Latest / thefashionroundtable / Inside Africa’s Biggest Fashion Shows | Mr Mahogany on GTB Fashion Weekend & More | S1 E10

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Inside Africa’s Biggest Fashion Shows | Mr Mahogany on GTB Fashion Weekend & More | S1 E10 · thefashionroundtable

• 0:13
  SPEAKER_04: This episode is brought to you by Credit Direct.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_04: Welcome to the Fashion Roundtable.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_04: My name is Bimi Olaterio Lagbeggi, and my guest today is someone I have been dying to speak with.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_04: He is popularly known as Mr.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_04: Mahogany, but let me tell you a little bit about him first.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_04: He's a respected fashion entrepreneur and he's also creative director, some of the biggest fashion shows in Nigeria, in Africa, and beyond.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_04: Let me tell you what he has produced.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_04: He has produced GT Co Fashion Weekend.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_04: He has produced Music Meets Runway.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_04: If you're an OG, you know Music Meets Runway.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_04: He's also produced Africa Fashion Week London and so many more.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_04: Please put your hands together for Mr.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_04: Mahogany, Mr.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_04: Shola Uibadi.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_09: Welcome.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_09: Oh, it's so good to be here.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_09: It's good to be here.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_09: Just like you've been wanting me to come.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_09: I've been wanting to come as well.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_09: Oh, I'm so happy.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_04: I'm happy you're here because we're looking forward to hearing your story.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_04: We're looking forward to hearing what you have created and what is coming.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_04: Welcome.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_12: Thank you.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_04: So, sir, let's get into it.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_04: I was super excited when I read that you were also the producer for Music Meets Runway.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_04: That was one of my favorite shows.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_04: I'm a lover of fashion, lover of music, have you know, having been on the radio for so many years.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_04: And I used to look forward to the show every year.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_04: And I was heartbroken when they stopped producing it.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_04: It is not easy to put together a show.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_04: Definitely not.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_04: It's not easy.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_04: And I'm sure, as we say, you have seen some shaky when it comes to showing it mildly.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, when it comes to uh producing these shows, African fashion is gaining global attention.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_04: Now, from your perspective, what is driving this growth?
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_04: Why this sudden attention all of a sudden?
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_04: And what do you think needs to be strengthened?
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_04: But let's talk about why why all this attention all of a sudden?
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_09: Well, I think the attention is easily um how would I put it?
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_09: The attention has come because of what we've been able to do with music and with movies.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_05: Yes.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_09: Our music and our movies, we are known around the world.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_09: Yes.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_09: I mean, funny enough, movies have been doing much better than music for many years.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_09: You know, Nollywood is known around the world.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_09: Yes.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_09: And then music came along, and the artists have worked with international people and so on and so forth.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_09: And they dress.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_05: Yes.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_09: We dress.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_09: You know, so it was just a very natural, beautiful synergy that fashion would follow.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_09: Because when you see your celebrities or superstars around the world performing, you're looking at what are they wearing.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_09: Then the next question is, who are they wearing?
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_09: You understand?
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_09: And then one of the other great things about us is that social media, we're one of the highest users of social media in the world.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_09: So when we do something like the AMVC or stuff like that, it is going worldwide simply because of the amount of traction and you know, the amount of posting and engagement and so on and so forth that we do.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_09: So it's really got out there.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_09: Then we've also been fortunate that we've had some of our designers dressed people like Michelle Obama, you know, and other top celebrities like that.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_09: And you have people like Thames and Ira Starr that are out there and they're always hyping up Nigeria and Nigerian creatives and so on and so on.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_09: So they've become like a sound piece or a sounding board for us around the world.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_09: So it means that people start saying, okay, who are these Nigerians?
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_09: What are they?
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_09: You know, I think one of the classic things that was quite interesting is that three years ago, nobody would have said Met Gala versus AMVCA.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_09: Now it's a conversation.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, it is.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_09: You know?
