Latest / thefashionroundtable / Fashion stylists do not get enough credit FT Veronica Ebie of Vanestyle| S1 E12

Transcript

Fashion stylists do not get enough credit FT Veronica Ebie of Vanestyle| S1 E12 · thefashionroundtable

0:07
SPEAKER_02: This episode is brought to you by Credit Direct.
0:11
SPEAKER_02: Welcome to the Fashion Roundtable where we go beyond style.
0:14
SPEAKER_02: We go into the thinking, the structure, and the business behind it.
0:17
SPEAKER_02: My guest today is someone that I have worked with for, in fact, a long time ago.
0:22
SPEAKER_02: And it was so funny because I actually searched my email the other day and I saw invoices from 2012, 2013, 2014.
0:32
SPEAKER_02: First of all, my name is Bemi Alaterra like Biggie, and my guest today is Veronica Ibe Odeka.
0:37
SPEAKER_02: Please put your hands together for her.
0:39
SPEAKER_02: Look, her resume is so long.
0:42
SPEAKER_02: She has worked in, she has styled television projects, she has styled music videos, she's done photo shoots, she has done so much.
0:51
SPEAKER_02: I don't even like I was looking at the long list of people that you have styled from Tiwa Savage to Moabudu to Genevieve to so many people.
1:00
SPEAKER_02: Well done.
1:01
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
1:01
SPEAKER_02: Well done.
1:02
SPEAKER_02: And it's so funny, like I said, I was searching my emails from the from this contract we signed in 2012, and we had like a retainer situation.
1:10
SPEAKER_02: Wow, you have done so much for yourself.
1:13
SPEAKER_02: Well done.
1:13
SPEAKER_02: And there's a reason behind, I've spoken to stylists on this show, but there's a reason behind why I brought you here today.
1:20
SPEAKER_02: It's because you've gone beyond the business of styling and you've gone, you've created this structure, a business behind it in terms of the retail aspect.
1:29
SPEAKER_02: But we're gonna get into it.
1:30
SPEAKER_02: But first of all, how did you start?
1:34
SPEAKER_00: Oh wow.
1:35
SPEAKER_00: Um thank you, Mimi.
1:36
SPEAKER_00: I really appreciate it.
1:37
SPEAKER_00: I'm so shy.
1:38
SPEAKER_00: Don't be shy, what?
1:40
SPEAKER_00: Don't be shy.
1:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, I started years ago.
1:44
SPEAKER_00: I didn't even really know that that's what I was doing.
1:46
SPEAKER_00: I just really liked clothing and I couldn't understand why I would I gravitated towards the things that I liked, but more so the way clothing told a story.
1:54
SPEAKER_00: And the way that when I see how if you dress up a certain way, it just elevates you, you come across as more intelligent and smarter, and it boosts your self-confidence and you know with clothing.
2:06
SPEAKER_00: And for me, everybody I saw that dressed dressed the same, dressed similar, and at the many times people dress a little too overly sexy for me.
2:16
SPEAKER_00: And so um just in terms of creating my own sense of style to say you can still look amazing and presentable and still be respected, and you don't have to be showing so much skin.
2:25
SPEAKER_00: And I think for me, that's what was the motivating factor to get into styling.
2:29
SPEAKER_00: And when I moved back to Nigeria in 2010, um, I noticed that there weren't many stylists.
2:35
SPEAKER_00: I knew that it was something that I wanted to do, but I immersed myself first of all in understanding the culture and just understanding how women presented themselves, um, and working for a magazine to kind of have a lot of background knowledge and a space to interpret my point of view.
2:49
SPEAKER_00: Um so I started working with this day.
2:51
SPEAKER_00: And then after doing that for about a year, I decided to, you know, set up my own company and kind of uh branch out to styling a lot of women and clients, and that's how I got started.
3:00
SPEAKER_02: Wow.
3:00
SPEAKER_02: Like there's so much to talk about because I I was looking through like your resume, music videos, different things, and I was like, wow, what's like there's I have I'm gonna dig them up and and add them, you know, when you know in post-production.
3:15
SPEAKER_02: But um photo shoots that you styled me for, you have like a there's it's and I noticed there's a certain you like like really clean lines, you know, very well put together.
3:24
SPEAKER_02: Like you said, not overly sexy.
3:28
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
3:29
SPEAKER_02: So you're covered, but you still look nice.
3:31
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
3:32
SPEAKER_02: Okay, okay.
3:33
SPEAKER_02: So tell us about Vain Style.
3:35
SPEAKER_00: So Vein Style is an agency for styling and also has retail.
3:41
SPEAKER_00: Um, like I said, I started off with the styling.
3:43
SPEAKER_00: Now, with the styling, in order to get your foot through the door, first of all, Nigerian women have a good sense of style, right?
3:49
SPEAKER_00: And then everybody also thinks that they have amazing sense of style.
3:51
SPEAKER_00: But to get your foot in the door, you needed to style like celebrities and people who were notable.
3:56
SPEAKER_00: But that wasn't my interest.
3:58
SPEAKER_00: My interest was styling women and just showing them that with a few things you could make yourself look more presentable.
4:05
SPEAKER_00: So we started off by styling.
4:07
SPEAKER_00: I just started off personally doing a lot of clients in their homes, helping them redo their wardrobes, detoxing for that.
4:14
SPEAKER_00: And then we gradually grew from there.
4:16
SPEAKER_00: Everything has always been referral.
4:17
SPEAKER_00: Um, I've never been one to go out to source or look for a client.
4:20
SPEAKER_00: When I started to build build the resume that way, um, I realized that there was a huge disconnect because you had a lot of women who had a lot of disposable income and they wanted to look a certain way because they were used to being either they're exposed or they traveled, but we couldn't satisfy them with the right pieces from the Nigerian designers we had at the time.
4:40
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
4:41
SPEAKER_00: Um and maybe the finishing was poor, or the quality of fabric wasn't great, or the proportions were off.
4:46
SPEAKER_00: There was always an issue.
