Fashion was not always in the cards for Torishéju Dumi. Growing up in London, the designer’s creative flair first emerged as a desire to act. Despite coming from a family of doctors and lawyers, her mother encouraged her to pursue an artistic path. “I’ve always loved creating things with my hands, bringing ideas to life,” shares Dumi. And as she grew older, those inclinations shifted towards fashion—now her medium to explore heritage, mythology and art. “I felt, and still feel, that I have a different perspective—one that hasn’t really been seen before in the industry,” says the Nigerian-Brazilian designer.
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Few independent designers have had a debut as impressive as Dumi’s. Not long after launching her namesake label, she staged her first-ever runway show for her spring/summer 2024 collection, Fire on the Mountain, at the Shangri-La ballroom in Paris. Naomi Campbell opened, while Paloma Elsesser closed. For Dumi, who was still designing and sewing her pieces from her London flat then, it was a surreal moment that encapsulated everything she had been working for. “It was magical, truly warming,” she says. “At the end of the day, we’re all human, and when we come together to create, dreams take form. That’s the real power of collaboration.”
From there, it did not take long for the rest of the world to notice her. Dumi’s pieces have since been spotted on Zendaya and Gemma Chan. The designer was also tapped to dress Kendall Jenner at the 2025 Met Gala. “Gladys Bentley came to mind straight away and from there, the rest was history,” she says. Reimagining the androgynous singer’s appropriation of menswear into a sensual, feminine silhouette with sharp tailoring came naturally. But turning that vision into reality was an “entirely different world”, she reveals. “Thankfully, with the support of my incredible team, we brought the garment to life for Kendall. It was a huge learning experience, and one I’m deeply proud of.”
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Dumi’s days working from her apartment and gathering volunteers for shows are over, but the designer continues to challenge herself and push the boundaries of what’s possible. “They’re all learning experiences, life lessons,” she says. “I believe it’s not the challenge itself, but how you choose to approach it, that defines its weight.”
That attitude is manifested in her work. Dumi’s spring/summer 2025 collection was inspired by and named after Hieronymus Bosch’s painting Ship of Fools. For the collection, she dreamed up a world of self-indulgent aristocrats in a maritime disaster. Think opulent silk dresses in crinkled disarray, tailored suits with unfinished hems and ballooning hemlines imitating the look of life vests floating to the ocean’s surface.
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For Dumi, inspiration comes from just about anywhere. “There’s always something that sets the tone for the world we create each season,” she says, calling it a process of constant research. “The world keeps evolving right up until the final moments before the show.” While she remains tight-lipped about the universe she is building for her spring/summer 2026 collection, the designer hopes that her work, past, present or future, will inspire the next generation of creatives to dream: “[I hope they] know they don’t have to conform to preconceived ideas about how they should create, based on their background, gender, race, or class.”
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