As we all know by now, Alté isn’t just music, it never has been. It’s a mood, a movement, and the definition of main character energy. No one embodies Alté style better than Nigerian women artists who are turning stages, sidewalks, and IG feeds into full-blown fashion runways.
“Alté”, which is derived from the Nigerian term ‘alternative,’ symbolises the essence of freedom of expression across various artistic forms.”
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Whether you’re into soft-girl sorcery or chaos-core layering, there’s an alté aesthetic for your vibe and a woman already nailing it.
Here are seven alternative artists, their Alté style, and how to dress like them.
The Soft Witch
Dreamy, soulful, and a little off-beat (in the best ways). Think flowy fabrics, velvet crop tops, alt makeup, and soft-girl energy with spooky undertones.
Artist: Lady Donli
How can this list exist without her? How can we give accolades without laying her flowers first? The First Lady of Alté, our Pan African Rockstar! She walked so your favourite alté girl could strut in beaded sandals and glitter liner.
In a space still dominated by hypermasculine energy, Lady Donli leaned into softness as power. Her music talks about joy, desire, independence, and emotional growth, and she’s done all this while championing other women creatives and staying fully independent.
Style: Beaded braids, witchy rings, vintage florals, crochets, and thrifted gems. Donli’s style is alté at its dreamiest. Think retrofits, oversized jackets, velvet, beaded jewellery, tinted glasses, and ethereal makeup. Her fashion tells stories, and often feels like a direct extension of the themes in her music.
Song: Cash
Wear This If: You want to hex your ex with your eyeliner but still light a scented candle and forgive him in your journal.
The Maximalist Chaos Queen
Loud. Layered. Unapologetic. Think fishnets, chunky boots, PVC corsets, bright makeup, and chain belts.
Artist: SGaWD
She’s all fury, fashion, and femme power. In a culture that often tries to shrink women by telling them they’re too loud, too sexual, too aggressive, SGaWD built an entire persona around being too much on purpose. Her lyrics are cocky, her visuals are chaotic, and her fashion is unmissable. She’s not packaging herself for anyone’s comfort, and that attitude has redefined what femininity in alté can look and sound like.
Style: SGaWD dresses like she’s going to curse your ex and headline a warehouse party after. Her aesthetic pulls from punk, grunge, dominatrix streetwear, and Nigerian club girl culture. Fishnets. Metallics. Bold colours. Lots of skin, lots of attitude. She’s not trying to be palatable, she’s dressing for impact.
Song: Pop Shit
Wear This If: You’re ready to fight a stylist and a system at the same time.
The Effortless Art School Babe
A little grunge, a little “I just threw this on,” always hot. Paint-stained denim, DIY details, and layering. She’s effortlessly stylish even when she’s tired.
Artist: Ayra Starr
Half her closet is thrifted, half is fast fashion, and she makes both look expensive. She doesn’t overdo it; she curates. It’s a studied nonchalance. She might sing about heartbreak, but she’s wearing asymmetric eyeliner while doing it.
Style: Ethereal brat meets futuristic it-girl. Think mesh tops, mini skirts, Y2K silhouettes, and body jewelry. She mixes teenage rebellion with rich auntie vibes. Ayra embodies cool with an edge. She made being a “sabi girl” an aesthetic: bold, stylish, soft when she wants, sharp when she needs to be. She’s the girl at the party you wish you were dressed like. She’s giving confidence without too much noise.
Song: Bloody Samaritan
Wear This If: You want to look like your life’s a short film and your ex is still watching.
The Afrofuturist
Metallics, indoor sunglasses, and sculptural fashion: alien superstar, but I still buy gala.
Artist: Wavy The Creator
She’s the alien superstar. Bold silhouettes, cold tones, mirror-tinted glasses. Her fashion choices feel like an art installation: metallics, leather, latex, tech fabrics. They are mysterious but magnetic. You might not get them right away, but you’ll never forget the first time you saw her.