4:47
SPEAKER_00: Or the biggest challenge was many of the designers didn't have, um, they couldn't visualize what the how the client wanted to look.
4:54
SPEAKER_00: So representation was poor.
4:56
SPEAKER_00: So we're spending a lot of money outside of the country um sourcing a lot of their wardrobe.
5:00
SPEAKER_00: So I started working now with designers in order to solve the problem for myself and my clients.
5:04
SPEAKER_00: I figured, you know what, let me start educating and um helping these designers understand what the client needs.
5:10
SPEAKER_00: So I started to create this merger, and the business part of um the Veinstyle was incorporated.
5:15
SPEAKER_00: And then I went back to get a master's just to kind of um to brush up on the skills that I already knew that I had personally, but to kind of give that um an overall edge.
5:23
SPEAKER_02: What's the master's in?
5:25
SPEAKER_00: Um it is in fashion.
5:26
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
5:27
SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, fashion, the business of fashion.
5:29
SPEAKER_00: But I then came back, set up the company, the business side of Veinstyle, and we started to work more with designers.
5:35
SPEAKER_00: What ended up happening was we now realized that when designers started to produce the right pieces and understanding how to put together a collection, understanding how to divide it into making it more ready to wear, which is completely different from red carpet or runway.
5:50
SPEAKER_00: Um, it started to, we started to sell more to my clients.
5:53
SPEAKER_00: And so after a few years, you realize that clients were now buying more Nigerian brands as opposed to going abroad.
5:58
SPEAKER_00: So, with having that, the business side advisory, working with a lot of the designers and then still doing a lot of the personal styling, I couldn't reach all the women that wanted to start, wanted me to style them.
6:09
SPEAKER_00: So after COVID is when the need for the store came about, which is now the retail part of it.
6:15
SPEAKER_00: We decided, you know, I decided, you know what, in order to reach as many women as I could, let me curate based on what I feel.
6:23
SPEAKER_00: Not necessarily my own sense of style, but there was a going to be an overall presence of modesty.
6:28
SPEAKER_00: But let me style, let me curate for my sisters, let me curate for my mom, let me curate for my friends, let me curate in the way that I feel representation matters, in being modest, in being covered, um, in looking presentable for the everyday woman.
6:42
SPEAKER_00: And that's how the retail part came about.
6:44
SPEAKER_00: So we have the personal styling, which we still do for clients, we have the advisory, which you do for brands, and then we have the retail, which reaches the masses.
6:50
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
6:51
SPEAKER_02: So you opened a store first in Lagos.
6:53
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
6:53
SPEAKER_02: I remember.
6:54
SPEAKER_02: Do you have a store in Abuja?
6:55
SPEAKER_00: Yes, we did um about a year ago.
6:57
SPEAKER_02: Why did you branch out to Abuja?
6:58
SPEAKER_00: Um, so I'm very highly motivated by data.
7:02
SPEAKER_00: Funny enough, I'm always looking at the numbers.
7:04
SPEAKER_00: Um, people do like exclusivity.
7:06
SPEAKER_00: So many times, you know, people would come into Lagos and from Abuja and they would shop for Ven all the time.
7:12
SPEAKER_00: But at the end of the day, after about six months, when we looked at the numbers, I realized that shipping cost to ship clients' things to Abuja, that was, you know, the feedback from the clients was a lot.
7:22
SPEAKER_00: Um we had a heavy Abuja-based clientele, not even just the people that live in Abuja, but people that, a lot of expats that coming from New York or coming from the UK, they go through Abuja.
7:32
SPEAKER_00: Um, and it was just inevitable to open up a store in Abuja.
7:37
SPEAKER_00: So after looking at the numbers, after about a year or two in Lagos, we saw that it was increasing and it was definitely time to open a store to kind of just, you know, meet all our client needs in Abuja.
7:48
SPEAKER_02: I'm thinking of when I was your client.
7:50
SPEAKER_02: And if apart from, you know, the invoices and oh, I'm available for these days to fit this outfit or that outfit, you are very intentional about styling.
8:00
SPEAKER_02: In fact, you would send like trend reports and say, oh, this is what's in now, you know, from shoes, those thick platform, you know, um, heels that we used to wear and different.
8:11
SPEAKER_02: I just saw everything and I was just laughing.
8:13
SPEAKER_02: Um, at what point did you realize, you know what, this before this is even before the store, yeah, this could actually be a business.
8:22
SPEAKER_02: At what point were you like, oh, okay, this is beyond passion?
8:26
SPEAKER_02: This actually makes sense and I can make a living from this.
8:29
SPEAKER_00: When it was able to pay my bills.
8:31
SPEAKER_00: When it was able to pay my bills.
8:32
SPEAKER_00: But I've also always been an intentional person.
8:34
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
8:35
SPEAKER_00: I feel like in anything I'm doing, yes, passion is gonna give me staying power, right?
8:39
SPEAKER_00: But being intentional and consistent and being very focused and driven was going to um create an avenue for me to live off of.
8:49
SPEAKER_00: So, most importantly, for me, it was if I were to live off this business alone, can it sustain me?
8:56
SPEAKER_00: And I work with timelines.
8:57
SPEAKER_00: And so I said, you know what, let me do this for five years.
9:01
SPEAKER_00: If I can generate enough to live my life in five years, then it's something that definitely I can continue to do.
9:07
SPEAKER_00: And I'll just continue to grow it to the next level because there's always going to be something that I can explore in in terms of styling.
9:13
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
9:13
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
9:14
SPEAKER_02: So I remember even to get you to style me, you were like, I'm so busy.
9:18
SPEAKER_02: I was like, hey, please now you were like, you know, I'm so busy with Genevieve for this.
9:23
SPEAKER_02: No, that's not what you said.
9:24
SPEAKER_02: But you were, you were, I remember you were super busy.
9:27
SPEAKER_02: Um, and you as you're styling her a lot that time, and also Tiwa and um all the how do you decide, how do you marry like a person's personality into like what they would want to?
9:40
SPEAKER_02: Okay, so someone comes to you and says, I want you to style me.
