For Ghanaian fashion designer Aisha Ayensu, returning to Lagos is about more than putting Christie Brown back on the shopping map. It is an opportunity to reconnect with a fashion audience that has grown considerably since the brand last showed in Nigeria, and to test what a more permanent presence in one of Africa’s most competitive fashion markets could look like.
Since founding Christie Brown in 2008, Ayensu has built a distinctive fashion house known for its craftsmanship, expressive silhouettes and contemporary interpretation of African design. But the brand is also evolving. Prints, once central to its identity, now share the spotlight with architectural shapes, intricate detailing, and a broader approach to luxury. Behind the beautiful clothes is an equally ambitious business, one navigating the realities of manufacturing, international retail and the demands of building a lasting African luxury label.
With a shopping event and a six-month residency at Temple Muse marking its return to Lagos, Christie Brown is making a considered move rather than a fleeting appearance. Speaking to THISDAYstyle, Ayensu discusses the business behind the brand, the changing face of African luxury, the possibility of a permanent Lagos store and why, after nearly two decades, she is still thinking bigger.
Let’s start with your upcoming event at Temple Muse. Everyone does a pop-up. Why choose a shopping event and then a store strategy instead of going direct-to-consumer with a Lagos e-commerce drop?
Because I want her to try on the dress! There is so much about Christie Brown that comes alive when you experience the clothes in person—the texture, the embroidery, how a piece moves and how it makes you feel.
We’re returning after quite some time, and I want to reconnect properly. The shopping event gives us that first moment together, and our six-month residency at Temple Muse means she can come back, discover more and build a relationship with us.
Online shopping is part of the picture, of course. But I want Christie Brown to become part of her life in Lagos. There’s something lovely about having a place she knows she can find us.
Lagos Fashion Week 2026 is leaning hard into circular futures. Your brand uses deadstock wax, exquisite silks, denim – how are you actually solving for waste in Accra? Are we talking upcycling or real systems?
I think the honest answer is that it’s a work in progress. Using leftover fabric creatively has value, but we also have to look at the decisions that create waste in the first place.
Are we buying well? Are we producing quantities that make sense? How much reworking happens because something wasn’t resolved properly during development? Those are the less glamorous questions, but they matter.
As we strengthen the business, that’s where I want more discipline. And creatively, I’m always thinking about longevity. I love hearing from a woman who still wears a Christie Brown piece she bought years ago. I want us to make clothes she keeps finding reasons to wear.
A Christie Brown dress at Harrods is priced in pounds, at Osu in cedis, and soon at Temple Muse in naira. How do you price African luxury honestly across three economies without alienating your home customer?
It’s a careful balance. The craftsmanship has a value wherever the dress is sold. The materials, hours, and skill that go into it all have to be properly accounted for.
Then there are the costs of getting that dress into each market: shipping, duties, taxes and the retail relationship. So the final price cannot always be a straight currency conversion.
But I’m very conscious of the woman in Accra who has supported us from the beginning. Growing internationally comes with a responsibility to keep serving her well. For me, honest pricing means being clear about what goes into the garment and ensuring the quality and experience justify what we ask her to pay.
You haven’t shown in Nigeria since 2017/18, a period when Nigerian fashion retail was heavily reliant on multi-brand boutiques. Since then, new spaces like Alara, Temple Muse & Zinkata have evolved. What are your hopes for the Lagos retail scene now?
I hope it continues to become a place where African brands can build lasting businesses. Lagos has women who love fashion, understand it and enjoy discovering something special. That is a wonderful starting point.
A good retailer brings so much to that relationship. They understand their customers, know how to present the work, and can tell a designer things she might never learn from sales figures alone.
I would love to see more of that exchange, especially across our region. A woman should be able to walk into a beautiful store in Lagos and discover exciting work from Accra, Abidjan and beyond. There is so much talent within reach.
You built your name on print, but Resort 2026 and FW26 ‘The Crossing’ were almost print-free – all pleats, gingham, balloon skirts, architectural whites. Are you deliberately moving Christie Brown away from being read as an ‘African print brand’?