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_09: Yes, it's but that just goes to show how far our designers have developed.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_09: In terms of the issues that are our problem, so to speak, the biggest one is structure.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_13: Yeah.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_13: Yes.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_09: And that's gonna bring me to the AMVCA issue that I have personally, which is that you have a lot of these designers that, as we were talking about earlier, spending millions to create an outfit, to give to a celebrity, to walk on the catwalk in the hope that it's gonna get lots of publicity, and some people will buy the dress.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_09: Now, the difference is if I do a fashion week, I produce a dress that buyers are looking at.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_09: The press are gonna put into all the fashion magazines, and then I'm gonna get orders worth hopefully millions of pounds.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_09: Here, I'm a designer, fantastic designer.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_09: I get a top celebrity to wear it.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_09: She wears it, it looks good, it goes around the world.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_09: What's my return?
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_09: How do I make the money back from the dress?
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_09: Do I get mass orders?
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_09: No, because most times I can't do mass orders anyway.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_09: Then if I'm now saying, can you buy it?
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_09: How many people can afford to buy it?
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_09: Yes.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_09: So the returns for us are not as good as it is for other people.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_09: So I kind of it's it's lovely doing being a celebrity designer, which is what I call them, and they do great work.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_09: But from a business perspective, how many are making money?
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_09: That's the issue.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_09: And then you see a lot of the young people looking up and say, oh my god, I want to be like X, Y, Z, and Z.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_09: I want to be X like X, Y, Z, and Z.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_09: But these young people also don't go and study their background.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_09: Because I know a lot of these X, Y, Z, and Z designers that have rich husbands.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_09: Their fathers were rich.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_09: They themselves are rich.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_09: Neppel babies.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_09: Thank you.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_09: So in terms of maths, the business is not mathing.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_09: You know, you're spending, I don't know, 100 million on infrastructure, buildings, generators, diesel, so on and so on, and you're making 50 million.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_09: That's not running a business.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_09: But they're not going to be bothered about it.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_09: They have their clothes on all the top celebrities, they're on all the red carpets, they're invited to all the amazing events.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_09: And everybody think, oh my God, they're making money, they're making money.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_09: Yes, they're making money, but are they running a business?
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_04: Very, very interesting.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_04: Very interesting that you you you you pointed that out.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_04: But let's get into the production of these fashion shows or fashion weekends, for example.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_04: How did you even get started?
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_09: Oh, for me, it dates back to when I was in secondary school.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_09: Um, I went to Maryland Comprehensive, Maryland and Niger, that is.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_13: Yes.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_09: And um it was a mixed school.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_09: Yes.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_09: And then we used to be invited to all these literary and debating societies, you know, which was for us.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_09: So our parents were going to go and debate.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_09: For us, it was like socialized.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_09: Exactly.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_09: So, you know, we'd be invited to come and do a fashion show at Igbobi College or King's College or Queen Seat.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_09: And then we say, okay, we're gonna do something different, you know.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_09: So as we got guys and girls, you know, we'll do something like a ladies' night, the guys have walking sticks, we'll have caps on, and we'll do a whole choreography around it.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_09: And it kind of got really famous, and I was like the one that would put it all together and people were inviting us all over the place.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_09: So I found that I had a passion for it.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_09: I really, really loved doing it.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_09: And that just continued, I'm trying to keep the short, extremely short.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_09: That kind of continued into my working life when I finished university.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_09: Okay.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_09: You know, I then went to the UK.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_09: But when I got to the UK, there was no black businesses, there was no creatives, there was no fashion, there was no modeling, there was not even just catering businesses.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_09: There was nothing out there.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_09: And, you know, I remember a few of my friends were saying, oh, they wanted to get married in the UK.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_09: They couldn't get Jolof Rice, they couldn't get an African-inspired bridal dress.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_09: Because when you went to the national wedding show, it was like 99.9% of the vendors were just white vendors.