Labrum’s spring 2027 collection began with the same question Foday Dumbuya has been asking for the past two seasons: when people cross oceans to new lands, what do they actually bring them?
For his third and final chapter considering the matter, his answer was craft, the gestures of making that travel in people’s hands, finding new expressions in new places, often without the need for words.
“You go to Africa, you probably buy a piece of craft. You try to understand what it, where’s that from, why. Then you learn about culture, and you embed your culture within that culture, and that’s what this is about,” he said backstage.
Textiles had rich hands and richer backstories, such as a white fil coupé used on a suit whose oblong geometric motif alluded to Olokun, a Nigerian goddess of the sea. It was one of a plethora of techniques seen on the Labrum runway on Sunday with roots in West Africa, India and the U.K. for their techniques and motifs.
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On a puffy circle skirt, charming hand-embroidered scenes paid homage to the designer’s grandmother and the market stall she once ran.
Fascinating as the cultural filiation of each item was, you didn’t need to know it all to em...