OyinT. Designs x Yv. Etaghene is a fashion and accessories line, founded in 2016 by Yvonne Onakeme Etaghene, that centers Nigerian aesthetics, is gender expansive and size inclusive by design. At OTD, we believe fashion is for everyone, which means fashion should be accessible to a diverse set of bodies, aesthetics and abilities. We center and subvert traditional gender norms by designs masculine styles that anyone can wear, feminine style that anyone can wear and gender nonconforming style that anyone can wear. There are no women’s or men’s clothes, just clothes. You choose what you desire to wear.
Yvonne Onakeme Etaghene is an Ijaw and Urhobo Nigerian dyke poet, visual artist, performer and dancer. She’s published five collections of poetry, released one poetry album and produced four solo art exhibitions. Etaghene wrote and acted in two one-woman shows: Volcano’s Birthright{s} and GUAVA, and has performed in Nigeria, South Africa, Canada, the UK and the United States.
In 2015, she was awarded the Joseph Henry Jackson Award in short story fiction. Etaghene is the author of For Sizakele, a novel that addresses transcontinental identity, intimate partner violence, queer gender, and how we love as illuminators of who we are. She is the founder of OyinT. Designs by Yv. Etaghene, a clothing line grounded in Nigerian aesthetics where she designs everyday fashion and couture pieces that provide space for a plethora of gender expressions while honouring + reimagining traditional Nigerian styles. OTD expands the definition of masculine and feminine Nigerian apparel. Additionally, Yvonne hosts the NIGERIAN DYKE REALNESS Podcast.
Etaghene received a B.A. from Oberlin College, a Master’s degree from New York University, and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Antioch University. She was a 2023 Creative West (formerly WESTAF) BIPOC Artist Fund Awardee. She was a Svane Family Foundation Inaugural Artist in Headlands Center for the Arts’ Bay Area Fellowship from 2021 to 2023. www.myloveisaverb.com, http://www.OYINTDESIGNS.com, twitter: @myloveisaverb
OyinT. Designs 