Why did Mowalola apologize? Saudi flag miniskirt controversy explained amid online backlash

Mowalola Ogunlesi, a Nigerian-born, London-based fashion designer, known for her non-traditional, diverse, and silhouette-inspired designs recently earned online backlash for launching her collection of miniskirts, one of which featured the Shahada, an Islamic declaration of faith.

Over the weekend, the Spring 2024 collection of her eponymous ready-to-wear label debuted at the London Fashion Week and stirred up controversy on the internet as soon as images from the ramp went viral.

The 28-year-old Mowalola unveiled her collection of miniskirts with designs of flags from various nations printed on them, including those of Japan, the United Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia. However, it was the last one that created a controversy as Saudi Arabia’s national flag has the sacred Islamic Shahada written across it in Arabic. As per Complex, in English, the text translates to:

“There is no god, but God; Muhammad is the Messenger of God.”

Considering the flag contains the holy expression, making it part of the fashion culture is now being slammed online.

In the wake of the backlash, Mowalola issued an apology online, stating that she was not aware of the text on Saudi Arabia’s national flag:

“Now that I've been educated on this topic, I sincerely apologize for this. I'll ensure this design is removed from the collection. I deeply regret any hurt or offense my oversight may have caused.”

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Netizens put Mowalola under fire as she issues an apology for using the Saudi Arabia flag in her collection

On Saturday, September 16, fashion designer Mowalola launched her Spring 2024 collection in the London Fashion Week. A part of her collection featured models walking on the runway wearing miniskirts with national flags of various countries printed on them.

However, the flag of Saudi Arabia sparked outrage online as it contained an Islamic declaration of faith, which many felt should not have been used in such a manner in her design.

In fact, many tagged it as a blasphemous act and demanded an apology from Mowalola on her Instagram page, asking her to respect the holy and symbolic nature of the flag. Initially, the designer disregarded all the backlash and took to X (formerly Twitter) to mock her critics in a post that she has since deleted.

Later, however, Mowalola issued a mea culpa on X, writing:

“One of my key inspirations for SS24 was to use the national flags of different countries. After the show, I found that one of these flags — Saudi Arabia — features sacred words, and its use has caused great offense.”

She continued by saying how she became aware of what the flag’s text really meant and apologized to everyone. Ogunlesi also gave her word that the particular design would henceforth be removed from the collection:

“Thank you for holding me accountable, and I appreciate your understanding as I learn from this experience,” she concluded.

Despite the apology, netizens have continued with their condemnation of the design.

Meanwhile, as per the fashion website Fashionista, the magazine Vogue which initially published Mowalola’s collection, removed the image from its online page. Interestingly, this is not the only controversy that the designer has faced recently.

When two models wore t-shirts with the phrase “4 Slim People” written on the front and walked on the London Fashion Week ramp, fashion enthusiasts pointed out how it was a copy of Karl Lagerfeld’s Spring 2004 collection. However, Ogunlesi quickly responded to the critics by saying that she didn’t plagiarize but rather flipped the Karl Lagerfeld design.

The designer also hosted controversial rapper Kanye West at her show and even used one of his unreleased songs as the soundtrack of her collection, earning more backlash.