King Charles III at Tolu Coker and the Debut of Brand63Africa at London Fashion Week
- By Guzangs
When King Charles III took his front row seat at Tolu Coker’s Fall-Winter 2026 show at 180 Strand on Thursday, he was watching tartan. But not the kind that belongs to the Crown. Coker’s tartans are Yoruba colour codes cut into pleated school skirts and oversized coats, the uniform of a South London block reimagined as something between aspiration and defiance. The collection is called “Survivor’s Remorse.”
Coker, a Central Saint Martins graduate and 2025 LVMH Prize finalist, is a former beneficiary of the King’s Trust. She called it a full circle moment. The King sat beside BFC CEO Laura Weir and Stella McCartney, applauding as models moved past in deadstock denim, upcycled leather, and reclaimed satin.
But the runway was only half the story.
Before the show, Charles toured the debut presentation of Brand63Africa, meeting the platform’s inaugural cohort of five designer brands. Christie Brown from Ghana. Abiola Olusola from Nigeria. Sukeina from Senegal. Studio Namnyak from Kenya. The Cloth from Trinidad and Tobago. Each designer presented a look directly to the monarch.
Brand63Africa is the work of Eva Omaghomi CVO, a cultural strategist who spent 17 years advising the Royal Household before founding a platform designed to connect designers of African heritage with global luxury retail. Harrods has signed on as official retail partner, with AW26/27 looks from the cohort to be stocked exclusively in-store. The Creative Committee is chaired by Vanessa Kingori OBE and includes Harrods Managing Director Michael Ward, former CFDA president CaSandra Diggs, and LVMH Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Vanessa Moungar.
The platform takes its name from 1963, the year the African Union was formed. Its development was supported by The Circular Bioeconomy Alliance, which the King established as Prince of Wales in 2020.