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In fashion, outfits created without timelessness in mind can sometimes feel boring and predictable. But when created to span seasons, it becomes more useful and interesting.
Igboya SS24 collection has been specifically designed for all seasons, whether cold, hot, or even the harmattan. But there is more to creating the type of pieces that serve seasons alone than their concept.
The creative vision behind this fashion house is rooted in a strong commitment to presenting authentic African stories through design.
These stories are not treated as simple inspirations, but as meaningful expressions of history, tradition and contemporary identity. Through its work, cute saint creates clothing that reflects adaptability, sustainability and a more conscious approach to fashion consumption.
Through its creative direction, the fashion house reflects both current style movements and a forward-looking vision of what fashion can become in form, mood and visual identity. Each look is designed to leave a stronger and more memorable impression than the last, which is why the collection stands out as a refined and compelling presentation that exceeds expectations.
I will examine each outfit in this article from two perspectives. The design language evaluation involves carefully analysing the details of each outfit alongside the design signature and the concept or inspiration behind it. I will also compare this brand’s unique collection with other brands.
To have a better understanding of this collection, the outfits will be grouped by their distinctive design signatures and themes.
So, without further ado, let me introduce the first creation for the day.
Which is what I call Sisi Pèlèbè, a local slang used by the Lagosians in Western Nigeria. This outfit is a breakaway for hot seasons.
It is simple, light, and easy to wear. It can be worn to casual events, adorned with wrist and neck accessories. The simple outfit has an asymmetrical slip that combines classy corset elements with casual utility details.
It has a fitted sweetheart neckline with straps I like to call spaghetti-strap, with a decent cut. You can even see a distinct bustier cupping and vertical panelling across the torso.
This dress is a lightweight, flowing material that resembles a silk blend, satin, or soft jeans. The fabric is made with an organic, marbled tie-dye pattern mixed with mid-tone blue and mottled patches.
This is the type of outfit Lagos babes like to wear, which signifies ‘present’. With this outfit, the wearer is confident, warm, and inviting.
The dress is fitted at the waist and hip before releasing into the asymmetrical handkerchief hemline. This piece can be compared to outfits in a fashion house like Tongoro. They are widely known for their great use of dramatic prints. But in this collection, the designer surpass that. They ensure that this dress addresses more than just the high-end of the contemporary women’s wear market.
Making it is softer, romantic, stylish, comfortable, easy to wear, and with a more deconstructed approach.
This garment shows how casual, organic textile methods like tie-dye can be used successfully to elevate a simple casual wear into an evening dress. But this outfit is only more appreciated in the hot season, the designer should perhaps consider adopting a cup shoulder rather than spaghetti straps.
Look at the next one on the list. It is a piece that leaves you curious.
It is an ensemble that includes a black gown with sharp, structured tailoring over an off-white gown. It looks like there is a contrast with the materials for each piece.
The material used for the inner part is a lightweight, stretchy knit with charcoal off-white patterns. It is a form-fitting ankle-length maxi gown with a turtle-neck and long sleeves. The outer structured layer is a black mini gown with a slit that is cut open to her waist.
The designer created the structured layer with spaghetti straps. Probably the designer was contemplating the beauty or relevance of this outfit because the design would have stood out singlehandedly without being created to complement one another, especially with the slight awkwardness it gives.
Looking more closely, the black mini dress is created with a defined sweetheart bustier top, panelled boning on the torso, and an asymmetrical skirt. At the slit, the designer uses a diagonal silver cut down the side of the black overlay, hence exposing a split that contrasts against the patterned dress underneath.
The designer could have made the inner gown length stop at the knee, letting it look so awkward at the ankles. This design gives the wearer no freedom to express her use of accessories.
This design represents that future fashion can be compared to Andrea Iyamah’s structural drapery. Who introduces an explicit punk edge that challenges the standard evening-wear silhouette on the West African runways. But Cute Saint moves away from hyper-glamorous lacing towards a deconstructed grunge.
