Fashion is Not Just About Glitz and Glamour

It’s also my ambition to import that Italian craftsmanship and manufacture my products here, open stores in Nigeria and provide employment as far as I can go. I hope the economic environment gets more conducive under this government. Once I am able to

I love Tory Burch a lot and not just her products but I also love her business model and how she has been able to build such a huge brand in 10 to 15 years. I remember way back in the 90’s before she became really popular and I just knew back then that there was something about that brand that was going somewhere and I watched her grow. That’s the level I want the OYSBY brand to be at.

So what are your short- to long-term plans for growing the OYSBY brand?

For me, I’d really love to see my brand stocked by the big departmental stores and fashion retail chains. Stores like Saks and Bergdorf Goodman are already on the verge of stocking my products and I believe that is going to happen pretty soon. Then, it’s also my ambition to import that Italian craftsmanship and manufacture my products here, open stores in Nigeria and provide employment as far as I can go. I hope the economic environment gets more conducive under this government. Once I am able to establish the brand in that way then I am really dying to help younger designers that are looking to achieve the same thing. There are many young designers out there that don’t have enough information or business savvy to achieve their goals.

How would you describe the development of fashion market in Nigeria at the moment?

As much as the market is not saturated I know that there are people that are not yet confident in what we produce. I am a Nigerian designer as much as any other even though I may partner with Italian craftsmanship. I just believe the consumers need to appreciate local fashion designers more and that’s a major thing I’d like to achieve with OYSBY. It’s not also just about the glitz and glamour. There’s a lot more hard work and sleepless nights that’s involved and I think Nigerian designers do a lot more work than the credit they get. I am happy that some Nigerians on the other hand are now embracing Nigerian brands. I hear of people like Fade Ogunro who mainly wears Nigerian brands and it’s good to hear that. Someday I pray we get to a point where Nigerians would only be buying brands with a Nigerian affiliation.