Mutayo Ekiye Brings Her Nigerian Heritage to New York Fashion Week

For New York Fashion Week Fall-Winter 2023, the brand Negris LeBrum tapped Mutayo Ekiye for a collaboration for the showing of their new collection. In October of 2022, Mutayo Ekiye launched a collection that consisted of totes, handbags, minis, and wallets. It came with the Ada tote bags, Adora mini totes, the Oma handbag, and lastly the Oma wallets. The collaboration featured a presentation and party featuring celebrity photographer Nigel Barker on Friday, February 10, and the Negris LeBrum runway show featuring several of the Mutayo Ekiye collection on Saturday, February 11, 2023.

With her Nigerian heritage as a base for her creativity, her crocodile and caviar leather handbags are made to last a lifetime. Almost all of her products come in the colors red, black, white, green, beige and burnt orange. The standout from the collection is the Oma handbag that includes a brass clasp with a headpiece drawing of an African woman which symbolizes the beauty of Africa.

Ekiye’s luxury handbag designs are chic and modern with an Afrocentric touch. Each handbag comes with its own personality, and the design and shape of the Ada tote and Adora mini has a personality all it’s own. In an interview with Fashion Mingle, Ekiye mentions that Adora means “beloved one” and Oma means “beauty” in the Igbo Nigerian language. 

Negris LeBrum, a black owned brand founded by Travis Hamilton, is deeply inspired by his southern creole roots and a forbidden love story of a woman who lived in his hometown of Natchitoches, LA.  Each collection pays homage to Miss LeBrum as well as the color black, and the campaign’s slogan “Le noir est Joli ” translates to “Black is Beautiful ”. Both Negris LeBrum and Mutayo Ekiye’s backgrounds are important to their brands. Their celebration of Blackness and Black women is evident in their work, no wonder they joined together for the perfect collaboration.

Image by Roy Anthony Morrison/Photosoul Media

With this huge opportunity for showcasing her work, Ekiye hopes to expose the world of fashion to her lovely and unique designs, and was recently featured in the Parisian publication Madame Figaro.  “I plan for MUTAYO EKIYE to become a household name in fashion. I hope for it to be a brand people love and that tells the story of African history because I truly believe fashion is history” says Ekiye.

Learn more about the brand and its handbag collection at www.mutayoekiye.com.