designer who turned ash into a bird of paradise in full bloom, she proves that craft rooted in Yoruba and Edo traditions can lead global fashion while serving women luxury often forgot.

At 9JAFINDS, we celebrate stories like Onalaja’s because they embody Celebrating Excellence and Celebrating Growth — from studio fire to LFW debut, from XXS to XXXXL, no woman left behind.

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