There's no denying that Ovie Soko stole our hearts from the moment he stepped into the Love Island villa and now he has bagged the ultimate fashion gig - he has partnered up with ASOS and he and the online retailer are officially an item. Should we be buying a [bucket] hat? Potentially. Usually, Mondays are depressing but 16 September has been declared 'National Ovie Day' as the 28-year-old takes over the ASOS website.
SHOP: The Ovie edit, ASOS
The basketball player, who found love on the show with India Reynolds, has launched his very own style edit, and what's more, he's even been called on to work with ASOS Design on a 7-piece capsule collection which will be available from 23 September. How amazing is that?! It's worth noting that ASOS has never done a celebrity collaboration like this before so Ovie definitely wooed them while on the show.
SHOP: The Ovie edit, ASOS
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The collection - which is available now - centres around utility staples, standout shirts, smart suiting and, of course, a bucket hat or two. With the ASOS Design collab, Ovie chose his dad as a source of inspiration for his debut fashion collection. Ovie’s father PappiRay is an artist and a member of the Nigerian arts society producing incredible art using a mix of media and textures. After visiting PappiRay’s studio, the design team used thought-provoking statements from sketchbooks, such as ‘A World Without Flags’ to reinvent organic cotton hoodies and sweatshirts.
SHOP: The Ovie edit, ASOS
"This whole project has meant a lot to me … I think fashion is huge for showing who you really are. It says a lot about you," he told HELLO! at an exclusive first look at the collection.
The heartthrob said: "Family is huge for me. My dad is a big part of me growing up, and a big part of what I can remember is him just spending hours and hours and hours in the studio just getting lost in sort of his own world. I used to just go in there and listen to him playing his loud music and seeing him make all these pieces and he used a lot of mixed mediums, he used a lot of wood and a lot of different metals … so I really wanted to incorporate that [in my designs] when it came down to the textures."
Graphics on long-sleeve and short-sleeve t-shirts draw reference from Ovie’s dad’s paintings.
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"All the pictures that I picked out, all the imagery from his artwork, meant something to me… I felt like that was really important. I didn't want to put something out that was like 'oh yeah, this, this, this and this, go on…' and when I first spoke to ASOS, I said I wanted it to be a dope representation of myself."
SHOP: The Ovie edit, ASOS
Of course, true Ovie fans will love him for his iconic villa catchphrase "message" whenever anyone got a text, and luckily it features as sleeve detail on hoodies and is printed across bucket hats. A logo created by Ovie and inspired by one of his father’s paintings features on each piece.
The Ovie Style Edit is available now, and the ASOS DESIGN collaboration will be available from 23 September. All exclusively available at ASOS.com. Prices start at £6.00.