To receive the Vogue Business newsletter, sign up here.
Foday Dumbuya founded his brand Labrum London in 2014 to not just sell clothes but to tell stories about African art, fashion and history. Now one of London’s buzziest emerging labels, Labrum has cemented its place on the fashion calendar, becoming known for shows and collections that act as a bridge between Africa and London as the fashion itself blends West African inspiration with British tailoring. Nearly 10 years in, Labrum London is gearing itself up for growth while maintaining the community it’s built.
“I started to look at ways of telling stories through fashion, through textiles, illustrations through shows, through installations, through poetry,” says Dumbuya, who is from Sierra Leone. He adds that it’s through these creative mediums that he keeps his audience engaged and interacting with the brand online as well as offline. In February, the designer collaborated with British-Sierra Leonean poet Julian Knox to create a short film, On Freedom Of Movement (wi de muv), which explored the textile and garment industry in Sierra Leone as well as highlighted the relationships between artisans in the region and brands in Europe.
For the fashion, it’s all in the design and fabrics of his pieces: the Labrum Agbada shirt takes inspiration from the traditional loose-fitting gowns worn in Nigeria, as well as other parts of West Africa. Labrum’s Freetown suit features illustrations that reflect everyday life in Sierra Leone, including people cycling, paddling on a boat and cooking. The pieces are all made in East London and range from £1,500 for a made-to-order illustrated suit to £75 for a T-shirt.
Browns Fashion, which first stocked Labrum as part of its Browns Focus initiative that aims to support and celebrate emerging designers, was drawn to the brand because of its impactful storytelling. “Foday has a great skill in building narratives through his unique design codes, combining British heritage with the excitement and flair of Sierra Leone,” says Thom Scherdel, buying manager for men s ready-to-wear and non-apparel, adding that the marriage of these two cultures is present throughout his collections — for example, a tailored double-breasted blazer with vibrant, patterned fabric. “I think we can all agree Labrum’s storytelling has reached new heights, and now with the world watching, the brand is getting the credit it deserves.”
Momentum is growing: his clothes are often worn by popular British celebrities, including British actor Idris Elba, comedian Munya Chawawa, and Arsenal footballer Dries Mertens. On 18 May, the BFC awarded Labrum the Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design. The award, which launched in 2018, seeks to spotlight designers who are making a “difference to society through either sustainable practices or community engagement”, according to the British Fashion Council. The prize has previously been awarded to Bethany Williams, Rosh Maharani, Priya Ahluwalia, Saul Nash and London-based designer Richard Quinn, who took home the inaugural prize. In addition to Browns, the brand is carried by Selfridges, Farfetch, Machine-A and Ssense. Annual sales are under £500,000.
“The stories are more important than making money. Obviously, we need to make money [if] we want to keep the story alive,” says Dumbuya. “We want to keep the brand going, but for us, the stories are more important.”
Balancing art and business
A challenge shared among African designers is changing people’s perception of what African fashion looks like. Experts have argued that fashion from the continent is viewed in a monolithic way, often disregarding the varying styles, patterns and crafting techniques found around the continent. Other designers, including Lagos Space Programme and Tongoro, have made clear their intentions to influence a new narrative.
For Dumbuya, he recalls a trip to Florence, Italy, when he would tell people about Labrum, “and they would immediately have this perception about my clothes or what my clothes should look like”, he says.
Changing the idea of what African fashion can be is one existential challenge for Dumbuya; pricing and hiring have been more tactical hurdles. “You can’t be in five million places at once. You need creative people to help you navigate that, and all of that costs money,” he says. “So you have to find the resources to be able to keep that going and drive [the business] to where it should be. That’s sometimes challenging: finding people that can work for you and at a reasonable [price] so that you’re able to make those sales that can keep you going.”
Rethinking price points is allowing the brand to reach new consumers who are looking for more affordable pieces. “The brand has a more accessible price point now compared to three years ago, and as the brand’s popularity increases, we’re seeing that customers are gravitating towards his more familiar categories such as the herringbone trousers and tailoring,” says Scherdel of Browns. “Three years after launch, there is still a strong demand for the brand with [our] most popular pieces being his shirting, denim and jersey.”
The focus now is to increase Labrum’s direct-to-consumer sales, which Dumbuya says accounts for 40 per cent of the business (wholesale accounts for the remaining 60 per cent). To do so, Dumbuya is investing in building relationships with clients. In September, Dumbuya opened its first retail store located in the Princes Arcade in Piccadilly in London, where the brand will hold events to preview collections and interact with Dumbuya, bringing the community together and his audience engaged.
Finding new ways to collaborate with retailers is helping keep Labrum customers excited. In 2020, Labrum worked on an exclusive capsule collection with Selfridges. After spotting Labrum’s African stamp T-shirts — a plain T-shirt with a vintage postage stamp from Sierra Leone, Nigeria or Ghana on the front — Selfridges says it began working with Labrum on an exclusive edit. The capsule featured a stamp of war veteran John Henry Smythe and Evelyn Dove, the first Black woman to perform on BBC Radio. Since then, Selfridges has been buying Labrum’s collections. “The Selfridges customer appreciates our curated edit, which shows the best of Labrum’s take on tailoring but also sophisticated workwear pieces,” says Selfridges buyer Yasmin Mehmet.
“Labrum performs well for us as we have a loyal and local clientele who follow the brand regularly and are always on the lookout for new pieces,” she adds. “Our customers connect to the heritage and storytelling of the brand… [and] I feel that each season, we understand Foday’s West African roots a little better, which I think so many people can resonate with.”
In the short term, Dumbuya is eager to secure investment for the brand to help elevate some of those challenges and move the brand forward, he says. “I’m focusing on trying to build something that is sustainable.”
Key takeaway: After being awarded the Queen Elizabeth II prize earlier this month, Labrum’s founder Foday Dumbuya is keen to keep momentum going. His fashion merges British tailoring with African inspiration through the use of traditional prints and illustrations and focuses on storytelling. A new store and wholesale partnerships are bolstering the brand’s profile. However, as the brand nears its 10-year anniversary, pain points remain, including pricing, hiring and preexisting notions around what African fashion is.
Comments, questions or feedback? Email us at feedback@voguebusiness.com.
More from this author:
GmbH, Ruslan Baginskiy and Ester Manas among the Andam 2023 finalists
Armani Group’s full-year revenues surpass €2 billion
After Woolmark win, Lagos Space Programme readies for growth
