GMYT Fashion Academy is Creating Next Generation of Fashion Entrepreneurs
but when they encounter the detailed curriculum and the highly personalised coaching system, they realise that they are in for a serious business.
Did you base your fashion curriculum on local or international fashion schools?
No; my curriculum is different from that of any other fashion school. We have courses carefully packaged to impart total skills that will transform our students into well-rounded fashion entrepreneurs in terms of skills and business management. We teach each student individually as if it is a one-person class. We have a vast curriculum such that even when our students go abroad to do a higher degree in a particular aspect, they would already have been conversant with that.
Why are your students mostly women?
I deal with women because I can handle them – and trust me that it is not easy. I am talking about women who have class. So you have people who come to learn from you and they end up trying to teach you how to run your business. So you have to bring them down to earth and let them know that they are the ones that are there to learn. At every point in time you have to stick to your policies. You have to let them know that it is not always about money.
What is the capacity of your school in terms of number of students to accommodate?
So far, we have about 100 students and we do not have evening students. So, we are introducing two batches, morning and evening students and we can have 200 students; 100 in each batch. We are about the fastest growing fashion school in Nigeria, and the students are seeing results because of the one-on-one training. Everyone is running their own individual programme, guided by the course forms and logbooks. If you come to the school now, you will see some students on brown paper; some on ankara; and some on calico. It is compulsory in my school that after three months you will teach a student.
What is the duration of a course programme?
A course lasts from three months to six months – and up to 12 months. But the minimum for you to start your own business is six months. Now most of my students, even though they are still learning, already have their own businesses. So I am proud of them. But I still insist that they should learn the business in detail. I must make sure that I am imparting to them the right technical know-how and work ethics. Can you tell us about your facilities? They are top-notch. I have every industrial machine in the book available at my school. The classrooms are en suite; there are toilets and bathrooms complete with toiletries and they are spotlessly clean. Every room is air-conditioned and the generator runs round the clock. I try as much as possible to make the facilities up to par with what obtains overseas.
Where do you see Nigeria’s fashion industry in the future?
Going from my situation, where we are so fully booked, we have sometimes one person coming with five outfits to sew, and begging to have one ready in two weeks, I think fashion is taking over. There is so much to be done; it is overwhelming. I think everyone should go into fashion. The kind of clients I attract are such that when they come, they want to make one outfit for N150,000, N250,000 and more. These outfits take time to make. So I also need more hands. Fashion is big. There is a very bright future for fashion in Nigeria.
Any challenge in the industry? Power supply is a major problem. Thank God for the vision of having so many businesses in one building, that enables me to maximize my costs. Otherwise, we are spending too much money on diesel. We spend a minimum of N500,000 a month on diesel. We also need a lot of skilled hands. There are jobs. We need a lot of trained people with good work ethics.
What are some awards you have received in the industry?
I came out last year and within three months I have got eight awards. And none of them is a competition award; all are recognition awards. I got an award from LA MODE; I was ECOWAS designer for the year. People just call me and they say, ‘we are giving you this award.’
Going from my situation, where we are so fully booked, we have sometimes one person coming with five out fits to sew, and begging to have one ready in two weeks, I think fashion is taking over. There is so much to be done; it is overwhelming. I think everyone should go into fashion. The kind of clients I attract are such that when they come, they want to make one outfit for N 150,000, N 250,000 and more. These outfits take time to make. So I also need more hands. Fashionis big. There is a very bright future for fashion in Nigeria.