Fashion | April 23rd, 2025

Moninuolaoluwa Fagbamiye is Blooming on Her Own Terms

By: Jaylin Alleyne

On the surface, Moninuolaoluwa Fagbamiye—known to most as Moni—is an architecture major from Atlanta, Georgia, wrapping up her final year at Florida A&M University. As one explores deeper, there emerges a self-taught fashion designer, creative visionary, and founder of one of FAMU’s most vibrant student-run events: Bloom.

Fashion has always been a part of Moni’s life. Long before she began organizing fashion shows and leading a campus fashion collective, she was a visual artist attending a performing arts high school in Atlanta. That background, paired with the introspective stillness of the COVID-19 pandemic, led her to explore new creative outlets—namely, painting on clothes.

“I started with custom denim, painting jeans, and playing around with design,” she says. “Then I wondered what it would be like to actually make a top. It all kind of unfolded from there.”

Larry LaFrance, a senior business administration scholar, reflects on his friendship with the multi-disciplinary creative. “Moni is the most creative person I know, it’s been inspiring to watch her grow, especially because I have known her since sophomore year of high school,” said LaFrance.

Her influences are less about specific icons and more about energy—life itself.

“It’s the art around me,” she explains. “Not necessarily one artist or trend. Just being inspired by what I see and feel every day.”

That spirit of intuitive creativity shaped her experience at FAMU, especially when balancing her fashion journey with the rigorous demands of her architecture program.

“Sometimes the business takes a back seat because the degree has to come first. But seeing people wear my pieces on campus makes it all worth it.”

In August 2022, Moni hosted her first-ever fashion show, ‘Mania’, in Atlanta. The response was so overwhelming that attendees and creatives alike encouraged her to bring the energy to Tallahassee.

“People kept saying, ‘Do this at FAMU,’ and I realized that was a gap I could fill,” she says. “There weren’t a lot of spaces for creatives here, and I knew we needed something more.”

Leonard Gant, a fourth-year business administration scholar and fellow designer of her show, expressed his appreciation for her initiative. “What Moni has created is an opportunity for young Black creators to share their art and grow their business, as one of these creators, this is all I could ask for.”

That “something” became Bloom, a student-led fashion show that has grown into a cornerstone of FAMU’s creative culture. The name itself was more than symbolic—it was a metaphor for growth, self-discovery, and the transformation of creative potential.

“Flowers go through stages.” Moni explains. “And I’ve done the same since freshman year. I’m not the same person I was. Not just in who I am, but in what I create.”

Now, as she prepares to graduate, Moni is preparing to pass the baton. Bloom Fashion Club, the community she started, will continue without her—another symbol of her ability to plant seeds that outlive her presence.

“It’s about pushing the boundaries of creativity,” she says. “I wanted to give people something real, something that shows what happens when we all decide to grow.”

And Moni? She’s still blooming.