Patience Torlowei
Patience Torlowei (born 24 July 1964) is a Nigerian fashion designer. She is the creator of the "Esther Dress", the first piece of couture ever to join the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African Art's permanent collection.
Patience Torlowei
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- Name
- Patience Torlowei
- Birth Name
- Patience Etipou Torlowei
- Born
- 24 July 1964
- Birthplace
- Enugu, Enugu State, Nigeria
- Education
- Yaba College of Technology
- Field
- Textile Artist, Fashion Designer
- Nationality
- Nigeria
- Occupation
- artist · fashion designer
- Languages
- English
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wikidata · Q65455967 · wikipedia · Patience Torlowei
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Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Patience Torlowei • Birth Name — Patience Etipou Torlowei • Born — 24 July 1964 • Birthplace — Enugu, Enugu State, Nigeria • Education — Yaba College of Technology • Field — Textile Artist, Fashion Designer • Website — https: patiencetorlowei.com/
Early life
Early life
Born in Enugu to Ijaw parents, Torlowei graduated from the Textile Arts and Technology faculty at the Yaba College of Technology. She moved to Belgium in 1989. As a fashion designer she has worked to create bridal clothes and lingerie as well as ready-to-wear attire. She founded her first fashion line, Patience Torlowei BVBA, in 2006.
Career
Career
A dress designed by Torlowei, Esther, is currently owned by the National Museum of African Art (NMAA) in Washington, D.C.; it is the first piece of haute couture to enter the museum collection. It depicts scenes of oil and diamond extraction and of war, and is made of a variety of materials including gold fabric. The piece had been previously featured in a fashion show at the museum in 2014. Torlowei was included in the 2019 show "I Am… Contemporary Women Artists of Africa" at the NMAA.
Patience Torlowei at the June 18 press preview of "I Am… Contemporary Women Artists of Africa" at the National Museum of African Art
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The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Patience Torlowei, revision 1371699861 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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Studied at
1- Yaba College of TechnologyOrganisation
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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