9:43
SPEAKER_02: This is how I am, this this is my this is what this is what I like.
9:46
SPEAKER_02: Um, but I also want to look a certain way.
9:49
SPEAKER_02: How do you marry the two together?
9:50
SPEAKER_00: Um, so I do a um, we first have consultations, we have a lot of conversations, but I would style everyone.
9:56
SPEAKER_00: So that's the that's the thing.
9:57
SPEAKER_00: I'm actually quite particular.
9:59
SPEAKER_00: And you'll see that um there are a lot of stylists that have their careers have gone so far, right?
10:05
SPEAKER_00: Crazy, but I'm very intentional and particular about who I'm gonna take on board.
10:08
SPEAKER_00: And I think that has also given me staying power because people, I guess they like exclusivity or you know, I just feel like if I'm taking someone on, I need to understand them.
10:15
SPEAKER_00: I have to understand where they are and where they want to go.
10:18
SPEAKER_00: And I need to make sure that it aligns with how I feel I would want that woman to be seen.
10:23
SPEAKER_00: So when I have the conversation and I'm trying to understand, okay, well, how do you want to look?
10:27
SPEAKER_00: How do you want to feel?
10:28
SPEAKER_00: I think is the most important thing.
10:29
SPEAKER_00: How do you want to look?
10:30
SPEAKER_00: Rich.
10:30
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know.
10:31
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
10:32
SPEAKER_00: And so rich looks a certain way.
10:33
SPEAKER_02: So there's rich and there's it's classy rich.
10:36
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and there's ratchet rich.
10:38
SPEAKER_02: Sorry.
10:39
SPEAKER_02: Just saying.
10:39
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I won't take on every client, but uh mirroring the two is first of all, understanding where they are, looking at the aesthetic and um helping them to ref refine where they're trying to go.
10:51
SPEAKER_00: And I think that that's it.
10:52
SPEAKER_00: Um for me.
10:53
SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to over cinch you, but we will be nice so that your silhouette is visible, you know.
11:01
SPEAKER_00: So it's just been a bit intentional.
11:02
SPEAKER_02: How do you gently say to your clients, you're showing too much skin?
11:06
SPEAKER_02: So we're gonna cover you up.
11:08
SPEAKER_00: There's no gently.
11:08
SPEAKER_00: I'll just say this is not working.
11:10
SPEAKER_00: It's it's very, I'm actually very opinionated.
11:12
SPEAKER_00: And I take my work very seriously.
11:14
SPEAKER_00: I've had shoots where, you know, the clients, I mean, personal clients I think are a bit more difficult.
11:19
SPEAKER_00: Celebrity clients, interestingly, they can be challenging because, of course, they have major egos, and that's understandable.
11:25
SPEAKER_00: But you've called me because you trust that I'm gonna tell you the truth, and I need you to look good because I'm gonna look good.
11:30
SPEAKER_00: So they listen.
11:31
SPEAKER_00: But personal clients are the ones that are a bit challenging because you'll come for a photo shoot.
11:36
SPEAKER_00: She would tell you this how she wants to look.
11:37
SPEAKER_00: You've had the consultation.
11:38
SPEAKER_00: At the shoot, she wants to wear jewelry from here to here.
11:40
SPEAKER_00: And you're like, less is more.
11:42
SPEAKER_00: Why do you feel the need to have this on the photo, you know, in your shoot?
11:46
SPEAKER_00: You know, 10 years from now, you're not gonna want to have it.
11:48
SPEAKER_00: I feel like less is more, just look clean and very well put together.
11:51
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I tell them, I'm very straightforward.
11:54
SPEAKER_00: I'll be like, I don't like it.
11:56
SPEAKER_00: It's not working.
11:58
unknown: Yeah.
11:59
SPEAKER_00: Very straightforward.
12:00
SPEAKER_02: There's nothing I can't, I why sugarcoat?
12:02
SPEAKER_02: I need to tell you the truth.
12:03
SPEAKER_02: I understand.
12:03
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
12:04
SPEAKER_02: Well, because from looking at the your Instagram page, can I be honest?
12:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
12:08
SPEAKER_02: Your, I look, and when I see the Instagram page for Vein style, and you know you model a lot of the clothes.
12:13
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
12:14
SPEAKER_02: It gives wealthy woman.
12:17
SPEAKER_02: That's the aesthetic it gives.
12:19
SPEAKER_02: It gives this is not a pop stars closet.
12:22
SPEAKER_02: This is not a Gen Z closet.
12:24
SPEAKER_02: No, it's not.
12:25
SPEAKER_02: This is someone you just know that this person has money.
12:28
SPEAKER_02: Like, and you guys are wicked, I'm sorry.
12:31
SPEAKER_02: You would don't put the price in the caption.
12:33
SPEAKER_02: So I'm like, Are you one of those people that wants the price to be there?
12:36
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
12:36
SPEAKER_02: Let me know.
12:38
SPEAKER_02: Let not be that I'll enter the DM9 and they'll now tell me 985,000 for one dress, which I'm not saying, you know, that's look, everybody has, you know, their limits, you know, but it's just can you why don't you put the price in the caption?
12:53
SPEAKER_00: Um, there's no real reason aside from that it's just tacky.
12:59
SPEAKER_00: It's not.
13:00
SPEAKER_00: It is.
13:01
SPEAKER_00: How is it tacky?
13:02
SPEAKER_00: It's just really tacky.
13:04
SPEAKER_00: You know, I just feel like why put the price there on the prices are on the website.
13:08
SPEAKER_00: We have a website.
13:08
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
13:09
SPEAKER_00: So there's no point in putting the price, you know.
13:11
SPEAKER_00: I just feel like there's no point.
13:13
SPEAKER_00: You know, so interestingly enough, I feel like if we're putting the price, then we'd also put the designer, right?
13:17
SPEAKER_00: Because then now you just have everything to make a decision.
13:20
SPEAKER_00: But again, in terms of being intentional, with the way that we service our client, we're very intentional.
13:24
SPEAKER_00: If you inquire about an item, we give you everything.
