Emily Harris chats with the sibling super team behind Omo Lola Jewellery and learns the significance behind their bold designs.
Omo Lola Jewellery, an independent jewellery brand established in May 2018, is a maturing project which began in May 2018. Run by Adegbulu siblings Kehinde, Ope and Taiwo, the brand focus is steadfastly on using West African designs to celebrate their heritage.
Ope is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Leeds, while younger sister Taiwo is a social work graduate, but alongside their personal careers the two work as designers for their shared creative venture. Their brother, Kehinde, is a digital marketing consultant who uses his expertise to handle the advertising and promotional side of the brand. Having always held an interest in general fashion, style and particularly expression through statement jewellery, Ope explains how, through steadfastly linking their interest with their heritage, they have managed to generate a deeper, more permanent curiosity than usual for ever-changing, fast fashion products: “The beauty and diversity of West African history, artistry and jewellery making has been erased for a long time, due to colonialization and imperialism”, and Omolola Jewellery combines their ancestors’ love for geo-architecture in order to honour their African heritage, while incorporating the past “into [their] present experiences.”
This aim can be seen in Taiwo’s designs, which are inspired by “precolonial jewellery pieces, masks and every day maximalist pieces”, and also in the brand’s aims for the future. Omo Lola Jewellery hopes to expand nationally and internationally while staying true to their core Afrocentric and feminist values. They aim to do this by mainly sourcing from authentic materials found in West Africa, as a way to contribute to the “sustainable revival of [their] creative industries.”
To purchase jewellery from Omo Lola, you can often find them set up at a stall in Common Ground café at Leeds University Union, or you can get in touch with them through Instagram (@omololajewellery) or additionally by email: omololajewellery@gmail.com.
By Emily Harris
Image: Omo Lola