With Tidé Chen Lagos, Ayomitide Evelyn Okungbaye is turning Owo’s Seghosen cloth into modern ready-to-wear, tracing a runway arc from Liverpool to London, then back home to Lagos.
As global fashion continues to look toward culturally rooted design for renewed authenticity, a new generation of designers is reworking heritage textiles for contemporary ready-to-wear. Within this shift, Ayomitidé Evelyn Okungbaye positions Seghosen cloth, native to Owo in Ondo State, not as a ceremonial costume but as a viable modern wardrobe architecture.
Some designers use heritage as a styling cue, and others who build from it, letting textile history dictate proportion, movement, and mood. Ayomitidé Evelyn Okungbaye, Founder and Creative Director of Tidé Chen Lagos, pitches her tent in the second camp. Her work takes fabrics that usually live in “special occasion” territory and threads them into everyday living.
There is a quieter origin story to her fusion of culture into her work. At her birth, her paternal grandmother gifted her mother a shawl made from Seghosen, the handwoven cloth native to her hometown. She did not fully recognise what it was until she was five. The fascination she felt raised a question: why do these textiles only see the light of day when there are ceremonies?
That question became a brand. Okungbaye studied Mathematics at the University of Ilorin, and the discipline shows up in her design process: structured thinking, technical precision, and an insistence on clean finishing. She started Tidé Chen Lagos with a clear aim: “I wanted to bring indigenous fabrics like Aso-oké and other handwoven textiles into everyday wardrobes.” Because, too often, these clothes are wrapped, draped, celebrated once, then stored away.
Her values are consistent: authenticity, cultural storytelling, and craftsmanship. She is clear about what cannot shift: fabric integrity, silhouette quality, and thoughtful finishing. The clothes can be playful and expressive, but never careless. And she rejects the familiar assumption that her work is only for brides or for “big days.” She began with traditional bridal design, yes, but ready-to-wear is the point now. Tidé Chen Lagos offers pieces made for daily life, work, and social plans without diluting the heritage.
That intention sharpened on the runway, internationally. Her ready-to-wear debut, Sengwa: A Woven Realities Tale, landed at London Fashion Day (Season 6), following a Liverpool showcase, before returning home to Lagos as Woven Realities for African Fashion Week Nigeria. Over the months following these shows, editorial coverage has continued to reflect her journey, brand evolution, and growing influence within African ready-to-wear.
The arc matters because it frames what she is trying to prove: Seghosen can travel and still hold meaning inside modern silhouettes that make sense on a global runway.
At the London showcase, the weaving is the anchor, not surface decoration. Handwoven Seghosen and Aso-oke carry the collection’s weight as the main structure rather than trims. You see the brand’s signature emerging: bold colour clashes, playful reinterpretations, and shapes that read “ready-to-wear” rather than ceremonial reenactment.
Aso-oke has become the dominant reference point for Nigerian textile revival, and Okungbaye’s insistence on centring Seghosen introduces a lesser-seen fabric into the international conversation. The move signals both preservation and expansion, widening the vocabulary of African ready-to-wear on global runways.
She said the collection is “rooted in my Owo heritage, woven memory, and modern expression.” Her clearest thesis piece is a two-piece set: trousers, a draped half-Seghosen skirt layered over them, and a matching Aso-oke top. It captures what Tidé Chen Lagos does best: bold but functional, culturally rooted but modern, the kind of look that can be worn as a full statement or broken apart and restyled.
Okungbaye says that this debut is foundation-setting: precise tailoring and finishing on the technical side, a confident reinterpretation of “hidden” indigenous textiles on the creative side, and versatility that can speak to local and international clients on the commercial side. Since then, her work has continued to highlight her innovation, sustained impact, and contribution to the broader African ready-to-wear conversation globally. Beyond her own label, she also customises woven fabrics for other fashion brands, which quietly signals an ecosystem approach.
