The Bougie Woman Collection by “NENI”, is inspired by the beautiful butterfly that flutters playfully in the luscious garden. The metamorphic transformation of a butterfly’s cycle is phenomenal. From infancy to adulthood, the butterfly experiences life. The best part is the chrysalis stage where it emerges into an adult. At this stage, growth becomes a place of curiosity, questions, struggles and the dire need to succeed. This emergence in every aspiring woman is called “Change”.
The butterfly signifies the modern woman. She’s scarred yet grateful, dares to explore the world, fearless, driven to grow, sees and enjoys every moment as a luxury of her journey to aspire for more and the challenges, which makes her confident, courageous, bold, beautiful and intelligent.
The garden is the environment and the greenery is life. The combination of all species of plants signifies different people, diverse cultures, different places and several opportunities waiting for the woman to explore and learn.

What were your expectations? And who were your models?

The models were beautiful ladies. When we went for our fitting, they were very proud of what they wore. They were also pretty excited. So I knew that when they came out on stage, they were really going to showcase the brand, because we had to tell them that our brand is a masterpiece, and this is our first outing on African Fashion Week Nigeria. We also told them the piece that they were putting on should signify that they are a Bougie Woman. So it just kind of changed the perspective and gave them that feel of confidence, courage and bravery.
Now, on my expectations, I tried to send a message to everyone coming to watch us, but look, it’s not just about the colours, nor about the damasks fabric pieces we’ve put together. But, how do those pieces tell a story for each of those models that would be wearing each of our masterpieces, and how does it connect to everyone sitting there in the audience?

Is there any coloration between damask fabric and Africa?

Damask is a heritage fabric, just like we have Adire and Aso Oke. One of my core values is heritage. So when it comes to anything heritage that will promote culture, luxury or sustainability, I believe that whatever you’re dealing with has to have that heritage feel.

How long have you been in the industry?

For me, next year is going to make it 10 years in the fashion industry. And it’s been an amazing journey with ups and downs. Like I said, the NENI Collection like my partner, and my colleague, we’ve been through a whole lot. I mean from the setup, to the growth stage, but we’re grateful.

Have you been in other careers before joining the fashion industry?

Initially I was an investment banker and a portfolio manager, and it was very interesting, because when I started, I was a trained engineer before I went into investment banking and portfolio management. What really inspired me to go into fashion was when I made some pieces for my children, and they went for an elitist society wedding where all the mothers looked at my children, wondering that designers could actually weave pieces of ankara, and do something very nice on the children. No one had thought of it at that time. That inspired me. So we started the brand, ‘Little Weaver’s’, and now we’ve been in the industry for a while, and we’ve also found another niche which I’ve partnered with my friend, Nneka, where we collaborated to create “NENI”.

Does that mean you went into fashion even as a portfolio manager?

No, not really, as a portfolio manager, I loved fashion and heritage. So whenever I put on some of my outfits. I reflect that African heritage. Sometimes I would come to work on my suit, with beads on them. I save a bit of heritage in contemporary urban and in a mix of everything. Imagine someone wearing these suits with pearls and all of them. I just love that heritage feel. So it’s always been about fashion, creativity.

At what point did you switch completely from your career into fashion?

It was a personal journey, and I felt at that time that there was more that was deserving for me. Again, I just felt it was time for me to leave. And then, the inspiration that came with the societal wedding, and I just felt like this was an opportunity. Let’s just leverage on it and start up.