419 Collective

Comprising three brands by designers Olubiyi Thomas, Foday Dumbuya (Labrum London), Daniel Olatunji (Monad London), 419 Collective describe themselves as “more of an ethos, or a way of thinking… more based around creativity, and craft, rather than just design.” Working alongside Modern Matter founder Olu Odukoya and wunderkind Ibrahim Kamara, their project continues their missive to subvert African stereotypes – which has, thus far, included their very name, referring to the section of the Nigerian Criminal Code that deals with fraud, alongside their determination to champion the continent’s traditional textiles and craftwork outside of the conventional aesthetics associated with diasporic fashion. “We wanted to avoid using black models because it’s trending,” explains Olatunji. “We’re making a sort of parody of the current state of the industry," continues Thomas. “You see big fashion houses pick certain faces for a certain reason, rather than simply believing that that’s just the way it should be. We just thought it would be quite funny to have an all-African creative collective having an all-white model casting.”