By: Anita Hosanna (@anitahosanna)
Word on the streets says Koffee is releasing her new album ‘Gifted’ on March 25th! The Jamaican-born artist appeared wearing a quilted Casablanca jacket in the first moments of her music video for ‘Pull Up’, and we have London based celebrity stylist Ayishat Akanbi to thank for forging the artist’s signature style. Though born and raised in the UK, Ayishat’s family is originally from Ilorin in the Kwara State of Nigeria.
Akanbi studied media and cultural studies at the Kingston University where she unconventionally acquired a knack for men’s fashion. This led her to a deep dive into menswear, an area of styling that she has mastered over the past 10 years.
Through styling, she attracted the attention of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Sony RCA, SBTV and other major media companies in the UK, leading her to work with British talent like Dizzee Rascal, JLS, Amir Khan, Cher Lloyd, and Neon Jungle. On an international level, the stylist has dressed the likes of WizKid, Schoolboy Q, Chronixx and Labrinth. Ayishat’s work can be found in GQ, Dazed, Galore and she counts Nike, FILA, Adidas as well as G-Star Raw among her clients.
Apart from styling, Ayishat is a writer, photographer, a cultural commentator and intellect at heart. In August of 2021 she published her first book The Awokening: Clarity, Culture and Identity in the Web of Chaos where she discusses and contemplates topics like “wokeness”, black culture, gender identity and racism. In 2019 she told The Guardian “One of my biggest fears around the internet is to what degree it all makes us act the same, […] because I worry that if we fear some form of social exile, then how does truth ever prevail?”
Ayishat is the stylist who keeps it realer than real. With an open mind, the ability to adapt all whist maintaining true to her authentic self, this stylist is unfaltering as a forward thinking fashion chameleon. We cannot wait to witness what thought-provoking looks she’ll construct next, and for who!
Check her out and follow her on Instagram @ayishat_akanbi!
Main Photo By Jelani Pomell.
