Before Atelier Abby had a name, I collected fabric scraps left over from my mother’s sewing. She was a fashion designer, and watching her work gradually drew me towards clothing. When she finished a garment, I saw possibilities in the scraps that remained.
I used those pieces to make little dresses. I was not thinking about starting a business or building a fashion brand. I enjoyed imagining something and trying to make it with my hands. Those early experiments gave me a way to explore an interest I did not yet know how to describe.
Around 2018, I began making little dresses for children I enjoyed gathering together and teaching. I was still too short to reach the sewing machine pedal, so I used a needle and thread. The equipment available shaped how I worked, but I continued making what I could.
Discover Atelier Abby, the fashion illustration brand turning founder Abigail Olawuyi’s imagination and clients’ outfit ideas into custom dress sketches.
From Fabric to Fashion Illustration
As my interest in fashion grew, I began sketching dress designs. Drawing became another way to express the clothing I imagined, letting me put an idea on paper without having to sew it first.
Sometimes, I would sit quietly and picture a dress: its shape, its structure and the details that would make it distinctive. I would then try to translate that image into a sketch. Gradually, I recognised that I wanted to develop drawings from my own ideas.
I have not received formal training in fashion illustration. My faith is central to how I understand this ability, and I believe the Holy Spirit has guided me as I have developed it.
That belief sits alongside my responsibility to keep learning. There are still aspects of illustration I want to improve. My journey is not a claim that imagination makes practice unnecessary; it is an account of discovering an ability and choosing to develop it.
What Atelier Abby Offers Today
Atelier Abby brings that interest into a more focused practice. It is an emerging fashion illustration brand through which I create dress sketches and customised illustrations.
My current services include simple fashion sketches, coloured fashion illustrations and detailed customised designs. I want to help people visualise an outfit before it is made, whether they’re planning a wedding, birthday, graduation, or another special occasion.
The focus today is illustration. Establishing a fashion design house is part of my longer-term vision, rather than a description of what the brand has already become.
Our slogan, “Your Dream, My Design,” expresses the relationship I hope to build with clients. They bring an idea or inspiration, and I work towards interpreting it through a drawing. I want Atelier Abby to be a place where those ideas can take a clearer visual form.
How Imagination Becomes a Drawing
My process begins with an idea, although the starting point can vary. Sometimes, a dress comes into my mind unexpectedly. Other times, I start with an idea a client wants to explore.
I think about the overall appearance, then consider the silhouette, patterns and details. Drawing lets me bring those elements together and communicate what I have imagined.
I enjoy exploring different styles rather than limiting myself to one kind of dress. At the same time, I want each illustration to respond to its idea. A customised drawing should reflect what the person is hoping to express, not simply repeat an unrelated design.
I am still developing how clearly I communicate through illustration. For me, that is part of the work: continuing to draw while learning to make my ideas more understandable.
Building Towards the Next Stage
My immediate ambition is to develop my illustration practice, take on paid projects, and gain experience. I would also like to collaborate with designers, fashion houses and other creative professionals.
Over time, I hope to establish a fashion design house and create opportunities for other emerging creatives. These are goals I am working towards, not achievements I have already reached.
I also hope my experience encourages someone to begin. My own starting point was small: leftover fabric, a needle and thread, and an interest I kept returning to.
My advice is to start with what you have, keep learning, and give your ability room to grow. For me, that also means trusting God throughout the process.
Omiren Argument
An editorial perspective from Omiren Styles.
Atelier Abby’s account places imagination at the beginning of design. Its practical proposition is communication: turning an outfit idea into a drawing that another person can understand.
Keeping the current offer clear matters. Illustration is the service Abigail describes today; a fashion design house belongs to her future ambitions. Neither needs exaggeration to make the story worthwhile.
The founder’s experience introduces the practice. Its development will be expressed through the illustrations, the clarity of the service and the experience gained from projects. Those are the foundations for the next chapter.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who founded Atelier Abby?
Abigail Olawuyi founded Atelier Abby after watching her mother work as a fashion designer. As a child, she collected leftover fabric from her mother’s sewing and used the scraps to make little dresses, which led her to sketching and then to fashion illustration.
What does Atelier Abby offer, and for which occasions?
The brand offers simple fashion sketches, coloured fashion illustrations and detailed customised designs intended to help people visualise outfit ideas before they are made. Abigail welcomes ideas for occasions including weddings, birthdays and graduations, interpreting each client’s inspiration through a customised illustration.
Does Atelier Abby currently make garments?
The current service described here is fashion illustration. Establishing a fashion design house is part of Abigail’s longer-term ambition, not what the brand has already become. Her immediate aims are to develop her illustration practice, take on paid projects, gain experience, and collaborate with designers and fashion houses.
What inspires the brand?
Abigail identifies imagination, her early experiences with fabric, her faith and clients’ ideas as important influences on her developing practice. Its slogan, “Your Dream, My Design”, expresses the relationship she hopes to build with clients, who bring an idea or inspiration that she works towards interpreting through a drawing.
