The Nelly pants is one design that made me come to the realization of beauty in ruins.
It is an interesting story this one.
Our Olarsgrace community has crowned Nelly as the “Pants of the Year,” with features in prestigious publications like British Vogue and Vanity Fair. Yet, what these publications don’t know is the unique inspiration behind the Nelly Pants and how they transformed our brand. So, sit back, relax, and let me take you on a journey through the making of one of our most coveted designs till date.
Effortlessly bold, playful, and one-of-a-kind, the Nelly Pants were born from a desire to defy trends. At a time when every other designer was adding long sashes to skirts and dresses, I set out to create something unexpected —why not put a sash on pants instead? This idea felt perfectly aligned with Olarsgrace reputation for daring, structured, contemporary designs. In that very instant, I called my head of production (Lanre) and told him of this idea I had, this was May 2019. I remember the look on his face—a mix of confusion and “Is she serious?” LOL.
In his words “I don’t think a sash will go well on pants”. For those who know me personally, I am hard to convince when my mind is fixated on an idea, so I said to him “Lanre let’s try it out and if it doesn’t come out nice then that’s fine”. Hesitantly, he gathered some old ruins from our fabric storage and made a sash. After the sash was laid out magnificently, I instructed him to put it on a pant for the very first time.
Now, before I continue, I’ll let you in on another little secret: the Nelly Pant you know, and love is actually the second version. The very first variation had a much shorter sash, with a blue colour, and was sold as part of a matching set. Trust me when I say, “the girls absolutely ate it up!”.
Although the very first variation was beautiful in every sense, it just wasn’t there yet. I needed the flair and sophistication to be extra. So again, I said to Lanre “why not let us make another pant with length 47, but this time, put a sash from the hip down leaving only 2 inches shy of the total length (47)”. The idea was to create it only as a pant this time around, and not a matching set.
We perfected this design and created it in a striking mustard yellow colour that screams I am here, I am confident, and I am her! To our greatest surprise, it was the most beautiful piece of innovation we had seen when it came to functional yet sophisticated pant trousers.
Nearly six years later, the Nelly Pants have become a signature piece for Olarsgrace. It elevates the look of every woman who owns it, and a great option for head turning moments when they put it on.
Look at you! You made it here. I hope you enjoyed reading this. You can shop the most coveted Nelly Pants here.
By: Ola Folami (Creative Director & Founder).
