One of Africa’s most celebrated fashion designers and leading haute couturiers, Lanre Dasilva Ajayi, clocks 40 today. 

Dasilva Ajayi, the creative director of LDA label is an A-list Nigerian fashion designer whose fame spreads across Nigeria and abroad. She has participated in top fashion shows and her label is a delight to every fashion-discerning and successful woman.

Launched in 2005, her eponymous label includes couture, ready-to-wear, jewelry and hairpieces. Dasilva Ajayi’s collections often incorporate metallic fabrics, lace and African patterns, while referencing the 1940s or 1800s. The Africa Fashion Guide recognizes her as having “… created a name for herself in high fashion in Nigeria.”

Elegance, ease, and accessibility have always been the core of her design philosophy, which has allowed her to turn LDA into a global luxury lifestyle brand. 

Upon high school graduation in Nigeria, Dasilva Ajayi moved to the United Kingdom to continue her studies. For her undergraduate degree, she majored in business administration at Coventry University. She obtained a master’s degree in Finance from the University of Leicester.

A native of Lagos State, Dasilva Ajayi is from the illustrious Dasilva family of Lagos Island. Her father, Sir Leo Babarinde Dasilva, who died in 2015, was the former Secretary to the Lagos State Government. She is married to Kunle Ajayi, an engineer; and their union is blessed with two children.

In 2011, Dasilva Ajayi presented her collection at New York Fashion Week, where it was described as combining “… the archetypal bright, warm colours of her homeland with refined ladylike silhouettes inspired by Italian architecture”. Seen as an African luxury brand, her clothing line has been sold at Dolce & Gabbana’s “Concept Spiga 2” store in Milan. In 2012, she was one of two designers asked to join the United Nations “Fashion Development Project” which helps supports her continent’s luxury industry. That same year her label was featured in the magazine L’Uomo Vogue in an issue called «Re-branding Africa».

In 2012, Italian Vogue wrote a piece on Dasilva Ajayi, mentioning that she has a “… great following in Africa, where her designs are widely recognized thanks to the media and celebrities that support her.” In 2014, she was mentioned once more in Vogue Italia, where the designer spoke about meeting the magazine’s editor Franca Sozzani, who got her collection noticed and stocked at online fashion retailer yoox.com. Dasilva Ajayi’s designs have also been featured in Vogue Black and Arise Magazine. Her clothes have been described as groundbreaking in their use of traditional African prints. She is recognized for re-interpreting and modernizing traditional motifs, making them an important part of her designs. In 2017, Dasilva Ajayi was asked to create outfits for the 2017 look book of Vlisco, an African fabrics and textiles manufacturer.

In 2014, her “Rock Delight” collection was presented at the “Vogue Talents” fashion show in Milan, Italy. The designer was inspired by the colours and lines of Olumo Rock, a popular tourist destination located in Nigeria. Her clothes have also been seen at shows such as the 2008 Thisday Africa Rising Festival in London, the 2009 Arise Africa Fashion Festival in South Africa, the 2009 New York Couture Fashion Week and the 2011 Arise Magazine Fashion Week in Lagos. In 2018, Dasilva Ajayi returned to the Arise Africa Fashion Festival, where her collection was described as being elegant and accented by metallic gold colours. British supermodel Naomi Campbell opened the show wearing her outfits.

Creating what she calls wearable art, Dasilva Ajayi collaborated with artist Ayoola Gbolahan for her 2017 collection. Rich in details, the clothes are described as embodying an artistic imagery : “Art and fashion are successfully united in this collection with bold hand-painted images on solid colors.” That same year she was nominated for an Eloy Award, a Nigerian event celebrating female achievement.

Going by her exploits and sure-footedness in the fashion world, Lanre DaSilva Ajayi’s book of accomplishments is yet in its opening pages.