Jewel By Lisa

In 2005, designer Lisa Folawiyo and her team of expert craftsmen developed a technique that captivated and transformed the Nigerian fashion scene with the birth of the label, Jewel by Lisa (JBL). Lisa perfected the art of wearing Ankara (local West African fabric) being the first to embellish the fabric with sequins, Swarovski crystals, beads and the like.

Jewel by Lisa changed its face, creating a global ornate print and turning the label into a coveted luxury brand.
Each Jewel by Lisa garment is handcrafted, individual and unique. The brand uses the highest quality Ankara fabric from the Vlisco Hollandais brand; alongside its very own custom luxury fabrics.

These custom prints are inspired by colour, pattern, lines and shapes, which merged together create modern re-interpretations of the Ankara cloth.

With each embellishment hand sewn carefully onto the fabric, a fully embellished JBL garment on average will take about 120 – 240 hours to make.

Jewel by Lisa has shown its collections on international platforms– from Johannesburg, London, Paris, and New York Fashion Week (SS10 & SS12) as part of the Arise Magazine collectives at the Mercedez-Benz New York Fashion Week Spring Summer ‘10 & ’12 collections.

Jewel by Lisa’s standout collection for SS’11 was well received and raved about by editorials such as Style.com, Women’s Wear Daily and the New York Post.

In early 2011, Jewel by Lisa successfully launched The J Label, the brands diffusion label which has already garnered international press and stockists.

Jewel by Lisa has been featured in several publications such as Vogue.it, Harpersbazaar.co.uk, Drapers, Vogue.co.uk, BBC.co.uk, MTV.co.uk, Dazeddigital.com, Lucky, Essence, and a Vogue USA mention amongst others.