I’m giving myself room to express the full range of what interests me. Print is part of our story, but so are embroidery, texture, shape and construction.
Sometimes I want the fabric to speak. Other times, I want you to notice the curve of a sleeve or the way a skirt holds its volume. That’s the pleasure of designing…finding the right expression for the idea.
And I do think we need a broader understanding of what African design can look like. My perspective doesn’t disappear because I’ve chosen a plain fabric. It’s still there in the choices I make. I want people to recognise Christie Brown through that whole design language.
The Ghanaian cedi, naira volatility, import duties on silk and chiffon – every West African designer talks about manufacturing challenges. You still manufacture fully in Ghana. Is that a romantic decision or a profitable one?
There is certainly love involved, but love also needs a working business behind it! I should clarify that Ghana is our creative and operational home, and we also work with external manufacturing partners. Building Christie Brown has taught me to be very honest about what we can do well ourselves and where a partnership can help us deliver better.
I care deeply about the skills and livelihoods we’re developing in Ghana. I also want the business to be strong enough to sustain them. That means paying attention to quality, productivity and cost. My ambition is to build a fashion house rooted here that can grow and help make that path more possible for others.
Temple Muse can sell out a piece in 48 hours. How are you structuring inventory between Accra production, Harrods re-orders, and now Lagos?
That is the work behind the beautiful pictures! Every new market is exciting, but it also means more women expecting us to deliver.
We’re being deliberate about what goes where, what can be replenished and how long that will take. Some pieces are easier to repeat; others require craftsmanship and more time. We have to respect that in the promises we make.
A quick sell-out would be lovely. But I also want the woman who comes in afterwards to have a good experience. Growth asks us to become better at anticipating demand and planning for it. That’s a big part of the work happening inside Christie Brown now.
Let’s talk collaborations…you just did a custom Christie Brown x Khoi Kouture bridal look for a high-profile wedding in Accra. Should we expect a Nigerian designer collaboration when you land – perhaps Ejiro Amos Tafiri, Onalaja, or even a menswear designer?
Yes, actually… there’s a collaboration happening before the end of this year that I’m very excited about 😉. I’ll keep it a little mysterious for now, but you won’t have to wait long.
And while we’re in Lagos, we plan to explore many interesting projects with brands here. I’m curious what happens when our perspectives meet: what we each bring, what we challenge in one another, and what we discover together.
Lagos has such a distinct creative energy. I want us to participate in that, build relationships and make things that come out of those relationships. That’s a very exciting part of this return for me.
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For a Lagos store in 2027. Location is everything. VI, Ikoyi, or Eko Atlantic? And will it be just retail or an atelier where a Lagos woman can get fitted the way women do in Osu?
You’re already asking me to choose an address!🤣
We haven’t committed to a location or an opening date yet. Our time at Temple Muse will help us understand how our customers shop and what they want from us.
But I have thought about how a Christie Brown space in Lagos should feel. Our store in Accra is called The Residence, and that sense of welcome is important to me. I want a woman to feel comfortable, be looked after and enjoy discovering the clothes.
Fit and personal service would absolutely be part of that thinking. Whether it includes an atelier is something we would need to explore properly. I’d want the space to make sense for the women using it.
You’ve said Christie Brown is ‘a movement in movement.’ In 2008, that movement was about proving African fashion could be luxury. In 2026, what is the movement about?
Today, I’m thinking much more about what we’re building for the long term. The clothes remain at the heart of it, but around them are people, skills, livelihoods and opportunities. I want Christie Brown to become a fashion house that endures. I also want the work we’re doing to offer something useful to other fashion businesses on the continent; a clearer sense of how creativity can be supported by a profitable, scalable business.
And our purpose remains very personal: we exist to remind women that they are invincible. She already carries so much within her. I want our clothes to meet her there and to help her feel that confidence and enjoy expressing it.
In 2026, the movement is about carrying that purpose further and building the strength to keep going.