13:27
SPEAKER_00: We'll put, we'll put the price, we'll tell you the size, we'll tell you how it fits, we'll ask, tell you to go up.
13:32
SPEAKER_00: I like to tell my team of stylists, I'm like, think of how the clients would think.
13:36
SPEAKER_00: Before they ask you the questions, give them everything they need.
13:39
SPEAKER_00: So because we have a website, many times things that are on there, people can easily view it on the website.
13:43
SPEAKER_00: But if not, and they slide into our DMs, like we say, or come check us out on WhatsApp, we will give you all the information anyway, you know, and let you make a choice.
13:53
SPEAKER_02: It's not tacky shah, Veronica.
13:55
SPEAKER_02: It's not tacky.
13:56
SPEAKER_02: Now, people see the glamour in, you know, the fashion world.
13:59
SPEAKER_02: They do not see the operations.
14:02
SPEAKER_02: And what does the back end of a styling business look like in terms of logistics, sourcing, timelines, all of that?
14:08
SPEAKER_02: How does that work?
14:09
SPEAKER_00: There's no sleep.
14:10
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
14:11
SPEAKER_00: Um, I work seven days a week.
14:14
SPEAKER_00: I'm and I'm not even trying to be funny.
14:16
SPEAKER_00: Um I have a very strong team, but it's taking me years to put this team together.
14:21
SPEAKER_00: I fire really easily.
14:23
SPEAKER_00: Um I know.
14:25
SPEAKER_00: I fire really easily.
14:26
SPEAKER_00: I have a strong structure in place.
14:29
SPEAKER_00: I have processes for everything.
14:32
SPEAKER_00: Um, and the back end is busy.
14:34
SPEAKER_00: It's never-ending, um, it's catching everything, um, down from having a 15-minute response time.
14:41
SPEAKER_00: You know, we have a 15-minute response time on Instagram.
14:43
SPEAKER_00: There's no excuse for you not to respond.
14:45
SPEAKER_00: We post every single day in our stories, uh, minimum about five posts a day.
14:50
SPEAKER_00: But um, it's always busy.
14:52
SPEAKER_00: We're always curating pieces, looking for new brands, editing collections.
14:55
SPEAKER_00: I'm having buying meetings all the time with designers, sometimes three, four meetings a day.
15:00
SPEAKER_00: I'm meeting with my team.
15:01
SPEAKER_00: We have daily task reports, we're looking at the inventory, we're sending things to Abuja, bringing things back.
15:06
SPEAKER_00: It never ends.
15:07
SPEAKER_00: We're having, before I even came here today, I had a consultation with the client, um, you know, for personal styling.
15:12
SPEAKER_00: We have event styling for people.
15:13
SPEAKER_00: It just never ends.
15:14
SPEAKER_00: We're constantly working.
15:15
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
15:16
SPEAKER_00: I mean, and everybody um has like two to three roles.
15:19
SPEAKER_00: So anyone who's coming to join the team, you either have to have some sort of styling background or you have an operational background, or you're driven, or you know, there's something.
15:27
SPEAKER_00: So it's not just one-track mind, everybody can add value in other departments.
15:31
SPEAKER_00: And so we're always working.
15:33
SPEAKER_02: So basically, this store, for example, Vain style, people can come there and find pieces from various Nigerian designers.
15:40
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
15:41
SPEAKER_02: And so you are able to um, even though these designers, some of them might have websites and some of them might have um their own stores, yeah, but people are able to, you've picked, you've hand-picked these clothes.
15:53
SPEAKER_02: And I know that you're very particular about um uh finishing.
15:56
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
15:56
SPEAKER_02: That was something that you always used to talk about.
15:59
SPEAKER_02: You know, uh garment looks nice, but then you flip it and they didn't whip it well, they didn't sew it well, that sort of thing.
16:05
SPEAKER_02: I remember when um I opened, I started with Miss OK Shoes, and I had an event, I think was uh year one, and you were the only one who gave me feedback because I was just introducing my meals, and you were like, Oh, I like that you know there's a platform.
16:21
SPEAKER_02: You were really into it, and I was just like, Okay, okay, she you notice everything.
16:26
SPEAKER_02: So, and I think that is key for someone who is who is key to building, should I say, or an architect, a style architect.
16:34
SPEAKER_02: Basically, you are building somebody's profile, and part of their profile is the way they look.
16:38
SPEAKER_02: Yes, or the way they show up in person or at work or whatever it is.
16:42
SPEAKER_02: Do you have clients come to you to say, I want you to style me, maybe you know, curate my wardrobe, whatever it is, but I don't want you to, I don't want people to know that you're behind it.
16:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so um I've done, probably have styled, oh gosh, maybe over 50 people, maybe 50 hundreds of people.
17:02
SPEAKER_00: We don't even tell.
17:03
SPEAKER_00: High profile people.
17:04
SPEAKER_00: Yes, we don't even mention.
17:05
SPEAKER_00: So the number one thing with Vein style is that we're discreet.
17:09
SPEAKER_00: You'll never know.
17:09
SPEAKER_00: So if you follow me on my Veronica on my Instagram page, you'll never see my clients.
17:13
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I don't think there's a single client ever, not even in my stories.
17:16
SPEAKER_00: There's nothing anywhere.
17:17
SPEAKER_00: For me, I just want to do my work.
17:19
SPEAKER_02: So it's not about the tag.
17:20
SPEAKER_02: It's not about never.
17:21
SPEAKER_00: It has never been.
17:22
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I think that that maybe that's why people keep coming back.
17:24
SPEAKER_00: I mean, people definitely know the high-profile people, um, Anti Mu Wabudu, they know Genevieve Tiwa.
17:29
SPEAKER_00: But even when I was styling them, I hardly posted them.
17:32
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, I I just it's just not who I am.
17:34
SPEAKER_00: I want my clients to look great.
17:36
SPEAKER_00: We never um we never post people.
17:39
SPEAKER_00: We just never do.
17:40
SPEAKER_00: And we've styled, I mean, there are a lot of women in Nigeria that are of high society that we style all the time, but we just never post-moneyed women.
