‘At Couture by ISÉMINI, we aim to showcase African culture and beauty to the world’ who appreciate innovative, unique, classy, quality and exquisite headpieces at affordable and budget-friendly prices.
a trained lawyer-turned fashion entrepreneur, in this interview with BDSUNDAY, talks about her growing up, her passion for fashion, her role models, her clientele base and how she satisfies customer demands. She also urges the Federal Government to urgent
By way of introduction, may we know you?
My name is Oluwatobi Adesanya, the 3rd of six children of the late Mr. Bolaji and Mrs. Aderenle Adesanya, a Nigerian from Abeokuta North Local Government Area of Ogun State. I am a t-shaped lawyer. That is to say, apart from being a professional lawyer, I am also a fashion entrepreneur (Milliner Extraordinaire by passion) as founder, ISÉMINI Empire and Creative Director, Couture by ISÉMINI the Go-to headpiece brand. I am a lover of God, man, creativity, fashion, entrepreneurship and football.
You are a trained lawyer, at what point did you begin to show/develop passion in fashion?
Thank you. From childhood, I had wanted to be a lawyer and eventually a Judge so as to defend myself and also speak for other people who cannot defend themselves, the fact being that I was bullied as a child because of a speech impairment at that time. I am glad I achieved that goal of becoming a lawyer and also grateful for a robust experience in active legal practice in litigation, commercial and corporate. Fashion on the other hand has always been in me. Growing up at a tender age of 9, I remember always styling my scarf differently from my sisters. I also used pieces of fabrics with needle and thread to create a bow or rose which I wore on my head or attach to my dresses just to look different, classy and stylish. In no time, I started drawing the attention of neighbours and strangers who commend my creativity and looks. I never knew I was going to be a fashion entrepreneur at that time. It was more like a hobby. In 2017, I attempted writing my life plan. In the process, I found that the pathway was not through my profession but my passion. So, in March 2018, I resigned from my banking job, went for beginners and master’s classes in Millinery (hat making) and it has been a journey of growth, impact and lessons.
May we know the name of your brand and your clientele base?
My brand name is Couture by ISÉMINI. Couture is an Italian word meaning Fashion. Our niche is in headpieces. Our mission is to help African women get all the admiration and achieve improved self-confidence, showcase African’s culture to the world and empower many youths through training and employment. Our ideal clients are fashionable urban women (upperclass and higher middle class)
What kind of headpiece do you make?
Our ready-to-wear and bespoke headpieces include, fascinators, hats, turbans, hatinators, headwraps, scarfinators, headbands,etc. suitable for weddings, award ceremony, church, conferences, birthdays, hangouts, etc. Our services include millinery training, gele styling and training, facilitation and headpiece consultancy. Our headpieces are masterfully-handcrafted from indigenous fabrics like Aso-oke, Ankara, Adire and foreign materials like Velvet, Satin, Sinamay, Crynolen, Papermat, and so on.
How do you satisfy cus- tomer demands?
Couture by ISÉMINI is a customer focused brand and very innovative too. We anticipate the change in customer behaviour occasioned sometimes by trends. So we study trends, equip ourselves with relevant skills, explore our innate creativity and importantly listen to and implement clients’ instructions as to their orders. This practice has resulted in our high customer satisfaction rate.
Although you are young and may not have a robust idea of yesteryear fashion, from what you have read up, about what transpired in the past, how would you describe today’s fashion?
Fashion is the word for what most people wear or should wear (clothes, bag, hats, shoes, etc.) in a society and the way they are designed. The Nigerian fashion industry has evolved from what used to be a trade for the uneducated girl child who needs a skill to make ends meet to an industry where highly educated people are actively involved, building a career and creating wealth. The global fashion industry is said to worth 3trillion dollars, while the Nigerian fashion industry is worth 10billion dollars (1.55trillion naira). Today, Nigerian fashion brands (including Millinery brands) are showcased in reputable fashion weeks around the world. Nigeria is said to have lost almost all of her known textile factories, making her a heavy importer of foreign fabrics. As a citizen, passionate about fashion, what suggestions do you have on how Nigeria can resuscitate the textile industry? Thank you. The decline in the production of indigenous textile materials due mainly to neglect of agriculture and decline in the supply of cotton for fabric production in the 1980’s led to the death of most textile factories leading to the heavy importation of fabrics, clothing (including hats) from around the world. Thankfully, with the made-in-nigeria campaign by government, there seems to be hope. More than ever, government as well as private investors need to refurbish our neglected textile factories and make available at favourable terms, funds to purchase new machineries so the textile companies can grow and scale. There is also need to enforce the ban of certain foreign fabrics to further encourage local patronage and remove unwanted competition in prices.
Who are your role models in the fashion (Millinery) industry?
My role models are philip tr ea cy (heist he pioneer of modern milline ry: hats/ fa sci na tors ), Elaine Merged of Hat Academy, and Emeakenzua of John 3v3 hats.
Final words
Millinery in Nigeria has come to stay. As it is part of our culture for women to use one form of headpiece/headgears or the other. At Couture by ISÉMINI, we are passionate about solving the problem of inferiority and bad hair days in African women using our exquisite headpieces. We strongly believe that African women deserve all the admiration, also we aim to showcase African culture and beauty to the world, create wealth while empowering many youths through training and employment, thus, reducing the unemployment rate in Nigeria/africa. We hope to achieve this and more in the long run, starting from Lagos, Nigeria.