Nigerian fashion designer Aderogba Alqawil Adeyemi is pioneering an innovative approach to contemporary fashion through an exhibition-led practice that shifts garments from traditional runways into public spaces. Operating under his label KAFAMO, Adeyemi has developed a unique methodology that treats clothing as cultural material, deeply influenced by environment, movement, and social interaction.
Exploring Identity Through Football Jerseys
His recent body of work, inspired by football jerseys and produced across Barcelona and Paris, delves into how fashion functions within shared public experiences. This project draws on themes of migration, collective identity, and the global circulation of cultural symbols, using the visual language of football jerseys as a central reference point.
Barcelona: Camp Nou as a Conceptual Site
In Barcelona, the project was situated at Camp Nou Stadium, one of the most iconic sites in global football culture. The garments were photographed within an active public environment characterized by movement, informal interactions, and international crowds. This setting positioned the clothing within lived social conditions rather than controlled fashion spaces, reinterpreting the jersey form to explore identity as a collective experience.
Camp Nou served as a conceptual site where sport, globalization, and cultural belonging intersect, reinforcing the project's emphasis on context and participation. The garments were presented as part of everyday public life, interacting with people and space instead of serving as objects of spectacle.
Paris: Urban Landscapes and Diasporic Negotiation
The second phase unfolded in Paris, including locations around Montmartre. Here, the work engaged with an urban landscape shaped by migration, artistic production, and layered cultural histories. Paris-based participants featured in the imagery, situating the project within contemporary European creative communities rather than a nationally defined narrative.
In Paris, the garments were placed within public streets instead of institutional fashion venues, aligning with Adeyemi's focus on accessibility and social encounter. The city functioned as a space of diasporic negotiation, where African identity, European urban life, and global fashion systems converge.
Visual Research Over Commercial Presentation
Across both locations, the project avoided the polished aesthetic typical of editorial fashion photography. Instead, the images documented garments in motion within unpredictable public environments, positioning the work as visual research rather than commercial presentation.
Cross-Cultural References and Global Connections
The project incorporates layered cross-cultural references, including Nigerian identity markers and a Brazilian samba-inspired jersey that acknowledges Brazil's historical influence on global football culture. These elements connect Africa, Europe, and South America within a single visual framework, highlighting how culture circulates through sport, music, and dress.
Fashion as Socially Embedded Practice
Adeyemi's work does not function as a seasonal collection or market-driven release, with no emphasis on commercial readiness or consumer targeting. Instead, it aligns with exhibition-based fashion practices where garments operate as material research and cultural discourse.
Through this body of work, Adeyemi continues to position fashion as a socially embedded practice, using public space and culturally charged sites to examine identity, movement, and collective experience. His approach reflects a growing trend in contemporary fashion that prioritizes context, research, and cultural dialogue over spectacle and conventional industry structures.
