Aderonke
Adebayo

Although FDM graduate Aderonke Adebayo’s fashion education is expansive – having interned at Maison Margiela in Paris followed by contemporary menswear brand Our Legacy in Stockholm – it is her isolated upbringing in rural Kent which has had the most tangible influence on her work, affording her the journey to self-realisation which her collection is based upon. ‘My work is about the emotional experiences in navigating artistic expression,’ she explains, ‘I want to bring everything back to the body, back to self-reflection’. Although Adebayo’s collection is still a work in progress to be released later in the year, the garments presented explore duality within her identity, harmonising ‘brokenness and wholeness’ through fragments of lava rock, hematite, wooden beads and Swarovski crystals. It is a textile which becomes as complex and multifaceted as the introspective journey it embodies. Adebayo’s future plans are undecided, yet one thing is for certain; they will not be at the expense of her authenticity.

Ella Slater, BA (Hons) Fashion Journalism
@ella.slater