How Stylist Ola Ebiti Infuses Art History into His Work

Some stylists bask in the excitement of a shoot, while others relish the research process — the sourcing and the fitting that precedes the final product of the shoot. For London-based stylist Ola Ebiti, savoring the latter is due to his love for art history and vivid imagery dating back to when he moved to England from Lagos, Nigeria, to pursue fashion communication at university. While perusing through art history books, Ebiti realized he didn’t see a reflection of his Nigerian heritage and knew that he had to change that narrative by recreating images and stories of West-African beauty. Eventually, Ebiti began his career by interning at renowned fashion publications like Vogue and Marie Claire before working at Wallpaper Magazine and assisting editor-in-chief of Dazed Magazine, Ib Kamara. This past year has been a turning point for the rising creatives career, as he added two more covers with D Repubblica and M Le magazine du Monde to his belt. And that’s not all; he was also the lead stylist for Erdem and Bianca Saunders’ F/W 23 shows, continuing to cement his position in the fashion industry. Speaking about his growing work with Erdem, Ebiti stated, “The conversation is always ongoing when you share similar visual references and ideas of beauty.” Models.com recently caught up with Ebiti to discuss his journey into styling, his first-ever fashion week circuit, working with like-minded creatives like Nadine Ijewere and Ibby Njoya, and what’s next for him.

Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you became a stylist?
I grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, and moved to England about 15 years ago. I really got into art history and art; I’ve always been interested in it, but I became more immersed in it while in England. Through that, I learned a lot about art in England and Europe, which I found inspiring. However, I realized I had yet to see a reflection on my origins or history beyond the last 30 years. In Nigeria, much of our history is passed down through fictional work. That led me to pursue the knowledge of where I come from, and especially in the early part of my work, I tried to recreate the images of research and beauty from West Africa that I never saw when accumulating and getting information. I eventually did the rounds of interning at Vogue, Marie Claire, and then I worked with Jason Hughes at Wallpaper Magazine for about a year. After that, I assisted Ib Kamara for a few months. Eventually, I found the confidence to start working in the industry.

As a Nigerian, I know how it can be with Nigerian parents and not following the traditional route of law, medicine, and finance. Was it a shock for them when you were going into styling?
It was a shock for my dad because he wanted me to study economics or business, the typical credible jobs. But I think my mom had always known I was queer and interested in fashion, so she always encouraged that in me. I studied fashion communication at university, so when that time came, she was a massive champion for me and encouraged my dad because he didn’t really understand it. Honestly, I don’t even think they understand what I do now. They know that I’m a stylist, but I don’t think they’re aware of the intricacies of it. My mom being a huge champion, made it a lot easier for me.

You recently styled the Erdem and Bianca Saunders F/W 23 shows, which have very different aesthetics. How was that process for you, considering these are some of the first few shows you’ve ever styled?
I’ve never done the fashion week circuits, so it was quite intense. Besides New York, this was the first time I did all the European cities, and it was pretty vigorous but rewarding. For Bianca, we were coming out of Christmas, and we started prep on the 3rd of January. We started fitting and styling early and then moved to Paris, where we had casting, fitting again, and styling again for the final show. Bianca has such a specific vision that it was always a conversation of me trying to find the newness and the ease from an outsider’s point of view but still keeping it in her world at the end. The physical work for Erdem was vigorous, but the creative part was a lot easier because we have very similar creative references. As I said earlier, my love for art history, portraiture, and painting is very much in his world. So, for us, it was a continuous conversation that was very easy, joyous, and fun. Also, Erdem was my first women’s wear show; if you are going to do a women’s wear debut, you want to do it with someone whose work you respect and love.

How did you get connected with both of them? Was it through a mutual?
With Bianca, she reached out to me four or five years ago. We had a few meetings about working together, but it just didn’t work out at the time. However, we always kept in touch and supported each other. I love her clothes, and she has made some custom things for me in the past, so when I was going into a new phase, it was an easy conversation of “Let’s see if this works.” With Erdem, it was almost the same. Initially, I was a bit nervous going into it because he had such a strong presence, but then I worked on two seasons of his men’s collection, and we really enjoyed the process, so it grew organically. Eventually, I worked on a few pre-collections and styled a few of his personal photography projects. So, when it was time for women’s wear, we thought, “Should we just try and see?” Even now, because we share the same references, we are constantly on WhatsApp, and I’m always sending him ideas. The conversation is always ongoing when you share similar visual references and ideas of beauty.