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_09: Yes.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_09: So I said, Oh, there's something missing here.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_09: I don't like this.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_09: So I set up what I call the Mahogany Bridal Show at the time.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_09: And the whole idea was to attract people and black vendors that wanted to cater to the black bride and groom.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_09: Um, and that ran for a number of years.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_09: And with that, we did a lot of fashion shows.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_09: And once again, I always liked to do choreographed fashion shows.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_09: I didn't like the idea of just doing like a London Fashion Week show, which is Modu goes in, Modu comes out, Modu goes in, I wanted to do stuff because we as black people, we have flavor.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_09: Yes, we want something, we want something extra.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_09: You know, I don't just want so when you give them a little bit of dancing or you give them a little bit of choreography, people will be screaming at it, yeah, we love it.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_09: So that became like my signature.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_09: Yes, you know, and then I I kind of got known for my excellence.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_09: I'm a disciplinarian, I'm extremely strict when I run my shows.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_09: I always start on time, all of that sort of stuff.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_09: So it then became the second factor became people like, oh, I want to go to his shows.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_09: I'm not gonna sit down for one hour.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_09: I'm not gonna sit down and okay, the first designer comes out, then I'm waiting for 30 minutes before the next designer comes out.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_09: I come in, boom, boom, boom.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_04: No sloppy production.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_09: Yes.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_09: So people started liking it.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_04: My kind of person.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_04: My kind of person, yeah.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_09: Then they started calling me.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_09: I started doing in Zambia and Kenya, and you know, been doing London Fashion Week for just over 15 years, every February and September.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_09: And it just kind of grew from there.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_09: And I think one of the things that I thought was like a real recognition of my worth was when um I was called for a meeting with GT Co.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_09: And they were thinking about doing their own event, and they said they wanted me to produce it.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_09: Now, why I say it like that, somebody say, so what's the big deal?
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_09: Because GT can go anywhere in the world.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_05: Yes.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_09: And nearly the rest of the team is made up of people from different parts of the world.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_09: We are the only Nigerian, fully Nigerian part of the team.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_09: And here we are from Nigeria, doing it in Nigeria.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_09: And that that's I love that.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_04: That's good.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_04: The weekend encompasses not just the retail part where um Nigerian designers or creatives get to sell what they're making, but there's fashion shows and there's also um uh uh workshops and there's also masterclasses as well.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_04: It's a huge thing that you know a lot of people look forward to every year, depending on what you are trying to trying to do.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, this was the first time I was telling you before we started that I'd see Nigerians cue very like very peacefully to get into the fashion show.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_04: The runway is beautiful, all of that.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_04: So, and I like how you are passionate about uh about what you have created because you see a difference when a person is just doing it for the money and when the person really, really cares.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_04: So, well done to you for that.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_04: How did you get involved before before GT Code?
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_04: There was music meets runway.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, my feet.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_04: They need to bring it back.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_04: You need to bring it back.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_04: Why did it stop?
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_09: Money.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_09: I know fashion is one of the most underfunded parts of the creative industry.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_09: People don't understand the benefits or why they should sponsor fashion, particularly governments, because and in Nigeria, our governments, we like a few.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_09: You know, yes, I'll sponsor music because I'm gonna make so-and-so.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_09: I'll sponsor movies because I'll be rubbing shoulders with this um celebrity actor.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_09: But in these, for designers, like I don't see it the same way.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_09: They don't see it the same way.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_04: Every year we hear, oh, so-and-so billion fund.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_04: Maybe I'm not looking hard enough, but we hear, oh, the government is pumping so-and-so billion naira into this sector.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_04: Where?
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_04: Where?
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_04: Where?
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_04: I don't know.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_09: I'm still I'm I'm I've I've been searching with you, so you're not the only one looking.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_04: Where?
