The maison
A house built on Ibadan cloth
Fifteen years ago Saffira was two sewing machines above a fabric shop. Today it is a house of 42 artisans, still cutting every piece in Agodi.
The founder
Morenike, and a grandmother's wardrobe
Morenike grew up opening her grandmother's wardrobe in Oke Ado: aso-oke for every naming, wedding and burial, folded with camphor and stories. Saffira began as a way to keep that cloth alive in clothes people wear now.
She trained as an architect, which shows in the cut: clean lines, structure in the shoulders and a respect for how cloth falls. Every collection still starts with a visit to the looms in Iseyin.
Fifteen years
How the house grew
- 2011Morenike Adesanya-Bello opens a two machine studio above a fabric shop in Gbagi market.
- 2014First bridal commission: a white gown and gele for a family friend's wedding at the Mapo hall.
- 2017The house moves to a colonial bungalow in Agodi, with a courtyard that becomes our runway.
- 2019Partnership with three weaving families in Iseyin, paid by the metre in advance.
- 2022Adire, re-cut shown in Lagos and London. The atelier grows to 28 cutters and finishers.
- 2026Ibadan at dusk, our first full couture collection, shown in the Agodi courtyard.
What we believe
Four promises
Pay the makers first
Weavers and dyers are paid in advance by the metre, at rates they set.
Cut to the person
Bespoke patterns are drafted for one body and kept for life.
Nothing wasted
Offcuts become linings, gele trims and the scarves in our shop.
Mend for life
Bring any Saffira piece back for repairs, free for the first two years.
Ibadan dresses for every occasion as if the whole town is watching. We make clothes for that town.Morenike Adesanya-Bello, creative director