This outfit is caught between a high societal occasion and the red carpet. It makes a statement even without any adornment. The designer capitalised on the global subversive basics trend with heavy industrial silver zippers and metallic materials. This bridges the gap between delicate resort wear and urban nightlife apparel.
Next is a perfect interpretation of Cute Saint, literally speaking.
This outfit is a three-piece outfit including an inner shirt, a jacket, and trousers. I will be taking the part slowly because of the unique pattern the designer introduced in this outfit.
The outfit reminds me of the king in the Wakanda movie. This is similar to the outfit he wore for a ceremonial event. Perhaps that is what the designer and his team wanted to do: capture our attention with the movie we love.
The jacket is tailored knee-length with rich indigo or deep navy colour. It secures an upright mandarin collar with a hidden button placket and relaxed shoulders.
Looking at the material used in the production of the jacket, it resembles high-quality wool or heavy cotton crepe. The jacket even has unique details imprinted on the sleeve, but it starts from the forearms. The details are made with white embroidered linework looking like a Zebra pattern. It is a deliberate intention imprinted to make this piece not just memorable but historical.
The other outfit in this group has a similar embroidery, giving it a senator-wear kind of vibe in the present day. The piece that the Yoruba people are fond of wearing to weddings and gatherings.
The inner shirt is made from a peak of a light and deep blue pattern. The length of that shirt reaches the thigh with buttons visible beneath the jacket collar and front slit.
The lower part of the outfit has no distinctive design, except for matching the jacket in the same deep indigo colour. In this case, creating a seamless, elongated monochromatic base.
This outfit can be worn for any gathering or occasion, but the hot season would not be friendly to this outfit or the wearer.
This design can be compared to Tokyo James, a fashion house mesmerised by emphasising traditional woven Aso-oke. But Cute Saint softens the shape with a flowing, long-line tunic shape.
Targeting the competition of luxury menswear.
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The designer demonstrate with this outfit that traditional dresses can be transformed into an outfit with an internal luxury format. With the artistic signature, the designer balance minimalist tailoring with raw, organic storytelling.
The next group is a must for people who love simple and classy outfits.
The male outfit looks like a matching set of a button-down shirt and trousers. The designer was quite intentional in cutting structural features of the female piece and the male top. As well as infusing the colour combination of deep teal/forest green with crisp white.
The top part of the male outfit is well-structured. It has long sleeves, a traditional bishop collar, and a straight-cut hemline. Taking a closer look at the male outfit, the collar does not look like the regular collar we know because it is elongated. The tip of the collar is relaxed on the lower part of the shoulders.
Without looking closely, the top can be mistaken for a shirt, but it is actually a jacket because there are no signs of buttons. The jacket has one detail that might be easily overlooked, especially how the design has been built into the fit of the piece. Those details are the flat cargo relaxed pockets on the lower front.
Which are not in the same position, and it is as if their aesthetics depended solely on the main focus.
The designer, however, did not put much effort into the lower part of the outfit. Looking at the pants, they have a slightly slouchy fit around the hips and thighs, with stretchy adjustable chords.
This outfit can be worn to any occasion and is sustainable for every wearer. The female is free to adorn her wrist and neck with accessories. The male’s outfit can, however, be worn by either a male or a female.
This is the kind of outfit that sits at the curveball of streetwear and plays a deeper role in African tradition. The designer display the African history of tie-dye through the lens of Western utility. Thereby elevating the everyday casual-formal, streetwear by introducing artisanal, hand-dyed printing techniques.
The designer was not inclined to the import but intentionally drilled deep into African culture.
When I compared this outfit to the Orange Culture and Bloke fashion, who are known for using sheer silks or open knits to express African Muscularity, Cute Saint transforms the African custom of cotton twill into something raw, functional, and highly structured.
Which brings me to the next sculptural outfit, which is on a totally different level.
It is a one-piece with matching gloves.
In this design, the designer may have made this outfit for high-network individuals, like actresses or artists.
This group forms the swimsuit club, the dramatic kind, with a deep V-neckline that extends down to the underbust. But the male variation is more covered with a round neck and long sleeve crop top for the upper bodice.
