Jewel Floral Jacquard Puff Sleeve Top and Cream Trouser

A founder who runs board meetings in her Ikoyi garden wanted something that would translate from her own home to a hotel ballroom without changing. The garden boardroom is a real thing in Lagos at her tier; the founder calls the meeting on her own terms, in her own house, and the agenda happens between the small chops and the second pour of palm wine.

The jacquard floral is jewel tones, hand woven, set on a sweetheart neckline with full puff sleeves at the shoulder that hold their shape through three hours of gesturing. The bodice is corseted internally so she could host without thinking about her own silhouette. The cream wide leg trouser anchors the look and lets the print do the talking.

The whole piece reads as quietly expensive because it is. She wore it to a quarterly with three investors who had been on the fence about her Series A. They left having signed. She told me the look did not close the round. It just made the conversation easier. That is the most honest thing a client has ever said to me about a wardrobe.