At the just concluded Africa fashion week runway show of womenswear emerging brand IHEKUBI @ihekubi presented a vibrant collection tagged – Ohun Olori (Sound/Voice of Olori).
The collection stirs conversations about ‘when you’ve had enough’. A call to order by Olórí (the supreme head)
and Olorì (the Queen). It is a shift into a new reality, one that eschews the human tendency for dominating other humans.
Ohun Olori takes inspiration from the defiant sounds of two Nigerian songs –
Bimpe by Asa & Olori Oko by Infinity. These artists use loud African drums and intense stringed instruments to
emphasize their exhaustion with the norm- whether it’s the criminalization of womanhood (Bimpe) or hateful acts that defy a deity’s commands of love & duty (Olori Oko).
Moving to their respective sounds-the talking & bass drums form the basis of the silhouette & fabrics in this collection; and the sounds of stringed instruments
frame the textures throughout the collection. All created through cuts of wavy patterns,structured volumes and embroidered lines.
Ohun Olori is a visual representation of
the triumph of the generous and energized soul, over a tired mind and body. A soul that will no longer be silenced.
See pictures below
