Afeez Aromire weaves Yoruba culture into modern fashion

By Isaac Joseph Inyang

Nigeria moves fast, always chasing the future. But Afeez Oladimeji Aromire? He’s the man quietly stitching yesterday into today. Picture this: spools of Aṣọ Òkè, sewing machines buzzing, Yoruba chants humming in the background. That’s Aromire’s world, the force behind the International Sustainable Fashion Festival (ISFFest) and the founder of Ewi Mi Fashion Village. People call him a designer, a cultural innovator, all that. But if you ask him, once the crowds go home and the lights go out, he’s just a storyteller, a man grounded in Yoruba roots, using his craft to heal, protect, and reinvent what it means to belong.

Across Nigeria, the rhythm of tradition is fading. Western influences dominate music, language, and even clothing, while moral values once held sacred by communities slip away. From the erosion of respect for elders to the rising wave of moral decadence among youths, much of what defined African identity has been traded for fleeting trends. Culture, once a compass of discipline and communal pride, now fights for survival in a world obsessed with “what’s new.”

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Aromire saw this loss firsthand. His turning point came not from a runway or a classroom, but from a sound one haunting note from a Yoruba flute during a performance that struck a deep, ancient nerve. That feeling lingered, and in 2018, it inspired Ewi Mi Entertainments, which later grew into Ewi Mi Fashion Village.

He explains: “The more I saw all that waste, the more I realized sustainability could be our bridge, a way to hold onto heritage and tackle real environmental problems. That’s when culture stopped being just art for me. It became a mission.”

For Aromire, Ewi Mi isn’t just a fashion brand. It’s a cultural space where sustainability, creativity, and Yoruba storytelling meet. The platform blends fashion with art, poetry, and performance using design as a form of advocacy for both the environment and heritage.

ISFFest, launched by Aromire, is a cornerstone of this mission. The festival is a platform that celebrates African fashion, culture, and sustainability all at once. It brings together young designers, artisans, and cultural enthusiasts to showcase creative work that fuses traditional fabrics, like Aṣọ Òkè, with contemporary styles. Beyond fashion shows, the festival hosts workshops, panels, and discussions on heritage, sustainability, and identity.

Reflecting on ISFFest’s purpose, Aromire says: “Young Nigerians aren’t wearing Western clothes because they hate their roots. They’re just cut off from them. ISFFest makes culture cool and profitable again. It connects pride to purpose, creativity to identity.”

At the heart of Aromire’s mission lies Aṣọ Òkè once reserved only for ceremonies and weddings, now reborn as a symbol of daily identity. “People thought Aṣọ Òkè belonged only at ‘Owambe’ events… We had to prove Aṣọ Òkè could be urban, minimal, gender-fluid, even techy. Now, when I see young folks rocking Aṣọ Òkè jackets and caps daily, I know we’re rewriting what identity means.”

That transformation carries a moral message too. Where many youths once hid their heritage, chasing Western validation, Aromire sees them rediscovering dignity and purpose through culture.

“When culture turns to confidence, everything shifts,” he says. For him, sustainability is not just a modern fashion concept, it’s ancient Yoruba wisdom re-emerging. “It’s more than upcycling. Its value, reimagined. In Yoruba culture, sustainability means don’t trash the world you’ll leave behind.”

Technology, in his view, isn’t the enemy of culture but the new talking drum, a tool to echo ancestral values across borders if used with intention.

Aromire isn’t alone. Across Africa, creative minds like Lisa Folawiyo, Rich Mnisi, and Loza Maléombho are re-stitching history into modern design, showing that heritage can walk the runway without losing its soul. Together, they represent a quiet resistance, one that says culture is not a relic but a revolution.

Ask Aromire to sum up Yoruba culture in three words, and he doesn’t hesitate: “Ìmò (Wisdom), Ìtàn (Story), and Ìbáṣepọ̀ (Collaboration).”

And for the young generation worried that embracing culture makes them look old-fashioned, he has a warning: “Culture won’t make you look outdated. Ignorance will. Don’t run from your roots, polish them.”

In a nation racing toward the future, Aromire’s work stands as proof that heritage is not a relic to be shelved. It is alive, evolving, and transformative. Through ISFFest, Ewi Mi, and storytelling, he is showing Nigeria and Africa that remembering who we are is not only brave, it is modern, empowering, and necessary.