Toyin Ojih Odutola's imagined portraits, and what they can teach AI-assisted styling.
A character's story can reveal itself in the folds of a garment, in the way they sit, in the room around them. Toyin Ojih Odutola's portraits work through these small cues, suggesting a world far larger than the frame. Her imagined saga follows two aristocratic Nigerian families, the UmuEze Amara clan and the House of Obafemi, in a history untouched by colonialism and told through relationships, privilege and personal choice. A shift of perspective that makes room for individuality without denying the weight of the past.
What we wear, and how we wear it, speaks before we do. In these portraits, clothes and posture already tell us who these people are; the artist herself describes clothing as something that moves with the body and becomes part of a figure's presence. Which raises a question about AI-assisted styling: not what it can generate, but how it can help us build a look that feels true to a character.
In The Marchioness (2016), a noblewoman sits wrapped in voluminous fur, yet her pose is completely relaxed. That contrast is where her authority comes from: she is at ease in clothes that demand attention. The all-white look adds refinement, the statement glasses an edge of her own, the hairstyle a thread of cultural continuity in an otherwise contemporary image. She wears her status as easily as her clothes.
Newlyweds on Holiday (2016) portrays Jideofor Emeka, Marquess of UmuEze Amara, and his husband, Lord Temitope Omodele of the House of Obafemi. In a country where same-sex marriage is banned, their ease is striking: here, their union brings two families together. Similar silhouettes, scarves and a shared touch of blue create one visual language for two distinct identities. Before styling a character, the real questions are how they live, what they want to say, and who they are to one another.
In The Adventuress Club, Est. 1922 (2016), vintage and contemporary references blend. Patterns, silhouettes and statement accessories set each woman apart, while placing all of them in the same world: one of wealth, freedom and individuality.
The same attention to character can guide how we work with AI. In these portraits we look at clothes and imagine the lives behind them; with AI we can reverse the process, starting from a story and exploring the clothes that might express it. Begin with a jacket and let AI test a softer shirt, a contrasting trouser, an unexpected accessory. An idea becomes a preview to discuss and refine, and a surprising result may change our first instinct. But the story keeps the direction: a combination can look striking and still feel too formal, too restrained or too playful for the person we have in mind.
AI can open up combinations we might overlook. We can accept its help without treating its suggestions as instructions, or giving up our own eye. If our look speaks before we do, AI can widen the ways we express ourselves. What we want to say is still ours to decide.
By Deniz Ece Kopmaz
Header image: Toyin Ojih Odutola, The Marchioness, 2016, charcoal, pastel and pencil on paper. North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, gift of Pat and Tom Gipson. © Toyin Ojih Odutola. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
Vertigini Journal is published by Vertigini Studio, a Milan studio creating AI imagery for fashion, beauty and jewellery brands. Discover our work.
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