When someone tells you that they want to radically disrupt the system from within, you’d be forgiven for being a tad sceptical. But Mr Niyi Okuboyejo’s palpable passion could hardly leave you doubting his sincerity. The founder and creative director of Post-Imperial, one of the brands that makes up our artisanal Small World collection, was born in Lagos, Nigeria, before moving to Houston, Texas, when he was 14 to stay with his uncle. He now lives and works in Harlem, New York, near the Little Senegal neighbourhood, where his studio and label are based.

West African culture and heritage – long shut out of mainstream Western fashion – remains integral to his work. A kaleidoscope of colour and print, Post-Imperial’s collections are all crafted in Nigeria, Kenya and Morocco, using traditional patterns, dyes and manufacturing techniques. Tired of seeing menswear dwell in the past, taking its inspiration from photographs of white Hollywood screen stars in the 1950s or 1960s, Okuboyejo started his brand in 2012 because he wanted to tell a more authentic story, one that removes the colonialist lens and reflects the true diversity of the world we live in.

“Nostalgia is a very tricky thing,” he says. “[In these pictures,] you’re looking at a very privileged set of people that got to experience that life in the past. You don’t see people of colour or other marginalised groups.”

As much as he hopes Post-Imperial acts as a mirror to modern society, he also sees it as a crystal ball. “It was also like a middle finger to imperialism,” he says. “I wanted to create something that focused on the now but was also for the future. Something outside of old regimes, [that] connected to the African diaspora. Africa is the last frontier of new ideas. For us, it’s just something that we grew up with, but for everybody else, it opens a magical portal… I want Post-Imperial to be that bridge, like a cultural translator.”

If you think Okuboyejo sounds more like a philosopher than a fashion designer, you wouldn’t be far off. But changing how things are done in an industry very much set in its ways requires a wholesale rethink.

His blueprint for disruption starts with removing the ego of the individual – the eponymous designer – from the fashion system, one of the reasons he prefers to use the term “mythology” to describe the ideas behind the clothes he makes. “Everyone is so obsessed with narrative,” he says. “Mythology for me is a different kind of storytelling, an inclusive type of storytelling. Cultures that deal in mythology are mostly oral. One person might say that god came down as a rat, another might say that god came down as snake. In Western thought, we think that’s inconsistent. But everyone has taken part in telling that story.”

Collaboration, then, and community, is at the heart of what Post-Imperial does. Rather than working together to express his singular vision, he sees the people at every stage of Post-Imperial’s supply chain, those who make, model, and even transport and load his collection into boxes, as collectively involved in producing the pieces. And, crucially for a brand that is producing its wares in Africa and selling them to Western markets, those workers have their own agency.

“When they come in and add their own process or their own hands, they are helping to tell the story,” he says. Offering an example, he explains that on one occasion, the dyers deviated from his sketch and produced something different to the original design. He admits he was annoyed at first, before realising it had turned out even better. “I’ve embraced the idea of chaos [and with it] that idea of controlling the narrative is thrown out the window.”

The philosophy extends even to the fabrics he works with. Borrowing a term from his friend and fellow lecturer, Ms Seetal Solanki, “humanising materials” is a central pillar of Post-Imperial’s ethos. “We talk about collaborating with humans, but we also collaborate with all the materials we work with,” Okuboyejo says. “There’s this idea of talking to them and saying, ‘Hey, how can we work with you? How can we dye you? What will happen when we go through the dyeing process?’ And then respecting that material.”

But it’s not just clothes that he holds to this standard. On the day of our shoot, in which he models his own personal approach to style below, Okuboyejo tells me the MR PORTER crew didn’t want him to lift a finger. It wasn’t something he was used to. “I felt pampered!” he says. “I can imagine a celebrity is in that position every day and nobody is telling them no.”

That imbalance in power dynamics – when one person, or culture, holds all the cards – unsettles him. His answer isn’t to react with rage or righteous anger, but compassion. “It’s all about empathy. Empathising with culture; empathising with people; empathising with materials. Once I am able to apply that kind of empathy through my design, it’s easier for me to critique systems rather than people,” he says.

“We’re not necessarily saving lives making clothes. But we do have the opportunity to elevate it in a way that can be positive.” That optimism, he says, is also central to his personal wardrobe. Here, he takes us on a tour of his love of tailoring, colour and above all, authentic style.

“I really like how we were playing with the different tones. We have some browns on green – all these colours are from the same family, and then we found this background that really matched that. It’s kind of blending with the camouflage. It feels very coordinated, but in a very unforeseen way. I didn’t think too much about this outfit at all. I just wanted to roll with it. And when you roll with it, happy surprises happen.”

“I really love Story Mfg. And I built this look around that T-shirt. A lot of times when I wear this blue shirt, I like to usually wear a T-shirt under them. The T-shirt is like the building piece. And something like Birkenstocks kind of connects with that brand. Because, you know, it gives a sense of a foraged vibe. And I know Story Mfg., they see themselves as foragers.

“That shirt also has a lot of beading on it. It has Maasai beads. That’s fancy, right? So, even though I look like I’m ready to lay on the couch, there are a few fancy things in there, too.”

“I like this because of the colour. Straight up: just the colour. I’m always drawn to colour. I used to hate the fact that I liked colour so much. I was good with colour because in [fashion] school, you know, in order for you to be taken as a serious designer, you have to know how to use blacks and greys and I did not do that. Now, I’ve embraced it. I wear red suits. But I don’t necessarily wear hoodies. Hoodies are not my thing. But that orange spoke to me.”

“This is a look that, even though it’s tonal with all these different blues, everything stands for itself. As much as I like colour, I love indigo. I like to match indigos in different shades and textures. This is me showing how I work with indigo – because indigo is the foundation of Post-Imperial.”

“Another thing I like to do is put my jacket on my waist. When I was younger, I used to carry a purse. But, you know, with kids now, I’m getting older. I don’t want to carry anything with me. So, if it’s too hot, I’ll maybe have my jacket on my waist and put things in the pockets. It could be a suit jacket, it could be a regular jacket, I’ll use all those pockets.

“I’m also obsessed with any kind of animal-print shoes. I used to have quite a few. I would buy leopard-print shoes in different styles and my wife’s would say, ‘You already have one, why are you buying another?’ To me, it’s the same as buying black shoes. That’s how I look at it.”

“I grew up wearing suits. It’s something that I’ve always done, so the foundation of my style has always really been tailored jackets. But I like it to be very, very comfortable – the type of jackets that make you feel like [you’re wearing] pyjamas. And then from there, I add whatever I want. I know the jacket that I want to wear and then everything else comes after.”