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_04: At the same time, some people say that we should leave them alone because the moment they get involved, they're gonna ruin it.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_09: Yes and no to that one, because if you look at all the major fashion industries around the world, government is always involved.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_09: They're always involved, either directly or indirectly.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_09: If you look at the British fashion industry, for example, they have the British Fashion Council, the government gives them millions to promote fashion both internally and externally.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_09: And that the amount that the government invests, they get it back 10, 20, 30 times over through taxation, indirect tourism, you know, development of businesses, employment, and stuff like that.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_09: I think sometimes the problem that we face in Nigeria is that if I give you one naira, I expect to see two naira in return.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_09: But what they're supposed to understand is you give me one naira, I will create something with it that will indirectly generate 10 naira for you in return.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_09: We don't see it like that.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_09: I give you one, I want my two.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_09: And immediately it's gonna take some time.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_09: Exactly.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_04: Now that we're talking about this, I want you to basically explain a little bit more how fashion contributes to Africa's broader creative economy, particularly in the terms of job creation, cultural influence, and also exports, for example.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_09: I think when you look at fashion, we are we must be one of the biggest employers, even far more than music or music.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_09: Because we we have we have illustrators, we have pattern cutters, we have tailors, we have designers that involve, we have makeup, we have the accessories, companies, and so on and so forth.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_09: So when a designer goes to the market, they're not just buying material, they're buying zips, they're buying buttons, they're buying all kinds of accessories.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_09: That is helping the economy generally.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_09: You know, there's there's all the things like logistics, we're shipping garments and products all around the world.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_09: That's that is the indirect economy that we are affecting.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_09: And it's something that we we I don't think we really push it enough.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_09: I always give this example to people.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_09: I say, I can play your track, Remy, and you say, I like it.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_09: I might say I don't like it.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_09: We can watch a movie together, you might think that's the worst movie ever.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_09: I might think it's fantastic.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_09: So we may not always buy the same thing.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_09: But when it comes to clothes, everybody has to buy clothes.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_09: Everybody has to buy clothes.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_09: We all have to wear clothes.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_09: So with music, maybe 40% of the population is my target audience.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_09: In theory, we close 100% of the fundamental human needs.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_09: Exactly.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_09: So, and we haven't understood that.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_09: I mean, there was a report by CNN, I think it was about three, four years ago, and they said that they expect that fashion will be far bigger than music and um movies combined in Nigeria.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_09: We love to dress.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_09: I look at the average woman.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah, if you go to an event on Monday and you go to an event on Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday, how many outfits, different outfits will you wear?
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_09: At least four.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_05: Yes.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_09: You are not repeating.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_09: Yes.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_09: Think about that.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_09: And then if we look at that as a percentage, let's even just say 20% of Nigerian women operate like that.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_09: How much clothes that is?
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_09: When we do asheobs, look at what it is.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_09: You do a party, maybe 300 to a thousand people.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_09: Possibly 60, 70% will buy the IOB.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_09: Think about what that is doing for employment, for creation, for money that will be like.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_04: Let's talk about you creating your own fashion week event.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_04: It's called Epic Fashion Week.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_04: Can you tell us a little bit more about that?
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_09: Well, um, I have to go back a little bit.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_09: Like I said, we started Fashion Finest in the UK, where we've been doing London Fashion Week shows with the biggest off-schedule show in the UK every September and February.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_09: And when I moved back to Nigeria, you know, I first of all was surveying the market and I realized that all the shows that were out there were for established designers, celebrity designers, people that had made a name for themselves.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_09: And I'm looking around, people always coming to me, oh, how do I get into this?
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_09: How do I do that?
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_09: How do I be this?
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_09: And I say, Where's your shows?
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_09: And there were no shows for them.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_09: So I thought that, okay, I wanted to do something, I wanted to give back something that was for the new and emerging.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_09: So Epic Fashion Week is for new and emerging designers creating right down to models.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_09: The models that we cast have, most of them have never walked for a show before.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_12: Okay.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_09: And the whole idea about Epic Fashion Week is to create that sort of ecosystem where we train you to be a great model or makeup artist or hairstylist, or we give you the opportunity to be in the equivalent of a big fashion week.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_09: Because I run it just as if I was doing a GT Co.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_09: I was doing, you know, London Fashion Week.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_09: It's run exactly the same way.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_09: We don't dumb it down because it's for new and emerging.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_09: So once you've done our show, it means you can go to any of the bigger shows and feel very comfortable about it.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_09: And what we want to see is that our designers leave Epic Fashion Week and go and do the bigger shows.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_04: Greater things.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_09: That makes us so happy, or me in particular, so happy.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_09: So that's what it's about.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_09: This is not the first year.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_09: This is the first year for it being called Epic Fashion Week.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_09: It used to be called the Epic Show, okay.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_09: Um, which has been running for about seven, eight years in Nigeria, but we now change it to Epic Fashion Week because we felt that funny enough, there's such a difference in the name.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_09: You know, when it was showed, people kind of felt like it was entertainment.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_09: Now that we've changed it to Epic Fashion Week, people feel that it's now okay, it's business oriented, even though it's always been that way, but they now feel that, okay, yes, okay, I need to be even more of a part of it because I need to take my business to the next level.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_04: And it's happening from May 23rd, May 23rd and 24th.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_04: That's right, at the podium.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_04: At the podium.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_04: I got married at the podium.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, really?
