For spring 2026, Ghanaian founder and inventive director David Kusi Boye-Doe returned to the Lagos Trend Week schedule for the second time, bringing his contemporary tackle upcycled streetwear to the Nigerian metropolis. Because the saying goes, one man’s waste is one other man’s treasure, and Boyedoe has rapidly constructed a popularity for turning textile scraps into fascinating clothes. It’s a transfer that earned the five-year-old model a spot on this yr’s LVMH Prize semi-finalists record.
Titled “Paradise Regained,” this assortment was composed fully of upcycled clothes and exuded a degree of tailoring and craftsmanship that many wouldn’t count on from secondhand items. “I would like individuals to see [these garments] and marvel what number of days it took to create,” Boye-Doe mentioned. “That questioning excites me as a designer.” Certainly, some items took about three months to make, together with a multicolored patchwork skirt constructed from tiny items of material, he mentioned. For Boye-Doe, the true marker of successful is having the ability to create one thing distinctive available on the market, whereas pushing the boundaries of our collective creativeness, significantly for sustainable style.
Sourcing the vast majority of his materials from Ghana’s Kantamanto market, one of many largest secondhand clothes markets in Africa, Boye-Doe wished to create a set that “speaks to the soul,” he mentioned, including that “extra is extra, particularly relating to upcycling.” Key silhouettes included a colourful, patchwork cropped prime and matching skirts, in addition to a floor-length denim trench, paired with a two-tone denim vest and matching mini skirt.
As the gathering title suggests, inspiration got here from John Milton’s epic poem “Paradise Regained.” In the direction of the tip of the gathering, Boye-Doe appeared to current his personal model of paradise, one that’s vibrant and defiant.
