Onalaja Unveils Re:Birth at London Fashion Week After Studio Fire

Nigerian-British designer Kanyinsola Onalaja presented her Spring/Summer 2027 collection, Re:Birth, at London Fashion Week on Sunday, September 20, marking her first appearance on the event’s official calendar. The presentation came two months after a fire destroyed her London studio, warehouse and more than a decade of her work.

The fire at Onalaja’s studio and warehouse in northwest London destroyed past collections, samples, fabrics, sketchbooks, bespoke commissions and wholesale orders. Her mother had also recently sent her Istituto Marangoni graduate collection to London, along with pieces from some of her earlier collections. Those pieces were lost in the fire as well. The blaze reportedly lasted four days before it was extinguished.

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After the fire, Onalaja moved into a new studio and continued working towards London Fashion Week. She also returned to an unfinished 2020 project called Rising From the Ashes. The idea became the starting point for Re:Birth, with the collection drawing from the fire and what came after it.

Re:Birth is divided into three stages, The Burn, The Ash and The Rebirth. The opening looks use burnt orange shades and textures inspired by glowing embers. The colours then shift to smoky grey and black before brighter shades and flashes of light appear in the final stage.

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Handwork runs through the collection, with broken beads, fringe and feathers used across several pieces. Embroidery, fabric painting and dyeing bring Yoruba and Edo influences into the designs, while Onalaja’s 1970s-inspired “disco glam” style appears in the heavily embellished occasionwear.

The label also offers an extended size range. Onalaja’s official London Fashion Week profile lists sizes from XXS to XXXXL and describes the brand as focused on demi-couture womenswear, embroidery and embellishment. Founded in 2014, the label has dressed celebrities including Tems, Olivia Dean and Ciara.

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Rather than recreate what was lost, Re:Birth turns the experience into a new beginning, moving from the imagery of fire and ash towards colour, light and renewal