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, wow.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_04: Many years ago.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_04: So, yeah, it's a great uh location.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_04: They have parking and all that.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_04: And it's free.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_09: Free.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_04: Wonderful.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_09: 100% free.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_09: To attend.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_09: To attend.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_09: And the reason why we we do it that it's free is that a lot of the other shows are by invitation only.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_09: You gotta know something, or you buy.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_09: But let we want to spread the word of fashion.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_09: We want people to understand what fashion is like.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_09: Come and see what it's, you know, get a taste of it, see what it's really like.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_09: So it's totally free to anybody and everybody.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_09: No registration or anything, just show up.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_09: Don't you need the data?
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_09: Did you register now?
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_09: The problem that I've always found with that, me and my team, now you're saying that you see they're gonna now start fighting me.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_09: See, we told you, we told you, we told you.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_05: No, but you need to.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_09: The problem I have with the data, I mean, when you come, we register you before you get your armberry.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_09: Okay.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_09: But the way Nigerians think is that they will say that, okay, I want to go for the show.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_09: I want to take my friend.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_09: I registered, but my friend didn't register.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_09: He said, Ah, they say you have to register, so we won't go.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_09: So they just don't show.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_09: We did the same thing with GT.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_09: There was a year when we went through all this registration thing, my numbers went down.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_09: So now they just stopped all that sort of stuff and just say, Oh, wow.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_09: It's free to attend.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_09: I'm funny, it's just it's the way we think.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, maybe at the at the at the door, register at the door.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, we register at the door, okay.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, good.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_04: So that you can always retarget these people later on and everything.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_04: But how will you make money?
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_04: Because it's expensive.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_08: It's expensive.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_04: But it's not cheap.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_04: It's not cheap, you know, all of that.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_04: It's expensive.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_04: Are there sponsors?
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_09: I keep asking myself how we make money.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_09: Um, we need sponsors, and like we were discussing earlier, fashion is the one area people don't want to sponsor.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_04: Tell me about it.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_09: I do not want to sponsor anything fashion.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_09: I don't know why.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_09: Please, because we fashion is do a music podcast and you see how much money you will attract.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_04: Oh my goodness.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_04: We need money.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_04: We need you, you have to wear clothes anyway.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_09: They don't get it.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_09: And we we have a far bigger audience than most other people, but they just don't understand it.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_09: Like, it's because we don't have that celebrity status attached to us.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_04: It's coming.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_04: It's coming.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_04: I think it's coming.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_04: So there's gonna be 50 designers showcasing at the at the what what were the what did you how did you pick them?
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_09: Well, um, we first have an open application process.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_09: Okay.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_09: So everybody can just register their intentions, say what they're interested in.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_09: Then we look at their pages, we look at some of their works, see what their pictures are, and then we look at trying to get a very good cross selection of people.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_04: So it's not the same kind of people, different people doing different things.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_04: That's it.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_04: Plus the fashion we understand and the fashion we don't understand.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_04: Because there are some type of designers that I don't understand.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_04: And you know what?
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_04: It's fine.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_04: I don't think that we are all meant to like the same things.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_04: We're all not meant to love the same aesthetic or look the same way.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_04: So I respect the work, but there are some outfits I'm like, how?
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_04: Why don't you get it?
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_04: But and it and it's fine.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_04: No, it's true, it's totally fine, especially the ones that really, really go out of their way to look tribal in a way.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_04: And I've been told that there is a science or there is a reason for it because apparently to attract maybe Western attention or funding.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_09: I mean, even abroad, they do it.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_09: I mean, you see some shows and you see some of the stuff on the catwalk, and you think why?