Style: Space buns, silver chains, latex or leather outfits, and glow-in-the-dark nails. Androgynous, cyberpunk, experimental. Wavy doesn’t do “normal.” Their fits are abstract, oversized, and often genderless. A true fashion chameleon who dresses like the future came early.
Song: H. I. G.H.
Wear This If: You want to dress like a post-colonial android who’s emotionally intelligent.
ALSO READ: #BumpThis: 15 Nigerian Women Share Their “Hot Babe” Anthems
The Earthy Muse
Rooted, introspective, and timeless. Embracing natural fabrics, earthy tones, and minimalist designs.
Artist: Aṣa
She’s a quiet blueprint. Though Lady Donli is considered the first lady of alté, before the genre was a vibe, Aṣa was out here dressing like herself, sounding like herself, living like herself. She gave space to softness, to solitude, to not always needing a full beat or five layers of irony. Her influence shows up in the quieter girls of alté who want to create without shouting.
Style: Ankara pants with linen tops, aso-oke tunics, shell jewelry, headwraps, books tucked in totes. Natural fabrics. Loose-fitting dresses. Layered beads. Locs or twist-outs. Aṣa’s look is never trend-chasing; it’s timeless. She dresses how her music feels: raw, textured, poetic.
Song: Fire on the Mountain
Wear This If: You find beauty in simplicity and draw inspiration from nature’s palette. You like fabric that breathes. You’re less “fashion girlie,” more “spiritual aunty in a linen set”, and you’re proud of it.
The Dark Siren
Gritty, introspective, and genre-defying. Her style blends oversized skater silhouettes with delicate, feminine pieces, reflecting a duality that’s both soft and confrontational.
Artist: Bloody Civilian
She’s moody, intentional, and emotionally layered. Bloody Civilian’s sound is textured and cinematic, and her aesthetic matches that energy. She’s not the most visibly “alté” in a loud, fishnets-and-neon kind of way. But in terms of tone, control, and offbeat intensity? She’s alté through and through, just on the darker, art school drop-out side of it.
Style: Baggy pants, tight dresses, skater-inspired looks, layered dark streetwear, structured bustiers, oversized outerwear, bold hair choices, minimal jewellery. Minimalist but powerful, she leans into blacks, grays, muted tones, and brings a masculine-meets-elegant twist to everything she wears. Her fits aren’t loud, but they’re saying everything. She dresses like her music sounds: intentional, genre-free, and just a little dangerous.
Song: How To Kill A Man
Wear This If: You’re channeling your inner rebel, ready to challenge norms while keeping your style enigmatic and bold. You want to dress like a quiet, angry genius who reads poetry at 2 a.m. and says “it’s fine” when it’s absolutely not. You’re soft, but you’re calculating. And you probably have a playlist called Revenge but Gentle.
The AfroFusion Alchemist
Eclectic and soulful, merging Afrobeats with reggae, R&B, and dancehall. Her fashion is a tapestry of cultural influences, reflecting her genre-blending music.
Artist: Kold AF
Kold AF blends Afrobeats, R&B, reggae, soul, and dancehall, and her style reflects that fusion. It’s never doing too much, but it’s never basic. She’s warm and cold at once. Femme but not flimsy. Street but soulful. She represents the new era of alté-adjacent girls who are grounded in genre fluidity and cultural style fluency. She wears Nigeria, the diaspora, and a bit of Tumblr-era moodboard energy all at once, and somehow, it all feels authentic.
Style: Baggy pants, minimal crop tops, stacked jewelry, protective styles (braids, locs), mixed textures (denim + silk, jersey + lace). Slouchy cargos with halter tops, oversized jerseys with gold hoops, corsets styled over T-shirts, Adire skirts with Nike slides. It’s streetwear softened by soul. She’s not dressing to shock, she’s dressing to vibe.
Song: Tension
Wear This If: You’re the kind of girl who’ll pull up in cargos and a corset, with a playlist titled “healing, but make it hot.” You’re chill until you’re not.
ALSO READ: Kill It at Any Alté Party With These 10 Fashion Tips
