What Happens When Nigerian, Brazilian and British Identity Meet in Fashion? Torishéju Dumi Has an Answer
Who is Torishéju Dumi? Meet the British-Nigerian-Brazilian designer behind the Torishéju label, from Central Saint Martins to Paris Fashion Week.
Minutes before her latest Paris show, Torishéju Dumi walked through the backstage of the Salle Wagram in a tiny knitted jumper, a poodle tucked under her arm. The scene captures the British designer in her own space, unapologetically her.
Only a few designers can hold Nigerian, Brazilian and British heritage in a single wardrobe. Dumi does it with deadstock fabric, folklore and a sharp tailoring eye.
Who Is Torishéju Dumi?
Torishéju Dumi is a London-born fashion designer and the founder of the Torishéju label. She was born in Harlesden, north-west London, to a Nigerian mother and a Nigerian-Brazilian father. She grew up in Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire. She is one of the most closely watched Black British designers working today.
Her design language starts at home. Her mother's love of 19th-century art and décor gave her an early eye for ornament. Her Catholic upbringing added the priestly garments she saw at Mass, which she has named as one of her first brushes with fashion.
Her father and grandfather often wore traditional dress, which taught her to see clothes beyond Western rules of gender. She lost her father in her teens and images from his youth remain a source of inspiration.
Education and Training: From London College of Fashion to Céline
Dumi studied fashion design at De Montfort University for a year, before going ahead to get a BA in Menswear from London College of Fashion in 2018.
She worked at Céline under Phoebe Philo and at Ann Demeulemeester, with further experience at Giles Deacon and Sibling London.
She joined the Sarabande Foundation, set up by Lee Alexander McQueen, and completed an MA in Fashion Design at Central Saint Martins in 2021.
That graduate collection caught the eye of Vogue contributing editor, Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, who became her mentor.
Mami Wata: How the Torishéju Label Began
Dumi launched Torishéju in 2022. Her first collection, Mami Wata, arrived in 2023. It drew on Nigerian and South American folklore and was made entirely from deadstock fabric.
Dover Street Market, her childhood dream stockist, bought the collection across all seven of its stores. The Metropolitan Museum of Art later acquired pieces for its2024 Sleeping Beauties exhibition.
Torishéju Dumi at Paris Fashion Week
Her runway debut came in October 2023 at the Shangri-La hotel in Paris. Naomi Campbell opened the show and Paloma Elsesser closed it. She was reported to be the only Black designer on the Paris schedule that season.
The collection reworked the Nigerian lappa wrap into draped, knotted silhouettes with British tailoring.
Winning the LVMH Savoir-Faire Prize
In 2025, Dumi rose from more than 2,300 applicants to win the Savoir-Faire Prize at the LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers. The award came with 200,000 euros and a mentorship programme.
Central Saint Martins also awarded her an honourary doctorate in July 2025. Her work has since been placed in the context of sustainable British design, thanks to its steady use of deadstock and vintage fabric.
Celebrity Fans: Kendall Jenner, Zendaya and Olivia Cooke
Dumi's clothes have reached some of fashion's biggest stages. At the 2025 Met Gala, Kendall Jenner wore a custom Torishéju skirt suit with a plunging neckline, inspired by Gladys Bentley and the women of the Harlem Renaissance. Its sculptural draping knotted at the back as an acknowledgement to Nigerian wrapper traditions.
Zendaya has also worn the label, and Olivia Cooke and Jack Harlow are among those linked to it.
Panem and Circenses: The Spring/Summer 2027 Collection
Her fourth Paris show, held on September 29, 2026, turned the Salle Wagram into what Numéro described as a strange theatre.
The collection, titled Panem and Circenses, borrows a phrase from the Roman poet Juvenal and explores the uncanny valley.
Dumi framed it as a comment on social media culture. "We live in a circus and we are all performers," she said backstage.
Wedding dresses appeared splashed with spray paint, fabrics were slashed, and a tuxedo jacket's tails became a skirt worn over trousers.
Working with Nike, she shredded the brand's deadstock clothing and sewed it back together into a new material. She called it the first collection where she had truly found her path.
What Is Next for Torishéju Dumi?
Dumi has spoken of wanting to lead a major fashion house one day. If she succeeds, it would make her a rare Black woman in that role.
She also describes herself as someone who would rather play the long game. Her studio sits within Sarabande's north London space and her label keeps expanding.