NEX UP: BOLA OLANIYAN

For the first installment of our NEX UP series, which highlights young and emerging talents, we sat down to interview Bola Olaniyan, a young artist and designer.

written by: Biyi Campbell.

Article cover design: KIKO

18-year-old Bola Olaniyan is the hero of his own life.

Time stood still on Sunday evening as I made my way to Bola Olaniyan. The light was fading, the buildings hummed with sleep and the air whistled quietly. The day was growing older but I was about to interview one of the brightest new names in the creative scene.

In 2021, the young artist carved out an important space for himself in Nigeria’s ever expanding creative community. A year of recovery for most turned out to be one that saw him carefully engineer his conceptual ideas to become projects that would announce his emergence as a creative and a storyteller. In each act of his artistic story, whether he’s being commissioned to create the Branding Artwork for Street Souk 2021 or being a finalist for XII Glover’s Street Shakara, his mission always remains the same: to create art that speaks for itself.

Perhaps what sets him apart is his amazing ability to communicate clearly and intentionally through his work. I am greeted by Bola at the door who is dressed up in a graphic tee and Pajama pants, a Severe Nature lanyard with the initials “RIP V” scribbled by Bola himself and a bright wide smile, an attire that screams to me that he is in fact the flyest in the room and he’s ready to tell his story his own way.

NV: If you were someone else and you were looking at Bola, how would you describe him?

BO: Bola is inspiring, he keeps me motivated all the time. He’s always trying to prove to himself that he can do creative things the he thought weren’t possible.

NV: (laughs) facts! So how did you get into what you’re doing now?

BO: So in Year 11, I was more concerned with my appearance; I just wanted to look great. It got to the point that, if we had an event in secondary school, everyone wanted to see what I was going to wear, so I always tried to appear nice. In Year 12, I became more interested in fashion and developed a clearer idea of what I wanted to pursue.

The beautiful thing about his vision was that it had expanded from being just about him and had now rolled out to be something more. This had become a dream of creating both beauty and impact for others. “In the little time I’ve been able to do what I’m doing I’ve had people tell me that they’re impacted by what I’m doing. So I always want to do more cause that’s obviously my goal”

His intentionality, clarity and outlook on creativity don’t come from just anywhere but are echoes of an artist he is truly inspired by. A true champion of vision, beauty and impact. “Yeah I’m inspired by Virgil (Abloh), RIP V. Like majorly, heavy. Virgil has been like my biggest inspiration even down to his Architecture. I loved the way he could explain his work and he could find meaning behind it. I also try to do that especially on my page”

And it is without a doubt that clarity and inspiration have in fact played a role in shaping who he is as an artist and the relationship he has with his work. For Bola, in order to create art that speaks for itself you must first discover what it is you are saying to yourself. So when Bola creates, he does so with his gut. “I design based off emotions and how I’m feeling” says Bola. “I try to gather up all my thoughts first before I start designing. If I’m not feeling something then I won’t really get inspired to do anything but if I’m in that space then I get to really do a lot of stuff and put it out well”.

Conceptual shoes

NV: I know it hasn’t been easy for you to do what you do. What are some of the challenges you've faced?

BO: Right now I’ll say school. Balancing school with what I’m doing hasn’t been easy I won’t lie. Okay for example, last year I got the opportunity to style at Lagos Fashion Week but that was only possible cause I was lucky to get some time off school. If I didn’t take that short break I wouldn’t have been able to do that. And there are other things yeah but I think that’s the major one.

NV: I feel you. Even with that you’ve still been able to put yourself out there with Bolapsd, your art and design page. What has that been like?

BO: (laughs) When I post things, I get anxious. I'll sometimes just post my work and then turn off my phone. But, even if I sometimes overthink what I want to post, I don't let that stop me. I suppose the page is primarily about curating.

Bolapsd tees

NV: Yeah and you have a couple of streetwear designs on there. What do you think about streetwear fashion in Nigeria?

BO: Wow. I'd say it's absolutely going to die, you know? It'll be over before you know it. How many more t-shirts and hoodies can we get our hands on, in my opinion? I think we're going to hit this really cool state of expressing your knowledge and own style through vintage — there are so many cool things in vintage shops, it's just a matter of wearing them. I believe that fashion will move away from buying anything brand new; instead, it will be more like, "Hey, I'm going to go into my archive."

