When I get on a call with Lisa Folawiyo one Wednesday afternoon, a week before her 20th anniversary runway show, she’s revisiting her archives. Twenty years in, she says, and she still feels like she’s just getting started. She talks easily, moving between reflections on the brand’s journey and anticipation for what’s next, sharing stories from twenty years in fashion like they happened yesterday. We talk about the archives she’s been visiting and the recently concluded Lagos Fashion Week and how it has added so much nuance to African fashion. Between her excitement for the show and her thoughts on the evolving fashion scene in Nigeria, it’s clear why she’s remained one of the country’s most influential designers—thoughtful, and still very much in love with what she does.
Born and raised in Lagos, Lisa studied law at the University of Lagos, a career path far from the world of fashion. Yet, her love for personal style and fabrics had always been present. While in school, she began making clothes for herself and close friends, often working late into the night. Her designs stood out for their detail, cut, and finish. What began as a hobby evolved into Jewel by Lisa, a brand that married her instinct for elegance with a distinctly Nigerian spirit.
“Nigeria has always been filled with creative talent—in fashion, music, art—but perhaps back then, expression was limited, or maybe consumers were dictating what designers could do. It just wasn’t as dynamic or expansive as it is today,” she tells Guzangs.
At the time, the Nigerian fashion landscape was still largely dominated by traditional tailoring. Ready-to-wear collections were rare, and luxury fashion, as an industry, was only just beginning to take shape. There were already established designers like Ade Bakare and Tiffany Amber, but Lisa didn’t feel the industry was speaking a language that she personally understood through her own fashion lens.
That’s why she decided to create something that did. “I wanted to make clothes that spoke my language and perhaps the language of others who saw fashion the way I did. So I stepped into that space with quiet confidence, introducing an aesthetic that combined the vibrancy of traditional fabrics with experimental designs that redefined the familiar feminine silhouette in Nigeria,” she explains.
The early years of Jewel by Lisa were defined by bold creativity and meticulous craftsmanship. Lisa’s signature approach was embellishing Ankara fabrics with sequins, beads, and crystals, transforming everyday prints into couture-like pieces. Each garment could take days to finish, often involving teams of artisans who hand-applied the decorations stitch by stitch. It was a process that emphasized patience, precision, and pride in detail.
“Honestly, it just spoke to me,” she begins. “I’ve always loved prints and color; that’s really the foundation of my aesthetic. Ankara felt so familiar yet so full of potential. It’s breathable, has a great weight, and is beautiful to work with. At the time, it was also accessible and affordable, which mattered. But most importantly, I wanted to reinvent it—to take something we all knew so well and see how my eye, my taste, and my hands could transform it into something new and desirable.”
In every piece, Lisa challenged preconceived notions about African textiles. She proved that Ankara could be luxurious, red-carpet-ready, and globally relevant. Her collections were modern yet deeply rooted in heritage, balancing color and texture with the kind of tailoring that made her pieces timeless.
In 2015, Jewel by Lisa became Lisa Folawiyo Studio. The decision marked a personal and professional shift, representing a more mature chapter where her identity as a designer was no longer defined by embellishment alone but by her broader design philosophy: sophistication, individuality, and cultural storytelling.
“It wasn’t exactly a rebrand,” Lisa recalls. “It was more of a separation under the same umbrella. When we started creating our own custom prints and the collections took on a new direction, we realized it made sense to distinguish Jewel by Lisa from Lisa Folawiyo Studio. We discussed it with our international partners and advisors, and it became clear that the custom print collections I showed on runways had evolved into something distinct. So, it wasn’t a hard decision, just a natural evolution for the brand.”
The brand’s evolution also mirrored her own growth. From showing in Lagos and Johannesburg to being featured on platforms like Vogue Italia’s Talents, Lisa steadily built an international presence. Her work began to circulate in fashion capitals, from London to New York, earning her recognition among global tastemakers.