In these pieces, the designer adopted extreme side cut-outs to expose the waist and ribs connecting to a high-cut leg button. This outfit has long, trailing straps tied at each end of her waist, hanging past her thigh to add free movement as if connecting the outfit with the tales of the earth.
The material used to make this outfit is very similar to the 2nd piece in this collection.
For me, one thing that makes this piece unique is the detached gloves. The gloves look like the opera-length gloves worn in the 1960s during the British era for parties or ceremonies.
With this outfit, the designer and his team showcase the involvement of Africans with the British people. Infusing such a pattern into the contemporary demand of the fashion market.
This outfit also shows a bit of the past and more of the present trends, expressing the need for outdoor outfits like swimming and beach parties. Which can be seen in the green crochet see-through and black-green jacket.
This piece places Cute Saint in the high-glamour holiday capsule market but often competes intentionally with brands like Savage X Fenty.
There is a daring shift with this outfit using African artisan methods as a steering wheel in the high contemporary, body-conscious silhouettes, and reflecting broader industry movement.
The next outfit looks like a TIV outfit.
With this piece, the designer show that even Africans can style glamorous clothes like Westerners. That is by simply using their own material to create something that can be worn for a formal, causal even a gala occasion.
The outfit features a striking monochromatic midi dress that relies on the geometric contrast and play on stripes. This last but not least outfit is actually made from rich black fabric accented with fine horizontal dashed stripes that look like metallic thread embroidery or deliberate beadwork. It has an asymmetrical neckline that sits slightly off one shoulder.
The garment is a two-piece ensemble of a top and a high-waisted pencil skirt that sharply contrasts with the top. It features a bold, graphic print of parallel white lines running diagonally down the hips and vertically down the legs, creating an optical elongating effect.
It forms a sleek, form-fitting length dress that emphasises a clean, tailored waistline while playing with opposing print directions. A similarity can be found in the male outfit, too.
The designer is very particular about the intentionally structured pattern on the outfit as if they were sending a message to the public.
Such pieces can be compared to the brand like Christie Brown, who has gained mastery at using the vibrant African wax prints to achieve a contrast geometric print. But Cute Saints gained their own mastery of the African Fashion staples by building visual tension through a strictly monochromatic textured colour palette.
The metallic piece highlights the continuous trend of using linear illusion to reshape human proportions. And by clashing a textured, silver-dashed horizontal bodice against bold, diagonal, and vertical pinstripes.
Finally, the highlight, which is the final piece, is a design I have not seen anywhere.
This design is constructed with a sleeveless but thick spaghetti strap and made in a structured A-line mini dress with a clean scoop neckline. The construction of the piece balances a tailored, form-fitting bodice with a slight flare at the thigh-length hemline.
The hands are appliqued onto the chest, radiating outward and curving downward to mimic the skeletal structure of a traditional corset or ribcage. The lower part of the dress features a vertical white rope embroidered, but it looks like a snake-like pattern. The cords extend as the actual fabric hemline, dangling freely but adding texture and movement to the outfit.
The designer created the sleeves as a prominent deconstructed design where the black fabric is detached or pushed down.
In this design, the designer encompass full detailing of storytelling, mixed with Western cuts.
It can be compared to the European fashion house like Iris Van Herpen. However, the Cute Saint pieces are executed through localised, accessible materials that lean far more into experimental than the commercial ready-to-wear.
The introduction of snake-like cords that extend past the hem satisfies the high-fashion runway demand for layered movement, while remaining wearable for high-end editorial styling.
Cute Saint’s latest collection is thoughtfully crafted from deadstock, natural materials, tie-dyed fabric, and conscious techniques. To transform the western utility fabric, sustainability is central, and that purpose is evident in every intentional cut, print, and stitch. It gives every wearer confidence and a striking look, even while conforming to current global trends.
I believe that with great concepts in the silhouette, sustainability will help the brand remain consistent in honouring heritage, respecting the environment, and inspiring more meaningful connections.
By Seun Emmanuel
