At Ojude Oba 2026, where tradition meets pageantry and every Balogun brings his sartorial A‑game, one man rode in as a living canvas of Yoruba royal craft.
Akin Faminu – physician, fashion influencer, and the first Nigerian to win the Amstel Malta Sleek MVP Award for Best Dressed Man – mounted a brown horse draped in a BLACKADUDU masterpiece that had photographers scrambling and fashion editors nodding in approval.
Creative director Silas Oluwubunmi’s Lagos label, @blackadudu007, is known for bespoke African royalty attire that fuses centuries‑old textile tradition with modern editorial power.
For Faminu, they built a layered wonder: a striped aso‑oke agbada in deep maroon, mustard, forest green and cream, with wide sleeves and a floor‑length hem. Over it, a dramatic black velvet cloak with a fuchsia pink satin lining, spilling over the horse’s side like a royal mantle, finished with thick maroon and gold fringe tassels.
Multiple woven sashes – royal blue, maroon with gold pinstripes – crisscrossed his chest, while a structured navy aso‑oke fila gobi cap topped with a black horsehair plume sat perfectly above his aviator sunglasses. Layered coral and beaded necklaces, gold bangles, and statement rings completed the armour.
In one frame, Faminu holds the reins, relaxed yet regal, the ochre building behind him framing the modern Balogun. In another, standing in a courtyard, he wields a carved wooden staff and a white horsehair fly‑whisk, the cloak swept open to reveal the full spectacle of aso‑oke and fuchsia.
Faminu, a 2018 top graduate of UNILAG College of Medicine and a practising physician at a Lagos Island public hospital, has been featured by GQ South Africa, Vogue, and CNN Style.
His brand ambassadorship includes Moët & Chandon, Vlisco, Nivea, Heineken, and Skechers. But at Ojude Oba, he was simply a king on horseback. When heritage is tailored with audacity, it never goes out of style.
