Fashion career profile
Duro Olowu
Duro Olowu is a Nigerian-born British fashion designer and curator whose womenswear pairs vivid original prints with vintage textiles and sharply considered silhouettes. Born in Lagos, he studied law and practiced before moving into fashion. His eponymous label began in 2004, and its first collection achieved immediate international success; the signature Duro dress was named dress of the year by British and American Vogue in 2005. That same year he won the British Fashion Awards’ New Designer of the Year distinction without a catwalk show. Olowu’s career has moved between fashion and visual culture: he curated Making and Unmaking at Camden Arts Centre in 2016 and Seeing Chicago for the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago in 2020, bringing together more than 300 works in a cross-cultural exhibition. Those exhibition appointments are recorded as separate curatorial work, not as fashion-house jobs. His practice is shaped by cosmopolitan looking, visual research and the movement of pattern across cultures.
- Role
- Founder & Designer, Duro Olowu
- Nationality
- British-Nigerian
- Age
- 61
- Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago — Guest Curator, Seeing Chicago2020–2020 · former
- Camden Arts Centre — Guest Curator, Making and Unmaking2016–2016 · former
- Duro Olowu Fall 2026: A Family AffairWWD · 2026-02-23
- Earlier profession: Practised law before fashionOlowu moved from legal work into fashion; the National Portrait Gallery does not specify an employer or dates. · National Portrait Gallery
- Label founded: Duro Olowu, 2004His first eponymous collection received immediate international attention. · National Portrait Gallery
- Recognition: New Designer of the Year, 2005The British Fashion Awards recognized him without a catwalk show that year. · National Portrait Gallery
- Curatorial work: Making and Unmaking, Camden Arts Centre, 2016The exhibition extended his work into contemporary art curation. · Camden Arts Centre
- Curatorial work: Seeing Chicago, MCA Chicago, 2020Olowu guest-curated a cross-collection exhibition of more than 300 works. · Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
- 2004 — Launches his eponymous labelThe first collection establishes a distinct print-led womenswear language.
- 2005 — Wins New Designer of the YearReceives the British Fashion Awards distinction without staging a catwalk show.
- 2016 — Curates Making and UnmakingCamden Arts Centre presents his exhibition on art, materials and visual culture.
- 2020 — Curates Seeing Chicago at MCA ChicagoThe exhibition assembles more than 300 works from across Chicago collections.