But there’s some brands like Waf, Motherlan, Brkdaysgone and some other brands that are actually focused on pushing the streetwear culture. And then it’s also difficult for the visionary brands to get a ground because it’s like Most people in Nigeria, however, only want "well if it has clout, I'll surely buy it," not the genuine thing.

NV: Still on the topic of Streetwear, you were heavily involved in the scene last year with Streetsouk and Street Shakara. What was that like for you?

BO: I was working with Hypenewsng on an interview production and ireti happened to be the interviewee. I saw it as an opportunity to get through to her yeah so after the interview I showed her a couple of my tees and my works and she saw my stuff with Bombardier Boyz and also my fashion brand that I recently just dropped some pieces, she was like “oh so you’re the one who did this” as per she had seen it sometime ago and fucked with it. She really liked my work I mean and she told me to text her and after some days she texted me to work on the Street Souk flyers. I was amazed and just ready to do it so we did and it was a success.

With Street Shakara I really learnt a lot with the whole process even though I didn’t win. I had so many issues with the tailors and I had to make a whole collection in like 2 days. And my designs were very technical so it was hard having to break it down into simpler units for the tailors to work with. I learnt a lot though and it was a great chance for me to put my stuff out there.

3d fashion show, xii collection (for street shakara contest)

Streetsouk flyer

NV: Some of your favourite brands?

BO: When I think of fashion brands, I immediately think of like, Off-White because that’s pioneer or Balenciaga, or Margiela or Heliot emil( cause of the technicality) – just say a brand or say a designer and it takes you to a different place because everything they did embodied something. Those are some of my favorite brands today, and definitely Bola Olaniyan which is still in the process so I mean y’all should trust the process because I’m on a mission.

In the Nigerian scene I’ll say 5200fleece, Waf, Brkdaysgone.

NV: What stories are you trying to tell through your work?

BO: I made the bolapsd page to majorly get my name out there, and I do commissions and conceptual artwork for clients like celebs and random folks.

What I truly need to live for is my design image(fashion brand)Bola Olaniyan. With my work and the bolapsd page I simply need individuals to see it and choose to do what they like to do cause like the vast majority today feel as though they don't have the offices to do what they need. It doesn't need to resemble inventiveness it may be anything. Just simply continue to push. My hope is to inspire others to fuel their lasting progress in whatever area of creativity they find themselves and doing it differently as well as approaching it professionally. (that’s really my goal).

'echoke' and Bombardier Boyz Logo, Bolapsd y2k logo

NV: You recently released the first ever collection for Bola Olaniyan the brand. What was it like working on that?

BO: At the point when I made the brand, I needed to put out something for individuals to simply find out about what's going on with the brand. The pieces were made of leather in light of the fact that the thing about leather is that it’s an object of peer envy because everyone wants to wear leather and look fly. You realize I let you know I configure in view of how I'm feeling so I attempted to utilize it to like convey that thought of youth and excitement. Indeed, even the whole shoot, the models, everything was to attempt to show that thought and feeling.

There is a lot more coming from Bola Olaniyan, they say quality takes time.

NV: So what’s 2022 looking like for you?

BO: I’m really heavy on putting out all works that’s been behind the scenes, I want everything to be out this year. I’m trying to build my portfolio so this year I really want to have done a whole lot of projects I guess. I’m not in a position to mention them yet (laughs) so I guess we'll keep anticipating.

Bola Olaniyan 2021 collection

NV: What advice would you give to younger Bola?

BO: I would say, young bola be confident, be consistent and don’t let what other people do weigh you down because it’s all part of the glory story. When you’re growing it’s like you won’t really see a lot of support and at some point it’s exhausting and you'd start to doubt yourself. At times I get this and I’m like “aren’t you guys seeing this thing!!!!” but you know you just have to keep pushing. There will be a point where no one can overlook what you’re doing. And it all goes back to that very first image: what seems preposterous actually becomes the new norm.

More from Bola Olaniyan here