There’s a universal appreciation for golden hour. That perfect moment where the sun hangs low enough in the sky to cast a hazy warm glow upon everything. For those lucky enough to have experienced summer in Grand-Bassam, a popular resort town in Cote D’Ivoire, vivid memories of the sun glistening as it reflects off of the ocean at sunset are likely to spring to mind. That feeling of “tropical sensuality” was what designer Artistide Loua was hoping to encapsulate with his latest spring 2025 showcase during Lagos Fashion Week. “This collection is about exploring that romance between the water and the sun at a certain hour,” he said. “It all brings you back to the beach: the colours, the textures, the lights.”

Despite Loua’s love of Kente, a traditional fabric found in Ghana and parts of West Africa, this collection marked a turning point in the brand. For the first time, he didn’t build it around the traditional fabric; only a third of the looks featured Kente cloth. “We are able to do unisex pieces and feminine pieces even though we have Gentlemen at the end of [the brand’s name],” he said. In Kente’s place, he introduced new fabrics such as linen-denim and lace, and created more commercial lightweight pleated looks.

Loua showed us that he’s also big on the details. The Kente suits, which were smartly tailored by artisans in Abidjan, came with cast bronze buttons shaped like seashells—a nod to the treasures found at the beach. Standout pieces included the cropped striped blazer paired with matching Bermuda-style shorts and a white linen-denim jacket paired with a white lace midi skirt. There’s more experimentation to come, he hinted: “Kente Gentlemen is a call for people to remember that the essence of our brand is to use locally made and produced textiles… It’s not just about Kente, it’s a whole story we’re trying to put together.”