Patience Torlowei

Patience Torlowei is a Nigerian fashion designer. She is the creator of the "Esther Dress", the first piece of couture ever to join the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African Art's permanent collection.

Early life

Born in Enugu to Ijaw parents, Torlowei graduated from the Textile Arts and Technology faculty at the Yaba College of Technology. She moved to Belgium in 1989. As a fashion designer she has worked to create bridal clothes and lingerie as well as ready-to-wear attire. She founded her first fashion line, Patience Torlowei BVBA, in 2006.

Career

A dress designed by Torlowei, Esther, is currently owned by the National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C.; it is the first piece of haute couture to enter the museum collection. It depicts scenes of oil and diamond extraction and of war, and is made of a variety of materials including gold fabric. The piece had been previously featured in a fashion show at the museum in 2014. Torlowei was included in the 2019 show "I Am… Contemporary Women Artists of Africa" at the NMAA.