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_09: So there is actually a business rationale behind it.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_09: You put those clothes on, you're you're You've got to remember when you do a fashion show, depending on where you're doing it, you're getting you're competing with about 50, 100, 200 other designers.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_09: What can you do to get yourself a test?
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_09: So if you can create that one off piece that everybody talks about, then you get into the press, it's millions of pounds or dollars of free publicity.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_09: Hopefully, somebody will then go and check your website and say, oh, they've also got some sensible clothes that I can buy.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_09: So there's there's some methods behind it.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_09: The madness behind it.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_04: By the time this airs, I I reckon it'll be too late for maybe um upcoming designers who they know about it to join.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_04: But if they want to get some more information on how to maybe look out for next year, for instance, is there a website, a page that they can find?
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_09: They can go to either of our pages, which is Epic Fashion Week.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_09: Okay.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_09: Um, both website or um social media, or go to Fashions Finest Africa.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_09: Fashion with an S at the end, Fashions Finest Africa.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_09: Once again, website or to um social media pages, all the information is there.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_09: Phone numbers, email addresses, everything, or go to my page um at Mr.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_09: Mogner or actually about the DM and I will respond.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_04: Before we go, uh before we let you go, rather, there's still something I wanted to ask you.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_04: There's initiatives like SIFT SIFT and also D4 DF.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_09: Can you tell us about uh these initiatives?
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_09: Right.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_09: D for DF is um design for the future.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_09: Um and that's about um sustainability.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_09: So it's a competition.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_09: Um, there's a million naira funding price for the winner, and we're we're trying to look at people recycling, um, using sustainable material to create fashion.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_09: It's um it's not just a competition in terms of that you just have a winner, you've got to go through incubation, you've got to go through classes, you've got to you meet with mentors, you we give you business advice and so on and so forth.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_09: So that by the time you've gone through the whole process from application through to when the final is on the Sunday, the 24th at um Epic Fashion Week, you will come out of it, whether you win or lose, so much information.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_09: You understand how to run a fashion business.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_04: Very important.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_09: And if you're lucky, you win as well.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_09: Now, SIFT, which is sustainability in fashion training, if I got that right.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_09: If I haven't, please forgive me.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_09: That once again is we run a whole series of um courses where we invite um, we hopefully we'll get you on it as well, to give advice to all these new um young creatives that are out there telling them about business, telling them about your story.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_09: Because a lot of people see some of us that they feel at the top, and they think it was so easy for us that we just got there overnight and we're making all this money.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_09: They don't understand when we were suffering.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_09: If I tell them I've nearly lost my house twice because I'm doing fashion shows, you say I've kind of remembered what I've been through.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_09: So, you know, it's to let them understand that it's it's not as easy as it is that you're gonna go through pain, you're gonna go through suffering to get there, you've got to put in the hard work and so on and so on.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_09: So we run those, I think sometimes two a month throughout the entire year.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_09: Because we're all about trying to give something back.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_09: I've been there, I know what it was like starting when there was no industry at all, I had no help.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_09: So if I can give something back to people now where there is a big industry, then that's what we're aiming to do.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_04: I think this is amazing what you're doing, and I I I'm very excited for the young ones who are going to have the opportunity to find off.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_04: A lot of them don't want to take it out.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_09: How?
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_09: Oh, I'm tired.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_09: Oh, yeah, I have to spend money on transport.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_09: You know, I know things are hard, but if you have to spend 5k to come and talk to a style infidel, for example, who you would never normally have that opportunity to.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_09: I'm sorry, what it's um there are some, but in terms of the fact that it's all free, you would expect that they will be climbing on top of each other to be a part of it.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_05: What?
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_09: Oh my god, yeah, we are a funny generation, or they are a funny generation.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_04: I'm not gonna mention the generation, but they know themselves if my generation.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_09: Are you joking?