17:47
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
17:48
SPEAKER_00: People that have money.
17:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we never post.
17:50
SPEAKER_00: So again, that, you know, and you know what I've realized with that?
17:53
SPEAKER_00: It helps to um remove the shaft from the wheat, or is it the wheat from the shaf or how to do that?
17:58
SPEAKER_00: I get what you mean, yeah.
17:59
SPEAKER_00: Because I have a friend who started styling people recently, and because she's really popular on Instagram and people like her style, they hire her because she that she's going to post them.
18:09
SPEAKER_00: Oh do you understand?
18:10
SPEAKER_00: So, you're with me, like I always like to say, you can't use me to floss because I'm not going to post you.
18:15
SPEAKER_00: So if you're coming to me, it's because you really want me to style you and you want to look your best.
18:19
SPEAKER_02: So um And I'm and you also don't need them to floss because you've yeah, yeah.
18:23
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, because I'm not I'm not interested in that, yeah.
18:25
SPEAKER_02: All right.
18:26
SPEAKER_02: What has been the hardest season of your career that people don't know about?
18:31
SPEAKER_00: Oh wow.
18:32
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
18:32
SPEAKER_00: So I've had two really hard times.
18:35
SPEAKER_00: So the first one was um when I was going back to school to do my MBA wars.
18:41
SPEAKER_00: Aside from when I had to have children and I would leave my business and have to be gone for a bit of time.
18:46
SPEAKER_00: That was very difficult because I had to work from the States, which is number one.
18:49
SPEAKER_00: And then you've built a business to a certain extent and you don't know what's gonna happen next.
18:52
SPEAKER_00: You don't know if you're gonna come back and have staying power, how much your life is gonna change.
18:57
SPEAKER_00: But I think for me, the most challenging part was going to school to do my MBA.
19:01
SPEAKER_00: I did it in France, um in Monaco, and so I was gone for two years, going back and forth and back and forth.
19:06
SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, having to work, pay my way through through college, pay my way through do my MBA.
19:12
SPEAKER_00: So American.
19:12
SPEAKER_00: I understand, I understand, yeah.
19:14
SPEAKER_00: Pay my way to do my MBA, come back, still be working.
19:16
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it was it was so challenging.
19:19
SPEAKER_02: Me, I'm thinking of how you're able to study in Monaco.
19:21
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, Monaco is so beautiful, yeah.
19:23
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I wouldn't, I was the last thing I would think of is redoing my book well.
19:28
SPEAKER_02: And there were so many beautiful people.
19:30
SPEAKER_02: Yes, yeah.
19:31
SPEAKER_02: And you could just tell that they had money.
19:33
SPEAKER_02: They had money, yeah.
19:34
SPEAKER_00: It was yeah, so being doing that was challenging.
19:36
SPEAKER_00: And then right after COVID as well, um, you know, trying to pivot, I think was very challenging for me, trying to understand how I how was I gonna serve in my craft and still earn an income.
19:46
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then that's when the advisory was stronger because a lot of designers didn't know what to do with their businesses, and people had a lot of downtime.
19:54
SPEAKER_00: So I think at that particular moment, designers were like, okay, let's restructure, let's refocus.
19:58
SPEAKER_00: And I had just completed my MBA, so it was very pivotal, and I was able to use a lot of that um to help the designers and the brands to stay afloat.
20:06
SPEAKER_00: But that was also challenging.
20:07
SPEAKER_02: Do you do you style male clients?
20:09
SPEAKER_00: Yes, we do, but not as much.
20:10
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
20:10
SPEAKER_00: Um, men are really easy.
20:12
SPEAKER_00: They kind of, you know, you style them.
20:14
SPEAKER_00: I do a lot of personal shopping for male clients.
20:17
SPEAKER_00: Um, and that is just more of tailoring their suits, advising them on who to go to to get something done.
20:22
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then not as much, not as much as women, but yeah, men.
20:26
SPEAKER_02: I like that you're you are you are providing different services.
20:30
SPEAKER_02: So you have personal styling for people, whether it's, you know, regular people or celebrities or red carpet events, you also have curated, you know, certain trusted designers that you have in-house where people can come to shop.
20:43
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
20:43
SPEAKER_02: And then another thing that you are doing is that you are rendering a service to designers to guide them.
20:49
SPEAKER_02: Of course.
20:50
SPEAKER_02: Um, so it's not so what if a designer comes to you and says, I would love to have some of your pieces, some of my pieces in your showroom.
20:58
SPEAKER_02: What are the things you look out for?
21:01
SPEAKER_00: Um, storytelling, I think it's really important.
21:04
SPEAKER_00: How strong is the designer?
21:06
SPEAKER_00: Because I've seen many, we're always looking for new brands.
21:09
SPEAKER_00: Um I've seen a lot of designers, and they're maybe they have a few things that are right, but it's not strong enough, right?
21:14
SPEAKER_00: They don't have staying power, or um, the aesthetic isn't clean enough, finishing isn't right, they're not sourcing the right fabrics, um, you know, they might be able to give you pieces now, and then in six months they don't have anything to give you, you know, because of reduction or you know, it's very inconsistent.
21:30
SPEAKER_00: So for us, first of all, the person has to have a true story in terms of the aesthetic.
21:35
SPEAKER_00: I'm looking for particular things, and then um, how passionate are they about what they're doing?
21:39
SPEAKER_00: And if I feel that they fit the mode of our clients, because at the end of the day, we're trying to service the client, then there is potential for them to be stocked in the store.
21:47
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I've told a lot of designers no.
21:49
SPEAKER_00: I've had to, you know, even in friendships, I've had to say maybe not now.
21:54
SPEAKER_02: I mean, whether whether it is a client, whether it's a designer, I mean, just one look at the page.
22:00
SPEAKER_02: Would give you an idea of the sort of person that would come and shop at yours, um, their aesthetic, how they want to look, how they want to present themselves.
22:09
SPEAKER_02: Same thing with a designer.
22:10
SPEAKER_02: Like, I mean, you can't be fashion over adjacent.
