Stitching Futures: Inside ORB Couture’s Transformative Fashion Workshop for Emerging Creatives

By Ferdinand Ekechukwu

Fashion brand ORB Couture recently hosted a hands-on workshop that was as much about skills transfer as it was about community. The workshop, organised and led by Ololade Rofiat Busari, an illustrator and the founder behind the rising label, brought together emerging designers, local artisans, and fabric manufacturers.

Designed for early- and mid-career fashion creatives looking to deepen their technical ability and sharpen their creative instincts, the workshop unfolded over three days with a focus on tailored construction, indigenous fabric sourcing, and sustainable practices.

Each day was split between theory and application, with mornings spent dissecting tailoring logic; how to map the human form using points of measure, interpret fit adjustments across body types, and calculate grainline impact on structured garments.

The afternoons were studio-driven: students drafted basic bodices, transferred darts, manipulated slopers, and experimented with facings.

What became immediately evident was the workshop’s emphasis on building from the bones of fashion which are drafting, cutting, and tailoring, before embellishment or styling could even be considered.

What set this workshop apart was its emphasis on working with what is homegrown. Local fabric manufacturers were invited to discuss the processes behind their textiles, from loom to market.

Attendees engaged directly with weavers and dyers, gaining insight into the texture, durability, and drape of native fabrics like aso-oke, adire, and handwoven cottons. Local artisans shared their methods of hand finishing and fabric treatment, offering perspective on slow craft in a fast fashion world.

There were also sessions on pricing strategy, creative direction, and how to navigate the business of fashion while maintaining a signature voice. Evenings were filled with critique circles which featured gentle but honest discussions around garment samples, where peers and mentors offered feedback on everything.

One attendee, Mariam Adeyeye, expressed delight at the workshop’s energy, saying, “I have been to fashion seminars before, but this is the first time I understood how my ideas can be translated technically. I did not just learn how to sew, I learned how to build clothes from scratch, thoughtfully.”

For Ololade Busari, the workshop was not just a professional milestone. “This was not about showcasing ORB Couture,” she said during her closing remarks. “It was about giving people the tools to build whatever they are dreaming of with structure, clarity, and cultural pride.”

Leadership, for Ololade, does not come with flash. She was fully involved, from guiding draping demonstrations to personally correcting pattern notches on students’ mock-ups. She asked questions, listened carefully, and remained relentlessly attentive to the human experience behind the work. In the end, it was not just garments that were shaped, but mindsets.

ORB Couture’s workshop stitched together more than fabrics; it stitched together a vision of fashion education rooted in authenticity, technique, and quiet ambition.