5 Years of Merging Fashion, Art & Culture with Ashluxe

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When Yinka Ash left university in 2014, he didn’t know that 5 years down the line he would start the transition into a brand recognised nationwide, and 5 more further down, that brand would be collaborating with Olalemi Ghariokwu who designed 26 album covers for Fela Anikulapo Kuti. That is what 10 years of pure dedication to your craft will get you. 

The perfect T-shirt was his goal but everything unfolded in a rather timely manner, in his conversation with GQ South Africa he stated that his target clientele wasn’t a man or woman but a confident person who chooses style over fashion. â€śThey’re not afraid to mix streetwear with formal pieces”

In 2024, to celebrate the milestone ashluxe held the #Ashluxe5Design Competition, their goal was to support up-and-coming fashion designers and encourage creativity among the next generation of talent in the fashion industry.

What does this mean for them?

Ashluxe’s primary focus upon inception was retailing of luxury brands and clothing items, the conceptualising idea of their shift in the fashion industry was that of a perfect shirt before they ventured into designing full-body outfits, and making their brand a luxury one to be retailed as well, and to celebrate five years of this amazing journey, they hold a competition, linking back to the source of how it started the design of 1 t-shirt.

Courtesy of Forbes 30 Under 30, Ashluxe got Yinka its founder a ticket to the white house in 2023. Their core is not just expanding but also their ethos, they were able to find a balance between streetwear and classic fashion with their SS21 collection. Now, every piece they drop gets sold out within a week and it doesn’t come as a surprise given that at the very first opening of the pioneering Ashluxe store, complimentary hats were given to customers and to prove the dedication to quality at Ashluxe, callbacks were made to purchase these hats further. 

Ghariokwu Lemi’s involvement;

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

For Lemi, Art is not just a job or a way to express oneself. It is much more than that. Art is a powerful tool that can inspire hope and tell stories that resonate with people. It is a force that can set you free. Lemi is a man of many hats but one he wears must proudly 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 as a consulting album cover designer for Polygram (Phonogram+Polydor) records in Nigeria for 11 years.

The collaboration with Lemi Ghariokwu builds upon Ashluxe’s “Kalakuta Republic” collection, inspired by Fela Kuti’s legacy and authorised by his estate. This collection pays homage to the revolutionary spirit of the iconic musician, and further cement Ashluxe’s position as a Pan-African brand preserving cultural history. 

This event was held in December 2023 and was formed on unity between the Fela Kuti’s estate and the Ashluxe brand, it was held at a landmark event centre and was live-streamed on YouTube, they were the first African fashion brand licensed to showcase Fela’s images. 

Ash, the designer behind the collection, believes that it embodies Fela’s spirit and creativity, 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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