22:15
SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
22:15
SPEAKER_02: And there's nothing wrong with that.
22:17
SPEAKER_02: True.
22:17
SPEAKER_02: And to and say you want to stock at Vein style because that will be totally do you understand?
22:23
SPEAKER_02: It'll be because they're different aesthetic altogether.
22:25
SPEAKER_02: And I do enjoy Fashion Nova quite a bit, by the way.
22:28
SPEAKER_02: But I also like so many other things.
22:30
SPEAKER_02: So I understand what we're saying.
22:32
SPEAKER_02: I just want to break it down for people so they understand.
22:34
SPEAKER_02: And then if you check out their Instagram, you can see this is where you insert a video.
22:38
SPEAKER_02: This is you can see what we're talking about.
22:41
SPEAKER_02: Why do you do most of the modeling yourself?
22:43
SPEAKER_00: Um, I'd rather not, to be very honest.
22:47
SPEAKER_00: I'd rather not.
22:48
SPEAKER_00: But the only reason I do it is because people continue to demand that I wear the clothes.
22:52
SPEAKER_00: We've tried more.
22:53
SPEAKER_02: Because you look, I mean, you're tall, you have a nice figure.
22:56
SPEAKER_02: Why not?
22:57
SPEAKER_02: Try it on, but is it isn't exhausting trying on clothes?
23:00
SPEAKER_00: It is, it's a I love it.
23:02
SPEAKER_00: I love like we have buying meetings.
23:05
SPEAKER_00: We'll meet the designers, we'll select the pieces.
23:07
SPEAKER_00: And when they come into the store, I'll be ooing and eyeing as if I didn't know it was coming in.
23:11
SPEAKER_00: Because I'm like, oh my God, I get so excited to see the pieces, how they fit.
23:15
SPEAKER_00: And I'm just like, oh my God, I can see the woman who's going to wear this thing when she goes out, she's gonna be looking amazing.
23:20
SPEAKER_00: But I say it's it's exhausting wearing the pieces.
23:25
SPEAKER_00: But my team, they make me wear it, and then clients.
23:27
SPEAKER_00: When we had models wearing it, they'd be like, no.
23:29
SPEAKER_02: We want seat on you.
23:30
SPEAKER_00: Want seat on Veronica.
23:31
SPEAKER_00: Please tell her to wear the pieces.
23:32
SPEAKER_00: And so I just wear it.
23:33
SPEAKER_00: And it, you know, so I have days.
23:34
SPEAKER_00: I'll come in and sometimes I can go through 40 pieces of clothing in a day.
23:38
SPEAKER_00: And I would just wear it back to back to back.
23:40
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, yeah.
23:41
SPEAKER_00: So I wear the clothes.
23:42
SPEAKER_02: As a business owner, opportunities rarely come with notice.
23:46
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes you either move quickly or you miss out.
23:49
SPEAKER_02: Having access to credit means you are prepared when those moments show up.
23:53
SPEAKER_02: Credit Direct supports people in moving faster on what matters without panic or necessary pressure.
23:59
SPEAKER_02: So if being prepared for opportunities matters to you, you can explore access to credit through the Credit Direct app.
24:06
SPEAKER_02: Just download the Credit Direct app today.
24:08
SPEAKER_02: Do you think stylists get enough credit for shaping celebrity and cultural moments?
24:15
SPEAKER_00: No.
24:16
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
24:16
SPEAKER_00: I don't think they do.
24:18
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, and I also think it's because every styling is what people think of first, but it's what comes last.
24:25
SPEAKER_00: So I have had people call me and they're like, Veronica, what am I?
24:31
SPEAKER_00: I have a what am I going to wear to an event two days before the event?
24:36
SPEAKER_00: Meanwhile, they've been thinking about it forever.
24:38
SPEAKER_00: Now, when you think about it and you look at red carpet events and everything, right?
24:42
SPEAKER_00: No matter the event, be it's Nigeria or foreign, the first thing people talk about is what was worn on the red carpet.
24:48
SPEAKER_00: So that tells you already that visually, styling is the most important thing because she might have had an amazing movie.
24:54
SPEAKER_00: They're not talking about the movie.
24:55
SPEAKER_00: What they're going to use to drag her on Instagram is how she looked.
24:59
SPEAKER_02: How do you deal with so have you ever had styled someone and this person was dragged for what they were wearing?
25:06
SPEAKER_00: Not necessarily, but I remember one time we did have, I think, not necessarily I haven't had, but I've had a moment where Tiwa wore, I think it was like a white dress for, and I can't remember, it was one of the early days of styling her.
25:18
SPEAKER_00: Um I think it just looked, I think I want to say it was a Bridget dress.
25:22
SPEAKER_00: And Bridget, her finishing is impeccable.
25:24
SPEAKER_00: But I think the way the um outfit looked on the carpet didn't look so flattering.
25:29
SPEAKER_00: You know, and I do think that she might have been dragged a little bit for that, but it wasn't anything like over the top.
25:34
SPEAKER_00: But um, in a different light, in a you know, circumstance, I think we remember looking at two different photo ops, and one of them looked okay and the other one didn't look too good, but that was about it.
25:42
SPEAKER_00: I mean, thank God.
25:44
SPEAKER_02: How did you balance um because Tiwa is a pop star, she's you know, an artist.
25:50
SPEAKER_02: There has to be, well, unfortunately, in this era or whenever there has to be some element of sexy, some element of, you know, most female artists show skin.
25:59
SPEAKER_02: How did you, you know, how did you deal with that?
26:02
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, I love Tiwa in terms of she's she was one of my favorite clients.
26:07
SPEAKER_00: Um, I think she was always willing to try things, to risk things, but also to listen.
26:12
SPEAKER_00: She knew how important it was to visuals.
26:15
SPEAKER_00: Visuals matter, they count.
26:17
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so with her, we would balance it.
26:19
SPEAKER_00: So if we're doing a lot of skin, maybe it'll be in like a color that looks pristine, like white.
