Yinka Ash is the founder, managing director and chief buyer at Lagos-based multi-brand boutique Ashluxury. Located in the city’s upmarket Lekki neighbourhood, the minimalist concept store stocks a range of international brands across streetwear and luxury fashion, including Coperni, A Cold Wall , Rhude and Kenzo, as well as the retailer’s private label Ashluxe. Since founding the store in 2017, Ash has emerged as a leader of Nigeria’s rapidly growing streetwear industry and a tastemaker in the city’s luxury retail scene. His store is a route to market for brands seeking celebrity clients with huge followings in Nigeria and the wider West Africa region, including Afrobeats musicians and Nollywood actors.
Ash started as a personal shopper straight out of university in 2014, building up his client base gradually until 2017 when he opened Ashluxury. The next year, he launched his own streetwear brand Ashluxe as a private label in the store. The brand has earned Ash a cult following, becoming a status symbol among cool urban Nigerians. “I set out to make what I felt was the ‘perfect T-shirt’ and it has snowballed into a full, blown fashion line,” he told the South African edition of GQ in 2021. “Of course, I would love to see stand-alone store in Paris, London and New York but, the true measure of success for me would be to see an Ashluxe store in at least 50 of the 54 countries in Africa and to ensure that African streetwear is embraced at home and globally. That’s the goal.”
