Toyan

Toyan Oriogun, the true embodiment of a bold woman is also described as an unsung wonder woman in fashion. She has great passion for the artistic aspects of fashion & design and utilises the body as a canvas to explore culture, identity and empowerment. Her ethos has enabled her to create space for amazing women to share their stories and journeys not just through design but community and communication.

TOYAN

Interview by Thomasina R. Legend
Photography: Edvinas Bruzas

All creative people face major challenges which will ultimately make or break them. Witnessing this bold woman fight through and transition both personally and professionally has been nothing short of inspiring. In the words of Robert Schuller: “Tough times don't last, tough people do.”

Head Designer of Lonseluet, Toyan Oriogun, founded her fashion label in 2014 and saw her first Canvas Collection featured in Vogue Italia whilst studying Fashion Design.

After completing her studies, Toyan re-launched the label and has since watched it evolve into a symbol of identity, empowerment and the celebration of womanhood.

Specialising in bespoke pieces tailored for evening and occasional womenswear, the signature digital print portraits encourage women to celebrate culture, individuality, creativity and self-confidence. Each piece is purposely designed to make a statement, to be bold, effortlessly elegant and imaginative for the modern yet contemporary woman.

My team and I are very proud to celebrate individual identities and encourage and uplift women through the brand by consciously sharing stories and highlighting positive messages, which empower and influence females to embrace and celebrate who they are.

Our design concepts reflect the lives of extraordinary women and their wonderful ability to push boundaries and overcome struggles with confidence. The clothes are themselves the articles through which women speak. The brand anchors a new movement and acts as a beacon of hope to a new generation of women to break out of the shadows and feel beautiful for who they are, exactly as they are, without apology.

I thrive on challenging society's perceptions of women through fashion because it provides the freedom to be one's unique self. I design for women who feel their worth and want their choice of dress to speak volumes about their character and personality.

Empowering women and lifting them up by designing pieces that make them feel and look good is the order of the day. When designing and creating our collections, we focus on developing strong campaigns that challenge society's norms. We express our belief in the value of women's individuality as well as their place in culture and community through our signature prints because we want to encourage women to celebrate themselves. We want women to feel sophisticated and stylish as well as completely at home in their clothes.

The #NoteToSelf campaign which was one of our first ever was based on modern women challenging culturally-dictated ideas of femininity and identity. I loved this campaign because it enabled a collaborative and conceptual photo shoot that celebrated a generation of women who were open to sharing their untold stories and journeys which inspired the Spring/Summer 2018 collection, SELF- Collection.

Our latest campaign, ‘The Bold Woman’, celebrates and highlights amazing Bold Women globally, collaborating with them to share their stories with us. There is something so special, powerful and beautiful about women owning their stories no matter what it is and striving forward to inspire and lift other women at the same time. I am excited to be a wonderful part of this process of owning our truths and lifting others as we go. It is empowering and I hope it helps women all over the world both young and older know how uniquely amazing and wonderful they are and how vital their stories are.

Just like everyone, I face a lot of obstacles growing my business; handling the company on my own being the greatest. My team is still developing and growing so I must 'wear every hat' and funding the brand is not just expensive but very challenging. It's been a real struggle during the pandemic to create sales but I'm thankful I have the passion to keep moving forward despite all this.

I have a relationship with God so when life gets tough and I'm facing obstacles, I pray. Over the years I have enjoyed writing so I often look back at journals and positive affirmations to keep me going. I surround myself with close family and friends and other times I find peace in doing absolutely nothing to rest my mind.

I learnt quickly that without having a strong structure from family to faith, your mental and emotional wellbeing gets affected really badly pushing through issues like depression, losing sight of your worth and the worst can be even a spiritual decline through a lack of faith when you feel like God has abandoned you but we all know that is a lie as God is always with us through the storms, the fires, the darkest of times and more.

It is really important to identify the things and people that will uphold you through the toughest aspects of the journey especially at the beginning when it is bleak.

Going forward, the plan is to build and expand the brand, which will hopefully include having fashion boutiques, spaces and workshops for aspiring creatives and designers to have access to resources to work on their craft. This journey may start with me but I want to create a community of like-minded women supporting one another towards their goals and ultimate success.

My advice to fellow designers is stay true to who you are. Of course, there is nothing wrong with taking inspiration from others; that is fashion! It repeats itself but as a designer, your style should be personal. Building your collections from concept to completion allows you to share who you are and what drives you.