With Winnie, Idris Balogun Shows First Collection in Paris

Idris Balogun enters the fashion arena with a set of sterling bona fides: He spent his formative years honing his craft at Burberry, Tom Ford, and on Savile Row. The takeaways were many and varied: On secretive Savile Row one doesn’t fret over fashion trends; at Burberry, under Christopher Bailey, he learned about global brand-building and the world of seasons; at Tom Ford he worked with suiting at a price level most mortals can only dream of.

The confluence of all these things? When Balogun decided to launch his own brand, he wanted it to be in “an everyday place,” which doesn’t mean basic, exactly, but it does mean that it fits with his own blazer/jeans/T-shirt aesthetic.

Backstage before his debut show, the designer explained that he approaches his designs from a “Will I wear it?” perspective, and for womenswear, he applies the same question with respect to his girlfriend. (And there are plenty of pieces that go both ways.)

As a Brooklyn-based, London-raised designer of Nigerian descent, he knew that he wanted to pay homage to his origins, which is why he named this collection Roots to Grow. The show notes referred to Egungun celebrations he observed in Ijebu Ode as a child, the Yoruba masquerades being inherently connected to ancestor reverence—a bridge between past and present. It also happens that his aunt is a lace merchant, and his late grandmother sewed. The name of the brand is, in fact, an homage to her, Princess Winifred Dademu.

A savannah set evoked those roots, but it didn’t prevent Balogun from falling into the kind of trap that lies in wait for many a young designer: A shoestring budget, notably on lighting, meant that one has to lean in to get the workmanship on pieces that in photos come across as straight-up basic. But no one needed Klieg lights to get that Balogun cuts a mean trench and a slick jacket. The minimalist white dress could stand up on its own too.

Asked to compress his philosophy in a single phrase, the designer said, “It’s true to myself in an ‘I woke up this way’ way.” If they take the time to lean in a little, it’s a fair bet that his fledgling customer base will feel that way too.