Cèdre Expressions at 10: A Decade of Style, Five Years of Nurturing Young Creatives

Ten years ago, from her home in Lagos, Toyin Popoola-Dania began Cèdre Expressions with little more than determination, culture, and a vision. What started as a passion project from home has grown into a brand that celebrates African heritage through modern fashion. Today, Cèdre Expressions marks its 10th anniversary, having reimagined traditional fabrics for a new generation. Its youth-focused arm, the Cèdre Creative Academy, also celebrates five years of nurturing young creatives, providing children and young adults with the skills, confidence, and curiosity to explore their creative potential.

From Hustle to Heritage Brand

Cèdre Expressions was founded on the belief that culture can be contemporary. In its signature green and orange colours, the brand reworks Adire, Aso-oke, and Ankara into silhouettes that move seamlessly from the corporate boardroom to weekend outings and owanbe celebrations.

Over the past decade, Cèdre has gained recognition both locally and internationally. The brand has exhibited its distinctive styles and artistic innovation on several platforms, including Africa Fashion Week London (AFWL), the Wear Naija runway, British Council Lagos showcases, and Oakville Canvas &Catwalk in Canada.

Unique Cèdre pieces now live in wardrobes across the UK, US, Europe, and Canada, a quiet but steady international footprint built through storytelling, craftsmanship, and cultural pride.

Five Years of Nurturing Young Creatives

In August 2020, amid the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cèdre launched the Cèdre Creative Academy to engage young people creatively beyond academics. The journey began with a small group of 10 students and has since run every summer, with cohorts ranging between 10 and 35 participants aged 9 to 17, alongside young adults who support as volunteers and budding mentors.

The Academy teaches sewing, styling, and digital creativity, with special touches like music-infused Fridays, making learning fun, expressive, and holistic. In 2024, students staged their first public runway showcase, “Cèdre at the Park,” where they presented their handmade pieces to family, friends, and the community.

“Impact for us isn’t about large numbers,” Toyin explains. “It’s about giving each child or youth the confidence to create, to finish something with their own hands, and to believe in their own potential.”
Through these experiences, the Academy has offered not just skills but creative empowerment, the courage for young people to see themselves as capable makers and innovators.

Resilience in Tough Times

Running a fashion brand and academy in Nigeria comes with its share of challenges; high operational costs, infrastructural gaps, talent shortages, and fluctuating economic conditions have made consistency demanding. Yet, Cèdre has pressed on, holding programs every year without fail and keeping its vision alive, even when parents were hesitant to embrace creative training as an extracurricular activity.

“Every summer, no matter the challenges, we’ve shown up. That’s what legacy looks like to me, not perfection, but consistency,” Toyin says.

Beyond professional challenges, Toyin has also found personal ways to connect creativity with legacy. In July 2025, the same month as her birthday, she lost her father. As a way of keeping some of his clothes as living memories, she began transforming them into timeless, redefined pieces. It is both a personal act of remembrance and an invitation for others to see fashion as a way of carrying legacy forward.

“Every thread carries a story,” she reflects. “Reworking my dad’s clothes has shown me how creativity can turn grief into something lasting and meaningful.”

Expanding the Ecosystem

In 2025, Cèdre extended its influence with Styled to Lead, a media platform that reframes style as a tool for leadership, confidence, and presence. Styled to Lead connects fashion to professional identity and has quickly carved out space in conversations around culture and corporate life.

Looking Ahead

The next decade for Cèdre Expressions promises to build on the wins of the last ten years. The brand is exploring new frontiers in fabric innovation, continuing to merge traditional craftsmanship with modern technology and design.

Through the Academy, the vision is to deepen partnerships with schools. Having already worked with two primary schools and one secondary school, Cèdre hopes to see fashion design formally recognised as a standard extracurricular activity in Nigerian schools, giving children and young people early pathways into creativity, entrepreneurship, and cultural pride.

Ten years in, Cèdre Expressions remains what it was on day one: a Lagos story stitched with culture, ambition, and resilience. Only now, its reach stretches across borders, its Academy nurtures the next generation, and its founder is shaping a future where African creativity is both celebrated and sustained.