Simbiat Falowo is the project co-ordinator of the Couturiers Fashion show, an upcoming event that will feature exhibitions by fashion designers from Oshodi-Isolo and other parts of the country. She plans to execute this project with her team of four fashion designers known as the creative mindset group. The young ladies who are between the ages of 20 and 22 believe that they can change the narratives of the fashion industry in Nigeria by promoting upcoming brands that are championed by young people. In this interview with JOY NGWOLO, she gives details about the upcoming fashion event.
What is the rationale behind Creative Mind Set Group?
Creative mindset is a platform for young people to share ideas and promote one another’s growth.. We came together when we discovered that the community was not supporting us so we decided to join forces together to promote our brands. Some of our members are people who attended the same vocational school, The Nigerian Air Force Officers’ Wives Association (NAFOWA) vocational centre at PWD, Ikeja. That is how most of the members joined and along the line, we discovered that we needed more people so we began to recruit people through online platforms by creating awareness about what we do. I am executing the Couturier Fashion Show with Faith Akoh of Faithfittinz, Amachaghi Victoria of Wendy’s Wears, Shallom Maxwell of Shallom’s Apparel and Juliet Ughoo of Julie’s Collections. They are all members of Creative mindset group.
Why are you hosting the Couturier Fashion Show and Exhibition?
We are aware that we have the potential to be the best that we can be and we want to be well-known like other popular designers and that is why we brought up the idea of the Couturier Fashion Show. We believe that there should be equal opportunities for everyone irrespective of social status, country of origin, gender, age and professional background. We want to give upcoming designers a platform to showcase skills. We hope to promote skilled youths because we discovered that rich people who do not have skills are doing better than us. We are trying our best to be hardworking so that we can feed and fend for ourselves and we feel that we deserve better. We want everybody to actualise their potential. The desire of every entrepreneur is to make money. The show will create awareness for people and their brands so that they can receive more patronage. If you are a seamster/seamstress, shoe maker, textile designer, make-up artist, pattern drafter, fashion illustrator etc. The event has been scheduled for December 14, 2019 at Welcome Centre Hotel Oshodi, Lagos. Presently, we have 30 registered fashion designers from like Ejigbo, Oshodi, Festac, Mile 2, Ikorodu and even Abuja.
What should people expect from this event?
People should expect lots of entertainment because there will be live performances from youths and kids, drama, exhibition/run-way show, awards, red-carpet and discounted sales. We will be having special performances by artistes like Aylean Walker, Chukwuemeka Ossai Twin-C and T-Money. We are also expecting Nigeria’s youngest photographer, Mr. Ikemsinachukwu James who will be the official photographer of the event. There will also be a masterclass on how to promote one’s business through the internet which will be facilitated by the Creative mindset team.
In what ways have you received support from people for this project?
We have solicited support from different people but we have not received anything yet. We are funding the project with our money. We wrote letters to a lot of companies but we have not received any positive response yet. We have been trying to get across to MC Oluomo because we heard that he assists youths but our efforts have not been successful. We visited one of the councillors in Oshodi-Isolo district to solicit support. When we went to the office, the reception was very harsh. The secretary left us waiting from 2:00p.m to 5:00 p.m without achieving anything. We had to go back there the next day after which we were told that we would be contacted. Since then, we have been awaiting their response. However, the Chairman of Oduduwa Peoples’ Congress for Oshodi-Isolo district, Alhaji Wasiu Ajibola has confirmed his attendance.
What are your plans for the fashion designers after the show?
We have written to some media outfits so that each designer will have an interview with them which is one way of creating awareness for them and sometime in the future, after we get some sponsors, we would like to invest in some of our designers. We will also promote them through our social media platforms and we would appreciate if people can volunteer to invest in the designers.
What is the name of your fashion design outfit?
It is called Sigure Figure.
What makes your style different from others?
The way I combine colours is different. I look at a body figure and I style the outfit to suit the body shape.
Why did you choose to acquire this skill? I did not get admission into higher institution when I applied and so I decided to acquire this skill instead of staying idle.