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_09: I paid for everything.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_09: Listen, absolutely everything that I could get.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_04: You're given a free platform to learn from an expert.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_04: If this person should call for a masterclass now, it will cost a lot of money.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_04: And this person, I say, my transport.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, stay where you are, stay where you are, and good luck.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_04: Some of them adventure though.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, good.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_10: And they still don't come on.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_10: Oh, I fell asleep.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_10: I was tired.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_10: I wasn't sure it was beneficial to me.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_04: I'm very sorry, but it's being projected.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_04: The alcohol business is losing billions right now because of this generation.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_04: I'm not saying people should drink, all right?
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_04: But this generation does not drink.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_04: I also think that part of the reason why they don't drink is they don't have money, and I don't think that they're also not ready to do the work, so there might be a generation with no money, and I'm very sorry for their children in trouble because the way, even in my head, I'm thinking of the work and the calculation.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_04: Like I dream of the work, not because I okay.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_04: Well, maybe I love it, but also because there's bills to be paid, right?
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_04: So I don't know.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_04: Anyway, good luck to you all and those of you who are serious, guys.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_09: It's free, it's there for you.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_04: Show up.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_04: We're gonna put the information again on the screen so that they can go take advantage of this amazing opportunity, and even if you are not picked for whatever it is, maybe you are not showing this year, you're not a model who is working this year, just go and attend for free and see and plan for the next year, you know, so that you don't wait until January 1st of the following year to figure out what you're going to do with your life.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_04: Start a plan now.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_04: I want to say thank you for stopping by.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_04: Um, I'm so glad that I got to talk to you and uh well done.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_04: I know that you've put in so much work into all that you do, and I look forward to seeing more from you.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_04: Um, again, if you and I haven't attended any of the fashion shows at GT Co, but I have seen the videos and the runway is stunning.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_04: It's not your regular black runway and people are just walking, it's it's just visually appealing.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_04: Almost every I think it's everyone is is is front row the way you you more or less, yeah.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, everyone's gonna because we only have two rows, but yeah, yeah, and everything just looks really, really good.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_04: Well done, and thank you for coming to the fashion round table.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_09: Thank you.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_09: It's such a pleasure and honor to be here and to sit in front of you.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_09: I've heard so many great things about you as well.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_09: So I actually feel that I'm the one that should be up to you.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_04: Don't believe any bad thing, they're lying, they're lying.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_04: Oh my goodness.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_04: This episode was brought to you by Credit Direct.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_09: Mother goes in, mother.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_09: I wanted to do stuff, 'cause we as black people, we have flavor.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_09: Yes.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_09: We want something, we want something extra.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_09: So when you give them a little bit of dancing or you give them a little bit of choreography, so that became like my my you know, and then I I kind of got known for my excellence.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_09: I'm a disciplinarian, I'm extremely strict when I run my shows.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_09: I always start on time, all of that sort of stuff.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_09: So it then became the second factor became people like, oh, I want to go to his shows.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_09: I'm not gonna sit down for one hour.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_09: I'm not gonna sit down and okay, the first designer comes out, then I'm waiting for 30 minutes before the next designer comes out.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_09: I come in, boom, boom, boom, boom.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_11: Sloppy production.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_11: Yes.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_09: And some people will buy the dress.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_09: Now the difference is if I do a fashion week, I produce a dress that buyers are looking at.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_09: The press are gonna put into all the fashion magazines, and then I'm gonna get orders worth hopefully millions of pounds.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_09: Here, I'm a designer, fantastic designer, I get a top celebrity to wear it.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_09: She wears it, it looks good, it goes around the world.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_09: What's my return?
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_09: How do I make the money back from the dress?
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_09: Do I get mass orders?
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_09: No, because most times I can't do mass orders anyway.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_09: Then, if I'm now saying, can you buy it?
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_09: How many people can afford to buy it?
