Vrede 919 is a small and perfectly formed vision of the future of luxury. The premium menswear brand champions the local while harbouring global ambitions. Faith Ibrahim, its quietly determined, Nigerian-born founder, moved to the US at 16 to study fashion design, leading to a “total immersion” in denim that sparked the brand’s creation. Vrede 919 is named for the Africaans word for ‘peace and tranquility’ and an amalgam of Ibrahim’s personally significant numbers and dates. It launched last year.

The hero pieces in the new collection have a considered, sportswear influence – vegan leather, asymmetric details – but striking denim standout pieces betray a key, and enduring, fixation. “I’m obsessed with denim. My ultimate dream is to open a mill in northern Nigeria. It’s an area that used to be rich in cotton with a serious manufacturing heritage, which I’m determined to revive. Denim is one of the most wasteful products in the fashion industry, but it doesn’t have to be that way.”

Ibrahim alludes to industry-wide wake-up calls as she discusses the brand’s go-slow ethos. Vrede 919’s manufacturing base is firmly rooted in LA where she (mainly) lives and works, enabling her to have full control of the making process, and will drop two collections a year. She’s also driven by a passion for her heritage; taking her cue from Kenneth Ize, the LVMH Prize 2019 finalist beloved of Naomi Campbell, who’s been widely feted for spearheading the integration of Nigerian textiles into the luxury market. “Africa is increasingly global, and now people outside the continent are opening up more to learning about its culture. I am part of the conversation,” she says.

Vrede 919 will also drop an annual standalone jewellery collection, though its launch was curtailed, like everything else, by the Coronavirus pandemic: “I haven’t even seen the samples yet!” she exclaims. The designs are based on the pre-colonial Adinkra symbols used widely in Ghana, and Ibrahim has also set up a programme to train the next generation of craftspeople. “Traditional goldsmithing knowledge in Nigeria is in real danger of dying out. All the skills are with the older generation so it’s really important to preserve it and pass it on.” Future collaborations will unite makers not just in Nigeria, where Vrede919’s first tranche of 22 students were recently inducted, but Madagascar and Ethiopia too. “Vrede 919 will be about quality, not quantity,” she affirms – and as with all the best ventures, destined to be more than the sum of its parts.