To Have and to Hold: Angela Oluwabunmi

The Kaduna Fashion and Art Festival (KAFART) is back this year for its 6th overall edition and 1st edition as a biennial. The theme is “To Have and to Hold.” We had earlier spoken to the festival director, Ganiyat Sani, about what this edition promises. We spotlight some of the exhibiting artists and designers, asking them questions about their creative origins, their distinct interpretations of the theme, and how their heritage and local communities shape the narratives they choose to preserve against the threat of erasure

Take us back to where your relationship with fashion began. What are your earliest memories of making, wearing or being around clothes, and who or what first made you feel that designing was something you could do, and perhaps needed to do?

My relationship with fashion began in Nigeria, where I first gained access to the world of garment-making and discovered that creating clothes could be more than a skill; it could be a way of expressing myself. I started with practical experience, learning how garments were constructed and how ideas could be translated into something tangible. 

My studies in Industrial Fashion Design at Yaba College of Technology deepened that relationship. I explored different materials and processes, from tie-dye and weaving to hand-knitting and working with unconventional materials. 

Over time, I became interested in what clothing could communicate beyond its appearance. My experiences between Nigeria and the UK have shaped how I understand identity, belonging and the things we carry with us. Nojolie grew from that desire to tell stories through clothing, using textiles as a way to explore personal history, cultural memory and the connections between places. 

This year’s theme, “To Have and to Hold,” asks what we choose to hold, what we let go, and the cost of holding on. When you first sat with those words, what did they stir in you, and how do they show up in the pieces you’re bringing to KAFART?

“To Have and to Hold” immediately makes me think about the things we carry that cannot always be seen. We often think of holding on to physical objects, but we also hold memories, traditions, relationships and parts of ourselves that have been shaped by where we come from. 

Migration has made me particularly aware of this. My journey back to the country where I was born took more than 20 years and involved cancelled passports, refusals and long periods of uncertainty. Those experiences have influenced how I think about borders, belonging and what it means to call somewhere home. 

Through Nojolie, I explore how these experiences can be translated into textiles and garments. For me, holding on does not necessarily mean remaining in one place. Sometimes, it means carrying your identity with you, even as your surroundings change.

Tell us about the collection, or the pieces you’re showing. What is the story behind them, and what do you hope someone feels or understands when they see them being worn?

My collection, Void Paths, explores migration, cultural identity, memory and belonging. It draws from the experience of moving between places while carrying the history of where you come from.

One of the central ideas behind the collection is the journey people experience before they even leave their home country. Passport applications, cancellations, visa refusals and the uncertainty surrounding migration can become part of a person’s story long before they reach their destination. 

I translated these ideas into passport-inspired batik prints as you see on the Onome set and reversible jacket, winding lines that reference routes and borders, and visual elements connected to my Nigerian heritage. I combine these textile narratives with contemporary silhouettes to create garments that are wearable while still carrying meaning. 

I hope people see more than the finished garment. I want them to consider the stories that travel with us, the experiences that shape our identities and the different meanings of home. Although the collection comes from my own experiences, I believe these themes can resonate with anyone who has experienced change, distance or the feeling of belonging to more than one place.

Take us through how a piece comes to life, from the first spark of an idea to the moment you know it’s finished. Which fabrics, techniques, rituals or habits are essential to you, and is there anything about your process that would surprise people?

My process often begins with a memory, an observation or a question I want to explore. Rather than starting with a silhouette alone, I think about the story I want the garment or textile to communicate and then consider which materials and techniques might express it best. 

Textile development is an important part of my practice. I work with techniques such as batik, tie-dye, hand painting, embellishment and fabric manipulation. I am particularly interested in how marks, textures and patterns can communicate something that words sometimes cannot. 

I also enjoy working with reclaimed materials and exploring how existing textiles can be given another life. For me, material choice is not simply about appearance; it is also about the history, possibilities and limitations of the material itself. 

A piece feels finished when the garment, its construction and its story come together. I want the clothing to function as something people can wear, but I also want the details to reward a closer look.

KAFART 6 asks what endures in the face of erasure and forgetting. Is there a story, tradition, technique or memory from your culture, family or community that you feel is at risk of being lost, and how does your work help you hold onto it?

As someone with Urhobo roots from Delta State, I feel strongly about preserving cultural knowledge that may not always receive the visibility it deserves within contemporary fashion. 

For me, heritage is not only found in traditional dress. It also lives in textile techniques, the ways fabrics are wrapped and worn, the materials available within a community, and the knowledge passed between generations through making and everyday life.

I want Nojolie to contribute to keeping these connections visible while allowing them to evolve. I am interested in bringing references to my heritage into contemporary garments without treating culture as something frozen in the past. 

Through Void Paths, I explore how cultural identity can travel with us. Looking ahead, I also want to investigate local materials, plant-derived colour and traditional textile practices connected to Delta State, learning how these resources and techniques can inform new work. 

For me, preservation is not simply about looking backwards. It is about making sure that what we inherit can continue to be understood, practised and reimagined.

KAFART platforms creatives from Northern Nigeria and beyond. What does it mean to you to show your work here, and how has your community, your city and the way you grew up shaped the way you design?

Showing my work at KAFART is an opportunity to share my perspective with a wider creative community and to contribute to conversations about African identity, heritage and contemporary design. 

Growing up in Nigeria shaped my earliest access to fashion and introduced me to the practical side of making. My experiences in the UK have since given me another perspective on identity, migration and belonging. Moving between these experiences has influenced how I approach design and how I understand the relationship between culture and clothing. 

I am particularly interested in creating work that allows my heritage to be part of contemporary fashion conversations. I want to contribute to a wider understanding of the different cultures, histories and sustainable creative practices that exist across Nigeria. 

For me, platforms such as KAFART are important because they create space for creatives to share their work, learn from one another and bring different perspectives into the same conversation.

Looking beyond this festival, what is the collection or piece you haven’t made yet that excites you most, and what do you hope people carry with them after experiencing your work at KAFART?

I am excited to explore the relationship between fashion, natural materials and cultural knowledge more deeply. I want to investigate plant-derived dyes, locally available resources and traditional textile practices connected to Africa, particularly how these can inform contemporary design and more thoughtful approaches to making. 

I am also interested in how technology can support this process, from visualising ideas to documenting textile experiments, without losing the human touch and knowledge involved in craftsmanship.

Ultimately, I want Nojolie to grow into a brand recognised for its storytelling, material exploration and cultural perspective. I want to create garments that feel relevant to contemporary life while holding space for the histories and identities that shape us. 

If people leave KAFART thinking differently about the stories behind what they wear, or recognising something of their own journey in my work, then I will feel that the collection has done something meaningful.