26:23
SPEAKER_00: Or we would say, Okay, you show the top, not the bottom, or the outfit is fitted, but you're completely covered.
26:28
SPEAKER_00: So she was willing to always strike a balance in in how we reflected sexiness to make it appealing, but also um to make her feel comfortable in everything that she did.
26:38
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
26:38
SPEAKER_02: Because I know there'll be times where she was, especially in the beginning of her career, she was dragged for oh, being too sexy.
26:43
SPEAKER_02: Because we're not used to seeing female artists that way.
26:47
SPEAKER_02: At the same time, there was a time also they say, Oh, she was covering too much.
26:49
SPEAKER_00: Like, so it's like you can win.
26:52
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
26:52
SPEAKER_00: But you know, many times it's just trial and error.
26:55
SPEAKER_00: You're trying the best you can, but at the end of the day, as long as you stay true to who you are, you're not trying to compromise for other people, then you won't fail.
27:02
SPEAKER_00: You'll just continue to improve and get better.
27:04
SPEAKER_00: And that and that was her take on things.
27:06
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
27:07
SPEAKER_02: Um, if you were to style, if you were to start rather vain style again, 2026, what would you do completely differently?
27:14
SPEAKER_00: What are you laughing?
27:16
SPEAKER_00: What?
27:16
SPEAKER_00: Will I start again?
27:19
SPEAKER_00: Ah, if I were to start my business again, what would I do differently this time?
27:26
SPEAKER_00: Um, I don't think I would do anything differently.
27:30
SPEAKER_00: I like the way I started.
27:31
SPEAKER_00: I think it, you know, the company has been very organic in terms of its growth.
27:35
SPEAKER_00: I mean, now majority of the people that follow me on Instagram now know me for the retail store.
27:40
SPEAKER_00: You know, they don't know me.
27:41
SPEAKER_00: They don't know anything about me.
27:42
SPEAKER_00: I don't know the OG.
27:43
SPEAKER_00: They don't know anything about me.
27:44
SPEAKER_00: I have people that come into this standard, like, oh, you're the one that wears the clothes.
27:47
SPEAKER_00: Nice to meet you.
27:47
SPEAKER_00: And we laugh, you know, but again, it's just staying power and we've been able to build it so far.
27:51
SPEAKER_00: So I don't think I would, I like the way that it's my company has shaped, it's been very organic.
27:55
SPEAKER_00: It was always passion there to begin with.
27:57
SPEAKER_00: I've never went looking for a following or clients or anything.
28:01
SPEAKER_00: So, in regards to that, I think I'll do the same thing.
28:04
SPEAKER_02: Why have you not decided to create your own pieces for sale?
28:09
SPEAKER_00: Because it's very hard.
28:10
SPEAKER_00: I like too many things.
28:12
SPEAKER_00: I like too many things, to be very honest.
28:14
SPEAKER_00: I've tried in my head to aware things.
28:16
SPEAKER_00: And also, my style is very simple, very minimal.
28:20
SPEAKER_00: The average Nigerian person is not minimal.
28:22
SPEAKER_00: They like drama, they like to be seen.
28:24
SPEAKER_02: Maximalist.
28:25
SPEAKER_00: Yes, but I will get so many people that love my style, compliment my style.
28:29
SPEAKER_00: But when it comes to buying it in terms of your, they're not.
28:32
SPEAKER_00: They're not willing to spend how much I'm willing to spend on the simplicity of my pieces.
28:36
SPEAKER_00: Because I also feel like my style is about what you're building.
28:39
SPEAKER_00: So, in regards to that, like, perfect example, tell me your tedola, her wedding.
28:44
SPEAKER_00: Everyone loved it, everyone loved how amazing she looked, but her sense of style is very clean, very simple, very stripped down, very minimal.
28:51
SPEAKER_00: However, not everybody wants to look like that, even though you can appreciate that.
28:54
SPEAKER_00: So, even with me in creating my own label, I've struggled.
28:57
SPEAKER_00: I wear things that I've created that I absolutely love.
29:00
SPEAKER_00: People like it, but then I also like so many things.
29:02
SPEAKER_00: So it's it just hasn't.
29:04
SPEAKER_00: I've I tried.
29:05
SPEAKER_00: Maybe one day we'll get there and I'll have my own line.
29:07
SPEAKER_02: What is one, I think I already know the answer to this, but what is one styling rule that you live by?
29:12
SPEAKER_00: You always have to be comfortable, and confidence is key for me.
29:16
SPEAKER_00: Comfortable.
29:17
SPEAKER_02: I just think of course it's No, no, no, no.
29:19
SPEAKER_00: I've always you always have to be so when you are comfortable in in what you're wearing, your choices, then you're going to be confident.
29:27
SPEAKER_00: It is a no-brainer.
29:28
SPEAKER_00: You cannot wear something you're not comfortable with because then you're not going to be confident.
29:32
SPEAKER_00: So being comfortable is key, and then um being confident comes next.
29:36
SPEAKER_02: One trend you never want to see again.
29:40
SPEAKER_00: A trend that I don't want to see again.
29:45
SPEAKER_00: Um I don't know if I have a trend that I don't want to see again.
29:48
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you'd have to say the trend and then I'll tell you, okay, yeah, maybe no.
29:51
SPEAKER_02: I can think of one right now.
29:53
SPEAKER_02: There's this thing I've seen.
29:54
SPEAKER_02: It was a skirts on top of trousers.
29:56
SPEAKER_02: Ugly.
29:57
SPEAKER_02: To me.
29:58
SPEAKER_00: Depends on how it is.
29:59
SPEAKER_00: Go fine.
30:00
SPEAKER_00: It's not it's not fine.
30:01
SPEAKER_00: I've seen, I mean, it depends on how it is because I've seen people wear jeans and then they have like billowy um shirt dresses or dresses over it that are like mini dresses, but the dresses are billowy.
30:10
SPEAKER_00: It's really cute.
30:11
SPEAKER_02: No, I know that one.
30:12
SPEAKER_02: But it's like the person has a top, right?
30:15
SPEAKER_02: Then there's trousers.