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_11: Yes.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_09: Oh my god, I want to be like X, Y, Z, and Z.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_09: I want to be X like X, Y, Z, and Z.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_09: But these young people also don't go and study their background.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_09: Because I know a lot of these X, Y, Z, and Z designers that have rich husbands.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_09: Their fathers were rich.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_09: They themselves are rich.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_09: Nepal babies.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_09: In terms of maps, the business is not mapping.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_09: You know, you're spending 100 million on infrastructure, building, generator, diesel, and you're making 50 million.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_09: That's not running the business.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_09: But they're not going to be bothered about it.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_09: They have their clothes on all the top celebrities, they're on all the red carpets, they're invited to all the amazing events, and everybody think, oh my god, they're making money, they're making money.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_09: Yes, they're making money.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_09: People don't understand the benefits or why they should sponsor fashion, particularly governments, because and in Nigeria, our governments we like efficient.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_09: You know, yes, I'll sponsor music because I'm gonna make sound.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_09: So I'll sponsor movies because I'll be rubbing shoulders with this um celebrity actor.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_09: But in these for designers, like every I don't see the same way.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_09: They don't see it the same way.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_04: Every year we hear, oh, so and so billion fund.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_04: Maybe I'm not looking hard enough, but we hear, oh, the government is pumping so and so billion naira into this sector.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_04: Where?
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_04: Where?
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_04: Where?
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_04: I don't know.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_11: I'm st I'm I'm I've I've been searching with you, so you're not the only one looking.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_11: Where do you think you say, I like it.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_09: I might say I don't like it.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_09: We can watch a movie together, you might think that's the worst movie ever.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_09: I might think it's fantastic.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_09: So we may not always buy the same thing.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_09: But when it comes to clothes, everybody has to buy clothes.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_09: Everybody has to buy clothes.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_09: We all have to wear clothes.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_09: So with music, maybe 40% of the population is my target audience.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_09: In theory, we close 100% of the fundamental human needs.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_04: Exactly.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_11: So, and we haven't understood that we're not going to be able to do that.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_09: And the whole idea about Epic Fashion Week is to create that sort of ecosystem where we train you to be a great model or makeup artist or hairstylist, or we give you the opportunity to be in the equivalent of a big fashion week.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_09: Because I run it just as if I was doing a GT code or doing you know London Fashion Week.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_09: It's one exactly the same way.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_09: We don't dumb it down because it's for new and emerging.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_09: So once you walk down our show, it means you can go to any of the bigger shows and feel very comfortable about it.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_09: And what we want to see is that our designers leave Epic Fashion Week and go and do the biggest greater thing.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_09: But that makes us so happy, or me in particular so happy.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_09: So that's what it's about.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_04: But if they want to get some more information on how to maybe look out for next year, for instance, is there a website, a page that they can find out?
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_09: They can go to either of our pages, which is Epic Fashion Week.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_09: Okay.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_09: Um, both website or um social media, or go to Fashions Finest Africa.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_09: Okay.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_09: Fashion with an S at the end, Fashions Finest Africa.
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_09: Once again, website or to um social media pages.
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_09: All the information is there.
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_09: Phone numbers, email addresses, everything, or go to my page um at Mr.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_09: Mahogany or at Shaloya Badi.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_11: Send me a DM and I will respond.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_04: I'm very excited for the young ones who are going to have the opportunity to fucking off.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_09: A lot of them don't want to take it out.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_09: How?
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_09: Oh, I'm tired.
• 44:25
  SPEAKER_09: Oh, yeah, I have to spend money on transport.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_09: You know, I know things are hard, but if you have to spend 5k to come and talk to a style infidel, for example.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_09: Who you would never know we have the opportunity.
• 44:40
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sorry, what?
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_09: Um but in terms of the fact that it's all free, you would expect that they would be climbing on top of each other to be a part of it.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_05: What?
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_09: We are a funny generation out there.
• 45:01
  SPEAKER_04: I'm not gonna mention the generation, but they know themselves are my generation.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_04: Are you joking?
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_09: I paid for everything.
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_04: You are given a free platform to learn from an expert.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_04: If this person should call for a masterclass now, it will cost a lot of money.
• 45:23
  SPEAKER_04: And this person are saying my transport.
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, stay where you are.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_04: Stay where you are, and good luck.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_11: Some of them are virtual though.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_11: Okay, good.
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_11: And they still don't come on.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_11: But you're spending