You worked with a frequent collaborator, Joshua Woods, for the M Le magazine du Monde January cover. How was that experience working with Aya Nakamura, and what was the most fun part of that shoot?
Honestly, I think the most fun part of that shoot was the fact that I was working with someone so acclaimed. In France, they call her “the Beyonce of France.” During my research, I had yet to see her interact with high fashion that way, so I wanted to bring a little bit of street and make it very high fashion, which she loved. She’s Congolese, and obviously, her music has a lot of Afrobeats connections, so we instantly got on. I mean, she didn’t speak a word of English, and I didn’t speak a word of French, but she understood the word “fab,” and from that point, we completely connected because all she needed to say was “fab,” and I was like, “Okay, great.” Josh is such a great personality, and he has such a good connection with his subjects, so it really brought her out. There’s that one photograph where she’s holding a cigarette in the Jacquemus look, and it’s so fab because we were actually on a cigarette break, and she was sitting on the couch. I yelled Josh’s name from the studio, and he ran in. I said, “stay,” and he took the shot, which ended up being one of the covers. I think we shot it before Christmas Day, and we only had like six days post-New Year to prep and go to Paris because she was starting her tour. So they only confirmed just before Christmas. So even though I was on holiday for Christmas, at the back of my mind, I was working and thinking about how to do it. It came out really nicely, and everyone on set had the right attitude for the day.

What’s your favorite aspect of your work? Do you enjoy the research phase or being on set more?
Honestly, I enjoy the research phase — the research phase, the working in my studio, the fitting part that is me. If you go to my Instagram, there are many fitting pictures on my Instagram purely because, selfishly, that is me in my safe space, exploring and pushing out all my ideas. I still believe in getting the image and going the extra mile, but all the parts of me researching, pulling things out, going through all the cases, starting from A to B to finally the fitting day, are some of the best parts for me. By the time I get to that point when I’m sharing the fitting pictures with the photographer, I’ve already done everything I need to do, so it’s up to the photographer. For example, if I do a beautiful look, and then the photographer only takes a headshot, I’m not worked up about it because I’ve already had fun.

I loved the W Magazine editorial “Before Night Falls” that Nadine Ijewere shot. What was the inspiration behind that shoot?
I had been having many conversations with W for quite some time about what we would do and how we wanted to approach it. I always wanted to do something on location, but because of everything happening with that issue, it physically wasn’t possible. Nadine and I had been dreaming about this beautiful place in Nairobi that we wanted to visit, but logistically it wasn’t possible. So we tried to recreate that. I usually like to shoot everything on location, and I returned to feeling stuck in Covid times, which reminded me of watching the Met Gala before Covid. There’s that famous picture of Kim Kardashian in the bathroom where so many celebrities are in it. That was the image that stuck with us. We wanted to create all these dreams of evening wear in that location in the sand dunes. We found this designer Darcy Fleming, based outside of London. She made all her dresses from straw and hay and created six custom dresses in pastel colors, greens, blue, and red, all dressed beautifully. Also, Ibby Njoya, the set designer, is a genius because we showed him the pictures of that location, and he instantly got it. Nadine photographs women in such a beautiful way, everyone was just in sync on that set. It was like a beautiful homage to the location we never went to.

From your personal experience, how do you think the sample size issue deters size inclusivity in fashion? And what steps do you think the industry can take towards a more size-inclusive future?
The idea of size inclusivity should be a no-brainer because we’re championing body diversity. If we’re doing that, there have to be opportunities to have numerous sizes for different bodies. While working with Aya, I was surprised at how many options weren’t available. It’s relatively easy, especially for big brands that can afford it. There’s a conversation that smaller brands can’t afford to buy as many fabrics to make the bigger sizes, but specifically for big brands, I found it shocking that there was only so much available. Even going into Erdem this season, I definitely made a point of that. It’s not just about ticking the box of having body diversity within the collection, but it’s also within the looks. That was another thing that I learned from working with Aya. Many of the looks that were for the bigger size girls were just supplement looks or the B/C looks rather than the A looks. If we’re going to have a collection that champions body diversity, we have to include those main looks in the collection to have a diversity of size. So, if we’re going to shoot a talent for the cover, we want to ensure that there is a strong look allocated to that talent. It’s about more than just ticking the box; it’s about allocating all of the same looks so that we’re really catering to everyone because only 20% of the world’s population is sample size, so it doesn’t make any sense.

