If you’ve found your way here, there’s a good chance that you’ve heard the name Olaolu Slawn before. After all, the Lagos-born, London-based skater, designer, self-proclaimed ‘scam artist’ and, well, actual artist has established himself as a mainstay of either city’s white-hot creative scenes, racking up co-signs from everyone from Skepta and Clint 419 to Angelo Baque and the late, great Virgil Abloh. Last week, the 24-year-old was once again the name on everyone’s lips.
Why? It all comes down to a single post on X, in which Slawn revealed an unreleased design for Supreme’s iconic Box Logo tee featuring the artist’s signature tripped-out, cartoon-y graphics, setting the internet alight with speculation that an official collaboration was on the way. The hype was further fuelled by an image of British hip-hop megastar Central Cee in a grey jersey iteration of the tee.
So when will it be dropping? Can we expect anything further from the collab? And most important of all, who is Slawn? Read on for our cheat sheet on everything you need to know about the era-defining artist.
Slawn’s Lagos Lore
Hailing from Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city and undisputed cultural capital, Olaoluwa Akeredolu-Ale (Slawn’s legal name) has been at the heart of the city’s progressive cultural community since his early teens. An early passion for skateboarding—incubated by his obsession with video games like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater—crystallized upon an introduction to Jomi Marcus-Bello, the man behind Nigeria’s first skate shop, WAFFLESNCREAM. Soon after that, Slawn took up a job there, eventually crossing paths with fellow local skateheads Onyedi and Leo—that’s Leonard Iheagwam, AKA Soldier, another Lagosian artist now lighting up the London scene.
Motherlan
Together, the trio eventually took the decision to found Motherlan, a skate crew and streetwear brand. Originally established to support their skating ambitions, the label quickly earned a reputation as one of Africa’s hottest street scene exports, with their graphic flare and provocative slogans earning them a global audience. Skepta and Grace Ladoja were among the first key cultural players to pick up on the brand on a visit to Lagos, with Virgil Abloh also among the group’s earliest high-profile fans.
Of course, they weren’t the only ones. Over the collective’s earlier years in operation, Slawn and the crew attracted the attention of some of the world’s most influential cultural players, and in 2019, Motherlan’s world domination was fully consolidated when the trio took a starring turn on the cover of iconic London style title i-D.
The Big Smoke
Slawn had started to build his name in the British capital long before then, though. In 2017, he moved to London to study Graphic Design at Middlesex University. School wasn’t necessarily his abiding focus, with Slawn quickly becoming one of the city’s most in-demand creative voices. Almost as soon as he’d landed, he’d struck up collaborative relationships with the likes of Awake NY’s Angelo Baque and the Supreme crew, regularly starring in the brand’s Chris Rhodes-shot campaigns.
Into the Art World
Though his CV’s more decorated than most, it turns out that Slawn’s a lot more like the rest of us than you’d have thought. Amid the doldrums of lockdown, like so many of us, Slawn saw the abundance of time at his disposal as an opportunity to take up a new hobby. Picking up a few canvases, some paint cans, and a set of markers from his local art supply store, he embarked on the art practice that has propelled him to global stardom. With its squishy, lysergic cartoon figures set against technicolor backdrops—often featuring a handful of schoolboy-ish dick drawings thrown in for good measure—his work rapidly earned a cult following.
Initially, Slawn distributed his work via rapid sell-out drops on his Instagram Stories—as well as via IRL flash events where potential collectors would do everything from shaving their heads to physically fighting each other to get their hands on a piece of his work. Since then, his expressive tableaus have gone on to become some of the most instantly recognizable (not to mention most sought-after) in contemporary pop art, seen everywhere from the backdrops of Central Cee performances and Off-White shoots, flaunted by Burna Boy on stage, handpainted on Louis Vuitton Neverfull totes as part of an official collaboration, to Sotheby’s, one of the world’s most esteemed auction houses.
But What About the Supreme Box Logo Tee?
Ah yes, that. Though there’s been a good deal of buzz around Slawn's Supreme Box Logo tee since that post on X, the product of an official collaboration. It's a one-off bootleg—which would make sense, given the caption accompanying the X post: “Sometimes you just gotta say fuck it and do what you want.” Just this morning, Slawn posted on his Instagram Stories that the T-shirt will drop on his website tomorrow at 12 p.m. (most likely GMT).
The buzz he’s managed to whip up is a testament to the 24-year-old’s ability to create waves. For a more certain chance at buying into Slawn’s universe, keep your eyes peeled for his next exhibition. Or, a slightly more wallet-friendly option, stop by BeauBeaus, the East London café and community center he opened last May, named after his son.