As Nigeria continues to look for ways to diversify its economy away from its reliance on crude oil, fashion entrepreneur Tunde Owolabi is keying into the country's vibrant style with new fashion pieces that incorporates local fabrics.
Nigeria's economy the largest in Africa is going through its worst crisis in years and Tunde Owolabi believes that broadening the appeal with fashion products that appeal to stores beyond the African continent will help boost the economy.
The young entrepreneur produces fashion pieces with aso-oke, hand loomed cloth woven by residents in Western Nigeria.
In one year, Tunde Owolabi has become a well known name in fashion circles with his collection of aso-oke shoes and accessories.
Inspired by culture, the 38 year old is seeking to promote Africa's contemporary fashion landscape with afro-centric fashion accessories, sneakers, boot and sandals all handmade from aso-oke.
The founder and creative director of Ethnik spends months creating the fashion pieces with his team.
He says it is important to push for reforms that will see Nigeria tap into other areas that will reduce its reliance on oil.
"Starting now makes me understand what I'm doing and you know the challenges are great but if at this difficult time I can overcome the challenges, by the time things get better then we will be smiling you know because now Nigeria is looking into manufacturing with the fall in oil prices and all and there can't be a better time to be an entrepreneur because now we have to look inwards, find new means of making money, find new means of getting things done and helping the country to prosper as opposed to oil," the fashion entrepreneur said.
The multimedia artist has invested over 3 million naira(11,764 U.S. dollars) into the business and has profited over 5 million naira(19,607 U.S. dollars) from the sales of over 700 fashion pieces.
With a current staff of 6 people, Tunde says he is looking to employ young designers to create designs for the shoes and fabrics.
He says the industry is not without its challenges but hopes to one day break into the mainstream fashion market.
"We need to keep our fit on the ground properly, you know when we've overcome the hurdle of manufacturing because it's still bit of a puzzle for us; sometimes you get the materials, sometimes you don't you know and then you have to start to looking for alternatives and how to balance it out but once we are able to cross that hurdle and we know that we can get the kind of materials we want readily available to us without breaking the bank then we can start to produce things that will rival the international market because the advantage they have is, they have dedicated people one, they have the materials available to them and they have the financial backing," Tunde said.
Pictures courtesy: Sharon Ogunleye
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