Mowalola Interview: Designing WET Tees w/ Ye, Making Music, Custom Clothes for Playboi Carti & Drake

During the interview, Mowalola shares her journey from Lagos to London, her education at Central Saint Martins, and her decision to drop out for creative freedom. She discusses early influences like Grace Wales Bonner and Alexander McQueen, and how these shaped her approach to fashion and music. Mowalola explains her collaboration with Kanye West, starting with a cold call and evolving into the iconic WET tanks and the Yeezy x GAP partnership. She talks about her work with artists such as Skepta, Bktherula, Playboi Carti, Opium, and Drake, and her plans to release music under the 'Dirty Pop' project. The conversation also covers her philosophy of empowering through sexual expression, her modern marketing strategies, and her stance on creative independence. 0:00 - Making the craziest fashion show soundtracks 2:18 - Growing up between Lagos & the UK 4:22 - Arshan & Mowalola are both from Surrey?? 4:49 - Attending prestigious CSM Art School in London 5:22 - Dropping out: feeling creatively drained in school 6:18 - Mowalola’s advice for creatives 7:37 - Falling in love with Alexander McQueen, XULY.Bët, & Wales Bonner 8:06 - Grace Wales Bonner: black representation in fashion 8:50 - Viral moments with WET tanks, walkman hat, & shows 9:03 - Worldbuilding within fashion shows 9:23 - Working with Kanye & Skepta early on 9:35 - Kanye cold-calling Mowalola & it being more tea than business 10:12 - Telling Kanye she wasn’t ready to work with him 10:56 - North West’s outfits birthed Mowalola & Ye’s working relationship 12:01 - Mowa & Ye’s WET tanks being EVERYWHERE 12:43 - Ye saying Dior’s Kim Jones is washed 14:13 - WET tank becoming “VLONE for females” 14:59 - Empowering through her clothes & sexual expression 15:25 - A&R’ing records for Ye on VULTURES 16:41 - Dealing with rejection & creating Mowalola from it 18:21 - Yeezy x GAP job happened because of British Fashion Council rejection 19:20 - Bktherula modeling for Mowalola’s Dark Web show 19:39 - Mowalola’s creative process intersecting music & fashion 20:19 - Being a huge Rema fan 20:48 - Worldbuilding with music in her collections 21:08 - Forthcoming collection & accompanying album ‘Dirty Pop’ 21:42 - Being tapped in with Nettspend?! 22:13 - Brennan Jones having good energy 22:50 - Making “dirty pop” on her next project 23:42 - Working with JT from City Girls for Beats x Mowalola 24:24 - Carti & Opium being fans of & wearing Mowalola 25:00 - Being done with 1of1’s after custom Timberlands 25:47 - Drake wearing her custom Halle Berry jacket: 1st custom 26:46 - Being an independent designer: learning to say no 27:41 - Mowalola’s modern guide to marketing 29:15 - Being supportive of TikTok brands & young designers 30:02 - Feeling restricted in traditional fashion: doing it her own way 31:14 - Being canceled for putting Saudi Arabian flag on a skirt 33:03 - Pushing boundaries with fashion & Mowalola’s polarizing reception 33:43 - Mowalola’s advice: “Be weird!” 34:48 - Mowalola inviting Arshan to Nigeria