LOVECHILD
REMY REWANE FALL/WINTER 2026
As an African from Lagos, Nigeria, you grow up knowing two kinds of beauty. The beauty of Asooke on a ceremonial day, the way the fabric transforms into an agbada or iro and buba tell a story, the understanding that something is being celebrated. And there is the beauty of a perfectly cut suit, a garment that communicated something about who you were choosing to become in the world.
For a long time, I understood these aesthetics as separate systems, the traditional dress carried culture, craft, history and ceremony, contemporary tailoring carried modernity, ambition and individual expression. Lovechild is the result of bridging that gap, a collection built on the idea that the garments we wear can carry multiple histories, meanings, and futures at the same time.
The collection is named for the child born between opposing worlds. It explores what exists between inheritance and invention; between the ceremonial and the contemporary; between what we are given and what we choose for ourselves.
The fabrics used throughout this collection are more than visual references. Asooke, Damask, deconstructed pre-owned denim, worsted wool, deadstock satin, deadstock velvet, organza, and cotton each carry their own histories, memory, labor, and community. I approach them with care, intention, and an awareness of their cultural significance. The Aroko symbols function as a language. The Egungun represents ancestral presence. When these elements appear within the garments, they become vessels for memory, identity, and storytelling.
Sustainability within the collection is approached as a method of construction rather than a marketing gesture. Patchwork coats and reconstructed garments are created from Asooke offcuts and pre-owned denim that would otherwise have been discarded. Knitting, weaving, painting, and hand-finished techniques are deliberately slow, resisting the speed that often makes fashion disposable. The use of biodegradable fabrics reflects a belief that what we create should be capable of returning to the earth without harming it.
Love appears repeatedly throughout the collection. Love Is The Remedy is not simply a slogan, but a belief in empathy and love’s ability to resist division within African societies. Make Love Not War, though familiar, remains urgently relevant in a world shaped by ongoing conflict.
The embroidered Arewa knot appears throughout the collection as a symbol of unity that spans various African traditions. The collection’s Egungun reimagination is a design language, first rendered in ceremonial Damask and cotton, and later in upcycled denim. The fabric changes, but the spirit remains the same. The ancestors are still here, moving through us, wearing whatever we choose to wear now.
Credits
Creative Director: Sadiq Adams
Models: Sabina, Moyosore, Bashiru, Zikorah
Photo: Wilson Onwuka / Eniola Ogedengbe
Hair: Nifemi Larj
Casting: SA casting