Beyond her garments, Lisa’s success is rooted in her understanding of her audience. She designs for the confident, modern woman, one who appreciates culture, craftsmanship, and individuality. With 30 collections produced over the years, she has expanded her textile vocabulary beyond Ankara, introducing silk, brocade, organza, and handwoven cloth sourced from local artisans. This blend of tradition and innovation defines her brand’s DNA.
This year marks the brand’s 20th anniversary, and looking back, it feels absolutely surreal to her. “Time flies when you’re having fun, right?” Lisa asks. “I wake up every day excited to do what I do—to create, to imagine, to express. Twenty years have gone by so quickly. Sometimes it feels like minutes. When you’re passionate, when you love what you do, and when you realize your work supports communities and livelihoods—it keeps you going. You don’t even notice time passing.”
But even after two decades, she still feels like she’s just getting started. Each year, she strives to outdo the last, believing that a designer should never reach a point of complete fulfillment. For her, there is always more to discover, create, and evolve into.
This year’s collection, titled “A Life in Colour,” invites viewers to an intimate exhibition and fashion show. “It’s a celebration of the journey so far, a reflection, an acknowledgment, and a glimpse of where we’re headed,” she begins. “For those who’ve followed the brand from the beginning, it might feel nostalgic. For newer audiences, it’ll be an introduction to the depth of our story. It’s about revisiting, reimagining, and moving forward, marrying the Lisa from then with the Lisa of now.”
On November 14, 2025, in Lagos, Folawiyo presented “A Life in Colour” as both runway show and exhibition. The collection felt like flipping through her creative journals—pieces from different chapters of her career, some reimagined, others simply celebrated as they were.
Her signature embellished Ankara was there, of course: dresses heavy with sequined circular motifs in emerald, ruby, and gold, the kind of maximalist statement she’s built her reputation on. But there were surprises too. She’d been experimenting with treating Ankara fabric with leather finishes, creating something between textile and hide. Beaded fringe cascaded from caftans in champagne tones, while other pieces mixed bold geometric prints—blue bubbles against brown checks on a single silhouette, the kind of pattern clash that shouldn’t work but does when you trust your eye.
The range showed her restlessness. Striped knits appeared next to tropical print draping. Metallic fringe skirts trailed behind body-conscious coordinates. Some silhouettes were sharp and architectural, others loose and forgiving. The color remained fearless: electric lime, cobalt, hot pink, never apologizing for demanding attention.
What made it work as a retrospective wasn’t nostalgia but clarity. You could trace the line from her early embellished Ankara to the custom prints that defined her studio rebrand to these new material experiments. Twenty years condensed into one show, not as greatest hits but as proof that the same instinct—maximum color, serious craft, absolute confidence—can evolve without losing itself.
She has been revisiting her archives, reconnecting with past pieces, and reflecting on the choices she made along the way, a process she finds deeply inspiring. Ultimately, her goal remains simple: to create beautiful, timeless clothes that women everywhere will love and feel confident in.
Folawiyo’s influence is boldly seen within Nigerian fashion. Her aesthetic gave new confidence to a wave of Nigerian labels making highly feminine clothes that do not simply mirror Western trends. She talks about creating clothes that let women express themselves outside trend cycles, which resonates with emerging designers exploring soft volumes, playful color, and body-positive cuts on their own terms. You can see echoes of her approach in how many young brands use local textiles, embellishment, and craft to tell personal stories rather than chasing a Eurocentric ideal.
Looking ahead, Lisa wants to experience huge growth, in every sense. “I want to keep evolving while staying true to who I am as a designer. I’m looking forward to more collaborations—if they align with our values—and, interestingly, to designing alongside someone else one day, maybe a younger designer with a fresh perspective. There’s so much talent out there, and it would be exciting to see how our aesthetic could be expressed through another creative lens,” she says.
Lastly, she looks forward to maintaining consistency and passion in her work, while also hoping for a more enabling environment for creatives in Nigeria, which she believes is essential for the industry to truly thrive.
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