With a mother, father and a grandmother all with backgrounds in fashion, it is no wonder that the Mowalola Ogunlesi regaled audiences with her vibrant graduate show back in June, securing her a place on all of the ‘ones to watch’ lists worth paying attention to.

As is the impetus for all of the 23-year-old’s work, a celebration of her native Nigeria lay at the heart of her first collection. ‘My mission is just to show people what my country is like,’ she said, proudly. ‘To create a community of people who see Africa differently.’ For her CSM graduate show, this materialised via an homage to Nigerian psychedelic rock music from the ‘70s and ‘80s. Tight leather was printed in swirling hues of red, orange and yellow. Jackets were cut above the nipple, and trousers scooped low on the crotch to reveal flashes of lace lingerie. This was menswear as you don’t often see it: sexy, powerful and unhindered by stereotypes.

We’re in her flat-slash-studio in Dalston with her friend Trey Gaskin, who she met at CSM – he’s a multi-hyphenate who acts as fit model, muse, life coach and studio assistant for the young designer. ”Trey’s amazing, he’s helping me to plan things and is working on the email side of stuff.” Answering emails can basically be a full-time job, and Mowalola could do with the help.

That the designs were so heavily influenced by Mowalola’s heritage meant the next step after her graduate show was an inevitable one. With her collection in tow, she headed to Lagos for the summer, determined to shoot her clothes for a film to be released today, on Nigerian Independence Day.