30:16
SPEAKER_02: It's not like the trousers are even fitted.
30:18
SPEAKER_02: Then there's now skirts on top.
30:19
SPEAKER_02: Are you confused?
30:21
SPEAKER_02: Where are you going?
30:23
SPEAKER_02: What is going on?
30:24
SPEAKER_02: So that's for me, Shao.
30:26
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
30:26
SPEAKER_00: I don't think I have a trend that I, you know, because as a stylist, you try to incorporate a lot of the trends that you're seeing into everyday life, no matter what it is.
30:33
SPEAKER_00: So I don't think that there's something that I wouldn't want to see again.
30:38
SPEAKER_00: Maybe wearing clothes front to back or backwards, forwards.
30:42
SPEAKER_00: Crisscross.
30:43
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
30:43
SPEAKER_00: So maybe something like that.
30:45
SPEAKER_00: People, people do, in terms of sense of style, people do.
30:47
SPEAKER_00: But maybe that.
30:48
SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, but nothing really.
30:51
SPEAKER_02: Interesting.
30:51
SPEAKER_02: All right.
30:52
SPEAKER_02: One thing every Nigerian woman should invest in right now.
30:57
SPEAKER_00: Should invest in right now.
30:58
SPEAKER_02: Um, one thing, I mean regardless of age or whatever it is, what?
31:04
SPEAKER_00: Um, a really nice kaftan.
31:06
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
31:06
SPEAKER_00: Um, that's one.
31:07
SPEAKER_02: And I think Gen Z just fainted in the corner, by the way.
31:10
SPEAKER_00: They're kaftans.
31:11
SPEAKER_00: You know, they're kaftans that are you can wear to the beach.
31:14
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
31:14
SPEAKER_00: Um, they're kaftans that are like you can wear to a wedding or something, but a really nice kaftan um that can be passed down is something that everybody and then the second thing is an amazing blouse and wrapper.
31:26
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
31:26
SPEAKER_00: And this is coming from somebody who lived in the States that I didn't even consider Nigerian clothing.
31:30
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
31:31
SPEAKER_00: I have now come to realize it's something that everyone should have, no matter her age.
31:35
SPEAKER_00: Because even the younger girls can wear like the short mini um mini wrappers with the nice blouse.
31:41
SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
31:41
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
31:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
31:44
SPEAKER_02: I have been in silent protest since last year.
31:48
SPEAKER_02: And every Ashwabi I have received now, by the way, I don't take a lot of Ashwabi B, but now I've stopped sewing corsets.
31:55
SPEAKER_02: And it is Urambuba.
31:56
SPEAKER_02: Of course.
31:56
SPEAKER_02: And I can't now eat at the party.
31:59
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
31:59
SPEAKER_00: And also you'll always be able to wear it again later on.
32:01
SPEAKER_00: Two years from now, the color, color green.
32:03
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
32:04
SPEAKER_00: You have the green one you wore from four years ago.
32:06
SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
32:06
SPEAKER_00: Matters.
32:07
SPEAKER_02: What is the average cost?
32:08
SPEAKER_02: This is my final question.
32:10
SPEAKER_02: Average cost of a piece at Vein style.
32:13
SPEAKER_00: So the average cost of something in the store is about$250.
32:18
SPEAKER_00: $250K is about the average price of something in the store.
32:20
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
32:21
SPEAKER_02: Do you hear now?
32:23
SPEAKER_02: Don't go there without money.
32:24
SPEAKER_00: And we actually have things that are less than, you know, we have some things that are the entry point to be in the store.
32:28
SPEAKER_00: So that's also another thing.
32:29
SPEAKER_00: I wanted to make sure that every woman coming in, irrespective of age or economic, social status, could afford something in the store.
32:38
SPEAKER_00: So the average entry point for something in the store is about$125 in terms of clothing.
32:42
SPEAKER_00: But we also have turbans, we have jewelry, access.
32:44
SPEAKER_00: Okay, accessories, things.
32:46
SPEAKER_00: Things in that are like 75K, 55K.
32:48
SPEAKER_00: So there's entry points.
32:49
SPEAKER_00: And we also do a lot of specials, discounts, sales, um anniversary sales and things like that.
32:55
SPEAKER_00: So people can always find something.
32:56
SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for stopping by.
32:58
SPEAKER_02: This was amazing.
32:59
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
33:00
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
33:00
SPEAKER_02: It's like a full circle moment for me, right?
33:04
SPEAKER_02: Right?
33:04
SPEAKER_02: Right.
33:04
SPEAKER_02: Because it's it's so interesting to see, like, you know, I like I said, there were so it's that's why it's good to not delete your emails so much because you can see like the history, the conversations, me saying, Oh, it was nice to meet you today.
33:16
SPEAKER_02: I'd like to work with you, blah, blah, blah, blah, and then all of that.
33:19
SPEAKER_00: I know you were so busy.
33:20
SPEAKER_00: You're busy now, but you were even busier then.
33:22
SPEAKER_00: And you know, you all you always had events.
33:24
SPEAKER_00: I, you know, I always used to wonder, I'm like, wait a minute, I don't know how you do it because you would have like in a week, maybe six events to attend, and you always still had to have a hair and makeup done and an outfit.
33:33
SPEAKER_00: And it was just crazy.
33:35
SPEAKER_00: But people like you, you know, kept me in business because you guys early on came and you know, you hired me, and you know, had you guys to style.
33:42
SPEAKER_00: So it's it's it's just it's been a blessing.
33:45
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
33:45
SPEAKER_02: It's time for the giveaway.
33:47
SPEAKER_02: As usual, all you have to do is download the credit direct app, follow them on Instagram, follow us at the Fashion Roundtable, also on Instagram, and show proof in our DMs.
33:58
SPEAKER_02: You could be the lucky winner of a gift certificate to shop at a Nigerian fashion brand today.
34:05
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
34:06
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
34:06
SPEAKER_02: Yay! Thank you very much.
34:10
SPEAKER_02: This was good.
34:11
SPEAKER_02: See, this episode was brought to you by Credit Direct.