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During his childhood, Nigerian American clothing designer John Ayoola Fadugbagbe was a regular accessory of his mother, Folashade Fadugbagbe, on visits to flea markets and a local tailor in his hometown of Queens, New York. He’d wait and observe, while she handled multicolored, patterned Ankara fabrics and tested various methods of layering and draping.

John’s appreciation for the art of garment creation and styling wasn’t fully formed yet, but he subconsciously took note of the materials, patterns and tools of his surroundings. Between the cutting, sewing and hours of waiting, something eventually clicked in the creative nooks of his mind. His observations of his mother’s passions were no longer latent, and her entrepreneurial spirit shone onto John.

“That light, that joy I received when I was a child, seeing my custom traditional outfit I wanted to replicate that in my work,” John said. “My background all comes together.”

John is the founder of Ameresome, a clothing brand that specializes in one-of-one pieces — military-inspired, customized vintage apparel from a curated collection of pins and patches that echo his Nigerian heritage.

Traditional Nigerian culture is marked by eccentric, elaborate fashion, John said. From weddings to funerals, you may see an agbada, a four-part suit-like outfit, for example. This is an expression of Nigeria’s vibrancy.

Originally from Nigeria, John’s mother settled in Queens 23 years ago. She said fashion runs in the family’s DNA, from her mother and aunt, to herself, then to her children and niece. She led her clothing line, RoyalWearsNYC, for three years, designing t-shirts, exercise apparel and special occasion garments for men, women and couples.

John recalls the months of growing up when aspects of his mother’s creative process would transfer between Folashade in New York and Nigerian manufacturers. When the final product would finally arrive at their front door, John was eager to be in the presence of sales to her friends and community.

“I realized that I wanted to have the same feeling of working so hard on a piece and designing it and going through so many iterations and presenting to the world,” John said.

While a native of Queens, all five boroughs raised John. He attended a predominantly Black middle school and said he hadn’t grown accustomed to experiencing other cultural and racial backgrounds besides those similar to his own. It wasn’t until he started high school in Astoria that this drastically changed.

To him, the city is a “melting pot.” Astoria is a neighborhood situated at the center of Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan. It was like a “clash of cultures” when his friends from Iranian, Bengali, African American and Sikh descent would flock to their high school from across the five boroughs.

“That immense familial feeling showed me how beautiful and elaborate and vibrant food photography, street fashion, everything, the whole thing is,” John said. “Everything translates into one another.”

Much of this diversity inspired Ameresome. John is a Syracuse University senior and political science major with a career trajectory that has very little to do with his interests in fashion, yet he stays true to his knowledge of garment creation and a critical analysis of the fashion industry’s current state.

Fashion today, in many ways, lacks personality and creativity, he said. He’s seen certain pieces and said he can tell there’s a lack of life woven into them. Someone can easily create a mock up design on Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator, send it to a manufacturer and upload it to an online market, but he said this becomes repetitive and breeds both overproduction and careless consumption. Most designers, he shared, aren’t taking the time to think about their audience and the stories that have the potential to be conveyed.

With Ameresome, he said he takes an approach that he hopes reshapes the fashion world, much like the strides of Virgil Abloh, Yohji Yamamoto and other iconic industry figures. He said he’s willing to spend over 30 hours on one garment, as it’s this kind of rarity that drives him.

“My audience is very tailored and every piece that I create is for a person that is in love with the craftsmanship and with the creativity and the individualism of each piece,” John said.

In East Rockaway, New York, he’s frequented a Sunday flea market for the past year, where he’s greeted like family, along with a massive bowl of pins and patches — all at specially discounted prices just for him. John’s collection of pins and patches are often sourced from flea markets like the one in East Rockaway. Other times, he’ll scour eBay or shops in new cities he visits.

John lived in Washington, D.C. for six months for the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs’ immersion program. There, he said he was constantly thrifting and sourcing in shops in neighborhoods like Adams Morgan. Sometimes, however, he doesn’t set out to source and finds himself back in a familiar state of observation.

“I’m getting inspiration from a piece, I’m taking a photo, I’m doing this, I’m looking at that, I’m looking at architecture,” John said. “I’m constantly in my creative mindset and developing my design and portfolio.”

Each patch is sewn onto the garment by machine, ensuring longevity, he said. John begins the process by mapping each patch, temporarily securing them in his desired place with a sewing pin, then permanently attaching them.

For his customers, he’ll serve their style wants by asking about their interests, giving him an idea of the kinds of messaging to look for in patches. Recently, he designed a jacket for his close friend, SU junior and health and exercise science major Kazembe Okera-Anglin, who wanted physical therapy patches and African insignia — like liberation flags — alluding to his Ghanaian heritage.

Okera-Anglin said he felt an immediate draw to Ameresome because it was yet another way he could provide support to John in their friendship. He noticed the ways in which John incorporated his Queens identity and Nigerian culture into the brand to make each piece distinctive.

Harlem-born Okera-Anglin said while New York boroughs may sometimes have “beef” with each other, they maintain a mutual understanding of the many ways in which style can be represented. He said John captures this through Ameresome and his own style.

“You can see a lot of his clothes were a lot of baggy jeans,” Okera-Anglin said. “Artists and rappers such as Cam’ron from the city would wear a lot of baggy jeans and Timbs.”

Okera-Anglin previously purchased a jacket a while ago that he didn’t enjoy wearing because it wasn’t representative of his taste. So, he asked John to rework it, giving him free reigns of creativity but still finding ways to make the process collaborative.

“He incorporated a lot of things that I feel like represent me,” Okera-Anglin said. “Some of it was frivolous and it was things that I like, but a lot of the patchwork and the buttons that he put onto the piece and the pens were very meaningful to me with career paths.”

While John is the face behind Ameresome, he said he wants each piece to speak for itself. He envisions his brand’s legacy to flourish from both his “God-given gift” to connect with others and his strategic use of his platform. He said he hopes Ameresome embodies his humble, friendly and diligent character.

“I want Ameresome to not only be a brand, but to be a mindset: hard working, compassionate for others, goal orientated, community, community driven,” John said. “I want Ameresome to be more than just the garments. I want to live a life of Ameresome. I want to live a life of being an outstanding citizen.”

Published on February 20, 2025 at 1:15 am

Contact Savannah: sfstewar@syr.edu