There was a time when the African fashion of Iro & Buba was restricted for the much older women. Iro and buba is the most common type of traditional attire for African women and it basically consists of a blouse with a wrapper tied over it.
Over the past months we have seen a gradual and now complete embrace of this attire by fashion-conscious women. We first went through the “oleku” phase, where the wrappers were tied much much shorter as done in the old school days. Nigerian designers such as Deola Sagoe even embraced this trend and she had a collection released that featured pieces with that design and look.
Deola Sagoe’s “Iro & Buba” Design
Deola Sagoe “Oleku” Design
Now it seems the African fashion world has moved on to a new adaptation of the Iro & Buba look with most people making modern alterations. These days you see Bubas (blouses) that have cowl necklines, flared hands, embellishments and more. The Iros (wrappers) have also gone through modern changes with a lot of people opting for knot ties instead of the simple wrap-around style.
The Iro & Buba fashion has definitely evolved and risen fast. We have taken the fashion style of the old and made it into something young and trendy. Who ever thought that wrapper would become a fashion ensemble that youths would always want to pull off for an event?
A lot of our fashion forward celebrities, trend setters, fashion bloggers have been spotted in their unique styling of iro & buba over the past few months – check them out below and let us know how you style yours!
Have you been a part of this trend? How did you style yours?
Do you think the Iro & Buba trend is here to stay or just a phase?