You styled one of the Dazed Magazine Summer 2021 covers, which focused on the #ENDSARS movement; as a Nigerian yourself, what did it mean to be a part of that conversation?
First of all, I want to give kudos to Ib Kamara for putting that forward and putting that conversation out so early on. Initially, we thought of editorializing, but when we talked, we didn’t want it to feel frivolous or a concept we were merely touching. When the shooting happened, I think every Nigerian in the world who was championing positive change felt deflated. As soon as the opportunity arose, I was more than willing to put my name on it and support the editorial team. Bringing in Daniel Obasi to co-style with Ib and me was really important. It had to be a universal voice because I’m a diaspora Nigerian living in England, but Daniel lives in Nigeria. So it was good to bring someone on the ground to be involved in that conversation. Vincent was also a writer for the article who interviewed all the activists, and it felt like a powerful thing to do right then. It was something that the youth culture couldn’t ignore.

“It’s reignited this energy with young people to be more vocal and active in politics. We are the leaders of the future of Nigeria; with 80% of the population below the age of 30, we are the majority. We need to have a sounding voice in Nigeria to ensure that we put forward the vision of Nigeria that we want to see.”

When I saw that cover, it generated a bit of hope for us, even though we all felt so deflated during that tough time.
As horrible as the situation was, I’m grateful for its impact. A story is coming out soon, which inspired me to put the changes I want to see in Nigeria into my work. Fela and other artists before us had been doing the same. It’s reignited this energy with young people to be more vocal and active in politics. We are the leaders of the future of Nigeria; with 80% of the population below the age of 30, we are the majority. We need to have a sounding voice in Nigeria to ensure that we put forward the vision of Nigeria that we want to see.

You styled Lupita Nyong’o for the Document Journal Winter 2022/Resort 2023 covers, as this was your first time working with Document Journal. How was that experience for you?
It was my first time working with celebrities on that scale. I’ve worked with a few celebrities during my assisting days, but Document Journal had a specific point of view, and Lupita also had a specific point of view. So, I was the middleman trying to find the perfect recipe where the merge would be exceptional. The day of the shoot was great, I think it was also because Lupita is a fellow African. When I work with talent, specifically black talents, I try to figure out their taste in music. I did that again for Lupita, and I think she warmed up to me, making her trust me more. We created really great looks like the Bottega dress on the cover, but then I was also able to push her, and we did those experimental looks with the Loewe dress. She just really trusted me, which was significant as I think celebrities have such a specific way of how they are perceived in the public eye.

Apart from styling, what else are you passionate about?
I’m passionate about art history. I’m one of those people who go to stuffy old galleries and look at paintings, sculptures, and cultural artifacts. I have cultural awareness and try to understand the world through the lens of art history. It informs my work style and allows me to have cultural awareness. For example, what would I look like if I existed at this point? Or if I were a nobleman living in 1800 Paris, what would my life be like? Because there were black men that existed at that time. I’m obsessed with art history, jazz music, and thrifting old furniture.

What has been the craziest impromptu situation you’ve ever had to navigate on a job, and how did you deal with it?”
I’m good at mediating and diffusing situations. When I was assisting and working for a magazine, they did an art special with African masks on white girls. To be fair, this was around 2009 or 2011, so the powers that be were not as culturally aware as they would be now. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but when they finally ran the feature and edited it, it was going to run as ‘African Queen’. I had to tell the fashion director, who was receptive, and I said, “It’s really problematic to have white models wearing black African masks, specifically from Nigeria, and the title is African Queen.” Neither of them had that cultural awareness at that time, but I was very stuck in my guns because I thought it was a really negative perception. I was very aware that I was the only black person in the magazine at that point. For me, it was the tagline of “African Queen”. I continued to say this is clearly perpetrating something that is problematic and also just whitewashing the vision of Africa generally’ It was well-received. They changed it, removed the African part from the text, and put something clean at the end. I think that was a learning curve, trying to correct people constructively but also try not to bruise their egos.

“The great thing about London is that it has people from so many different walks of life bringing new ideas in and trying to create an identity for themselves.”

Are there any emerging brands that are on your radar, and why?
There are several. Marco creates fun t-shirts with circles. Bianca Saunders, Priya Ahluwalia of Ahluwalia, and Web Studios are also on my radar. The great thing about London is that it has people from so many different walks of life bringing new ideas in and trying to create an identity for themselves.

What would you say is next for you this year? What can we expect from you?
I hope to create even better images. Because of Instagram and how we consume images so quickly, I am trying to create timeless pictures now. I am inspired by people before me whom I hold to my standards and try to be inspired by them. I think it’s imperative post-Black Lives Matter to continue the conversation that black work is relevant and will always exist rather than it being a trend. I want to ensure that there is continued strong work that continues that narrative so it’s not seen as a moment in time or a trend in a specific situation, especially for black artists.