Head of State Heads Home

February 16, 2023

Taofeek Abijako released Head of State’s latest collection Memories of Home in honor of his father’s journey out of Lagos, Nigeria. To avoid literal storytelling, Taofeek used symbolism to marry the memories of his father’s, Nureni Abijako, with his own. “He attempted a journey I’m sure a lot of immigrants can relate to,” Taofeek said. Full of emotion, the show was a bridge to rebuild his relationship with his father and featured a soundtrack in homage to his mother which all hit close to home.

In Nureni’s journey from Nigeria to Spain, he planned to go through the desert and then cross the ocean. On the floor of the show, a carpet of blue sand symbolized the physical terrain to immigrate in search of improved living conditions. “One of the reasons he decided to stop the journey was based on his memories of home,” Taofeek said as his father returned empty handed. “He missed what Lagos felt like, he missed the dynamics between having a family.”

Text by India Espy-Jones
Photos by Matthew Weinberger

More conceptual than his previous collection, the show featured Lagos architecture and clean tailoring. Taofeek’s memories of home included the National Theatre and the texture of surfaces like cracks on a wall integrated with West African silhouettes and familiar Western looks. Memories of Home opened with a spiritual tone as an ode to Yoruba culture in the “clean feeling” of all white looks then transitioned to the opposite, as more upbeat sounds were reminiscent of a “basement club in Brooklyn.” At center stage, a chamber of water fell on a white gown as a symbiosis of green, black, blue and tan looks were guided by the sound of home–and the audience never cried more.

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