Torishéju Dumi on Fashion, Identity, and the Met Gala
Designer Torishéju Dumi, Nigerian Brazilian and raised in Buckinghamshire, studied at London College of Fashion and Central Saint Martins (2021), interning at Celine and Ann Demeulemeester. Her first capsule, Mami Wata (early 2023), used deadstock material to mimic submerged fabric. Her Paris Fashion Week debut featured Naomi Campbell and Paloma Elsesser. The Victoria and Albert Museum and Andrew Bolton of the Met acquired pieces for Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion (spring 2024). She designed Kendall Jenner's 2025 Met Gala look, styled by Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, honoring Gladys Bentley. Dumi received an honorary doctorate from University of the Arts London and the LVMH Savoir-Faire Prize, with advice from Pharrell Williams. She lives in London but considers her mother's house in Newport Pagnell home. Her BA in menswear took longer than three years, a failure she calls formative.
Key facts
- Torishéju Dumi is Nigerian Brazilian, born in northwest London, raised in Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire.
- She studied at London College of Fashion and completed her master's at Central Saint Martins in 2021.
- She interned at Phoebe Philo's Celine and Ann Demeulemeester in Antwerp.
- Her first collection, Mami Wata, was released in early 2023.
- Naomi Campbell and Paloma Elsesser walked in her Paris Fashion Week debut in late 2023.
- The Victoria and Albert Museum and Andrew Bolton of the Met acquired pieces for Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion (spring 2024).
- She designed Kendall Jenner's 2025 Met Gala look, styled by Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, honoring Gladys Bentley.
- She received an honorary doctorate from University of the Arts London and the LVMH Savoir-Faire Prize.
- Pharrell Williams advised her during the LVMH prize interview.
- Her BA took longer than three years, which she describes as formative.
Entities
Artists
- Torishéju Dumi
- Naomi Campbell
- Paloma Elsesser
- Kendall Jenner
- Gabriella Karefa-Johnson
- Gladys Bentley
- Pharrell Williams
- Andrew Bolton
Institutions
- London College of Fashion
- Central Saint Martins
- Celine
- Ann Demeulemeester
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- University of the Arts London
- LVMH
- Louis Vuitton Men's
- AnOther Magazine
Locations
- London
- Buckinghamshire
- Hertfordshire
- Antwerp
- Paris
- Newport Pagnell
- Nigeria
- Brazil