Entrepreneur starts project on Nigerian, Scottish cultural outfits

A Scotland-based Nigerian fashion designer, Tobilola Tonueyi, has launched a project aimed at promoting and preserving the values of the ancient Yoruba fabric in the United Kingdom.

Tonueyi, the founder and Creative Director of Teeday Honts Couture, said the project would also explore the existence and cultural values of Scottish tartan and Nigerian aso-oke.

She inaugurated the project called Heritage Confluence on Tuesday at the inaugural exhibition which was held at The Art Department in Paisley, Scotland.

Speaking to Diaspora Tales, Tonueyi, said her interest and craftsmanship for traditional textiles were developed from an early age in Ibadan, Oyo State.

“I started Heritage Confluence in May 2025 while preparing for an international event in Glasgow. It reawakened my creative desire and research in Scotland’s textile heritage, particularly the significance of tartan.

“That experience inspired a question that became the foundation of the project,” Tonueyi said.

She said the Scottish tartan and the Nigerian aso-oke should be explored as the relationship between Scottish and Nigerian textile heritage.

“I am a contemporary fashion designer specialising in bespoke fashion, textile innovation and heritage-inspired design. My work focuses on preserving traditional craftsmanship while reimagining it for contemporary audiences through fashion, education and cultural collaboration. To explore the idea, I created an initial design as a proof of concept.

“Encouraged by the outcome, I spent the following months further researching Scottish tartan traditions, studying their patterns and symbolism, while collaborating with traditional aso-oke weavers in Nigeria to discover how tartan patterns could be recreated using centuries-old Yoruba weaving techniques. The result became Heritage Confluence,” Tonueyi stated.

The fashion expert said the exhibition introduced the first Heritage Confluence textile collection and documented the journey behind the project, from the original idea and research to weaving, garment development and the cultural dialogue between Scottish tartan and Nigerian aso-oke.

“Rather than presenting only finished garments, visitors experienced the story behind the textiles, the weaving process and the creative philosophy that connects two historic textile traditions through contemporary fashion,” she said.

He described the project is a cultural initiative for Nigerians and Scots to build understanding between their countries.

Stressing the primary objective, he maintained that the project demonstrated how two historic weaving traditions — Scottish tartan and Nigerian aso-oke—could engage in a contemporary dialogue while preserving the identity, craftsmanship and cultural significance of each tradition.

“The project also aims to promote cultural exchange, encourage innovation rooted in heritage, preserve traditional textile knowledge, create opportunities for education and museum collaboration, and inspire a new generation of designers to look to their own cultural heritage as a source of global creativity,” she emphasised.

He said the project showed that fashion could preserve heritage, connect cultures and build lasting relationships between people through craftsmanship, creativity and mutual respect.

“Heritage Confluence is not about blending two cultures until they become the same. It is about allowing two proud textile traditions to remain authentically themselves while discovering what they can create together. Fashion becomes the language, but heritage is the conversation,” Tonueyi added.