Abigail Ajobi tells her parents love story for AW22

A film and presentation, at London hotel The Edition, tell the story of Ajobi’s parents who met on a flight between Lagos and London and fell in love despite being from two different worlds. The Love Story Continues in Ajobi’s first physical presentation for AW22.

Ajobi translates her parent’s story into clothes using two main prints. The first is a scribed print that is becoming a signature code of the brand, created from her father’s love letter to her mother. Ajobi takes the letters and prints them on Nigerian denim, a durable material that becomes a metaphor representing the strength of her parent’s relationship and heritage. The second print is titled ‘The Money Print’ or ‘Common Wealth’ that features the designer’s father’s head on an Ajobi note banknote, creating a new currency that can be bought as digital NFTs. The models use these same banknotes to do the traditional money dance performed at Nigerian weddings as they come out for the presentation, an act that I realise I haven’t seen before in a fashion context.

The collection features Abigail Ajobi’s recognisable white t-shirt with black stitching along the hems, stamped with a ‘Common Wealth’ banknote, a two-tone sleeveless mini dress and a standout baseball-style jacket with AJOBI lettering stitched on the back.

As always, Ajobi keeps sustainability and community central to her brand’s ethos and is donating part of the profits to a Nigeria-based charity Keeping It Real Foundation, which transforms the lives of vulnerable people through advocacy, education and sustainable development programs.

Watch the film:

View images from the presentation by Hannah Mould below:

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