The Ade Bakare Couture label was set up in 1991 in London, England through a loan from the Prince of Wales’s Youth Business Trust (PYBT).
The Ade Bakare Couture label is a luxury brand of elegant and classic clothes with a modern twist. The label consists of day and evening wear with a bridal range using exquisite couture fabrics such as chiffon, duchess satin, zibeline, lace, and Ade’s favourite fabric, gazar. Some of his signature designs that have become successful over the years are his silk gazar sweep coats, puff-sleeved blouses, high neck jackets, beaded kaftans and the frilled African boubou. His collection now embrace his African heritage and his beautiful designs can be seen interpreted in the silk adire he has now made famous.
Ade Bakare Couture sells to private clients and shops in England. In Nigeria he has a boutique that sells both the couture and ready to wear lines. He has two fragrances to his name Breeze, which is a blue floral fragrance and his signature scent, Ade Bakare, a spicy floral perfume. In England his clients include celebrities and the English aristocracy.
In Nigeria Ade Bakare has dressed the cream of Nigerian society, he was also made the official designer to the former first lady of Nigeria, the late Mrs Stella Obasanjo. He has shown his collections in many countries such as Vienna, New York, Paris, Durban, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Lagos, Mozambique and Abuja.
His unique wedding dresses using fabrics such as organza, shantung, gazar and dupion come in intricate designs with rich embellishment. He won numerous awards as a student at Salford University College where he studied fashion design. He also studied history at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. He has recently established the Ade Bakare Fashion Design Academy in Lagos. He set up the Young Designers’ Creative Competition (YDCC) in 2006 to identify and encourage fashion design talent - this is a yearly competition. Other plans include setting up Ade Bakare Couture shops and Design Academies across Nigeria and Africa.
He lectures on fashion across the world and gives fashion workshops. He has been mentioned in a few films where he has worked as a costume designer, such as, A Place In The Stars directed by Steve Gukas, Lekki Wives directed by Blessing Egbe and One Room. He is also one of the costume designers for the current series of DSTV’s Battleground.