Nigerian Designer Mai Atafo is Taking a Subversive Approach to His Upcoming Show

“I’m trying to create a deeper connection to the people that matter,” Atafo tells OkayAfrica a week before the event. “It’s a fashion show where you engage your five senses. For once, you’re allowed to come close to the garments, and you’re allowed to touch the garments.”

The other senses incorporated in the show, from smell to taste and hearing, are designed to propose a lifestyle of effortless charm and cultivated taste to the guests and, in Atafo’s frank estimation, the people at the heart of his brand.

In an industry teeming with ambitious designers, Atafo has set himself apart for elevating the ordinary and creating pieces designed to last. “I don’t expect you to buy a black suit from me and come and buy another one next year,” Atafo says. “If you own my suit for 10 years, that’s my role in sustainability. I have garments that are 15 years old that I still wear, and they’re as good as the first day.”

The corporate executive turned designer began his career in fashion by making suits before branching out to bridals and further expanding into men’s and womenswear. Atafo’s ethos, more than anything, is to make clothing that people yearn for, and despite working for over a decade in the industry, this task still keeps him on his toes.

Finding a language

Atafo maintains his position on tasteful craftsmanship and subtle playfulness for his upcoming collection. Pockets typically found on jackets will be incorporated into shirts. Suit fabrics will be used for shirts, and a few garments will be made from the technically challenging silk fabric. “It’s almost like twisting people’s heads a little bit,” Atafo says.

With a catalog of suits and caftans, Atafo has developed a language that appeals to an older generation, or at least a clientele that values the classics. “A large percentage of my clothes are kind of designed with me as the key factor. It’s what I would like and what I would want to wear that [inspires] it,” he admits. Despite this understanding, Atafo sees himself redefining that language to include and serve younger audiences sometime soon. The way he envisions it, Atafo (the brand)will remain dedicated to its established ethos but will lend itself to a fresh sensibility with the creation of a subdivision in the brand dedicated to a young audience. “I’ve always felt like designing sneakers, and I have a strong idea for what I want to design, which I think will catch fire,” he says.

Years of experience have given Atafo a strong sense of responsibility for changing how people see and engage with Nigerian fashion. That feeling comes from observing how modern Nigerian fashion hasn’t completely integrated into how people dress daily. It’s still an industry where pieces are designed as costumes, and profitability is still on stilts. “I want young designers to start thinking about fashion as a business, not something that gets the buzz,” he says.

Atafo posits that this sense of impracticality also affects the industry’s potential. Nigeria’s fashion industry is projected to make $1.84 billion in 2029. In comparison, LVMH, one of the world’s leading fashion conglomerates, reported revenues of $93.7 billion in 2023.

For Atafo, who has seen the industry evolve in unprecedented ways while garnering global attention, the goal is for Nigerian fashion to significantly contribute to the country’s socio-economic growth beyond its current status while empowering local communities.

Activating the senses

Atafo is constantly finding new ways to tell stories. It’s why he often turns to music as an alternative means of communication. Music is heavily featured in his runway shows and will be a fixture at his upcoming presentation. “Music is my first love, and if I could sing, I would be a performer and not a fashion designer,” he says. “You do not communicate with one thing; everything has to be multi-sensory. If somebody is wearing a particular garment and some music is playing in the background, you appreciate it even more because it takes you to a place where that garment fits.”

This belief is also why styling and editing are Atafo’s favorite aspects of preparing for a show. At that stage, he can assess how the garment looks on the model and how it makes the model feel, reflecting how it will feel to the eventual owner. “You can tell from the look on the model’s face when she wears it and doesn’t want to take it off, or she’s already trying to catwalk,” Atafo says. And at his upcoming show, it is this feeling of sheer delight, of rebecoming, that he aims to elicit.