The Rise and Rise of Banke Kuku

Building a cultish following

“When I moved back to Nigeria to be closer to my inspiration, everyone was like, ‘Oh my, these prints, I want to wear them,’” Kuku says. And that is how the label started. The first few designs were pajamas, loungewear and kaftans she made to help enliven the drab living experience many had during COVID-19. “It was really making people happy at a time when everyone was depressed,” Kuku says. “And when the lockdown lifted, people wanted to wear more dressy pieces so I had to kind of elevate the pajamas and create pieces that people could wear out as well as stay true to what we were doing.”

Those people now make up Kuku’s fanbase of sorts known as the Kukutribe. She sits amidst a small group of Nigerian designers adorned with ardent and ever-reverent followers; it’s a fairly new cultural concept that turns beloved designers into subcultures.

“Kukutribe is what I call the people who support me offline and online. I really feel like they are my army. It’s been amazing to experience so much love from my Kukutribe,” she says. “Not just from them wearing my clothes, but from the supportive messages that come in just at the right time, to the way they uplift my brand. I’m so grateful to have this community. They are so strong that I couldn’t help but name them.”

Beyond the seasonless, ever-timely approach to her designs, Kuku has stood out for the brilliance of her textiles. Her materials are boldly colorful, featuring deep blues and bright pinks. Their particularity makes the people who wear her clothing feel as though they are part of a cultural sensibility; one that is closely tied to the way Nigerians love to express themselves through fashion; bright, colorful and tasteful.

Her design process, she tells OkayAfrica, is often nature-inspired and unfailingly begins with a strong concept. After fleshing out the concept with her team, “We start to collect images, we go to different places, we get raw research, and then we start to think, ‘Okay, is this working?’ And then we start to create the designs. So if the concept is not strong, then I find that my designs are kind of weak because I'm just not that inspired by it,” she says.

Cross-continental collaborations

Despite growing up with a stylish mother, Kuku never saw herself venturing into the garment-making side of the fashion industry. So, when Gabrielle Union reached out to her for a collaboration in commemoration of the actress’ 50th birthday, Kuku couldn’t, at first, believe it was real. “[Her team] messaged me. And I was like, ‘Okay, can we have a phone conversation?’ Just to confirm. We had a phone conversation and they asked me what I was interested in. I still wasn't sure. So, I was like, ‘Can you give me 24 hours?’ I didn't know I could even deliver, so I had to be sure before I confirmed. It was such an easy collaboration because she's such an easy person. She loved the fact it was from Nigeria and it was like her exploring her roots. I was so honored she even trusted me; she [had] never met me before,” she says.

The reception from the collaboration, Kuku says, was monumental. “It was amazing and we got a lot of support from America. People know more about Nigeria because it was a Nigerian-inspired print.”

New collection and Lagos Fashion Week

With only months away from this year’s Lagos Fashion Week, Kuku is hard at work on her next presentation. Although still nature-inspired, Kuku says she is exploring, through a narrative-driven design, what the future could look like when we care deeply about our environment.

She is at the most tense stage of her design process, when she is evaluating past works and creating new concepts. No matter how big the business has grown, how many more hats she now has to wear, Kuku finds herself returning to her first love; textile design. “You know when you first start and it's like a blank piece of paper, it's so intimidating.” Still, it’s the most fascinating process for her.

As she prepares for her next showcase at Lagos Fashion Week, she finds that the collection, which features a lot of prints, has challenged her in virtually every way possible. “Eden [collection] has been so successful, I had to challenge myself to do even better,” she says. “The pressure has been very real. The concept is new and dives deeper into the ethos of the brand, which is occasional loungewear. I love it and I hope everyone does too.”

These days, Kuku spends most of her time, “Traveling to countries where [her] brand is present to meet customers and also introduce [her] brand through pop-ups.”

At the end of our interview, Kuku leads me back to the main studio floor. It’s morning still but the store is already abuzz. On the walls, white silk fabrics with scribbles of the word “kuku” sit snugly. And, in a show of dedication to the women and men whom she designs for, a neon sign that reads “#Kukutribe” sits at the top of the only mirror in the main studio floor. It’s easy to imagine that when people try on a Banke Kuku outfit in front of it, they are invited to be and to stay a part of the vibrant subculture the label has grown into.