Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Kandé, Nabila Buhari, has discovered one of fashion’s quiet contradictions: a name can fit perfectly at the beginning and feel too small years later.

Vogue Woman began as an expression of Buhari’s love for beautiful clothes and the confidence they could give a woman. It also gave her space to discover her taste, understand her customer and learn the demands of running a fashion business.

As that understanding grew, the label’s identity no longer matched the fashion house taking shape in her mind. Kandé emerged as the name for that bigger vision.

Speaking with Guardian Life Magazine, Buhari described the rebrand as a natural progression rather than a rejection of the past.

She said, “Vogue Woman was an important part of my journey, but as the brand evolved, I realised the name no longer captured the full vision. Kandé gives us the space to express who we are becoming.”

FASHION BEFORE THE BLUEPRINT
Buhari entered fashion with instinct rather than a detailed business plan. She knew the feeling she wanted her clothes to create, even if she had not yet worked out every part of the journey.

She recalled, “I started with a strong feeling about the kind of fashion I wanted to create, even though I didn’t have every detail mapped out. Vogue Woman gave me the opportunity to explore that instinct and understand the woman I wanted the brand to serve.”

Vogue Woman became her introduction to both creativity and entrepreneurship. Behind every finished piece were decisions about direction, presentation and the future of the business.

Those decisions forced Buhari to become more intentional. She learnt to trust her judgment, accept uncertainty and recognise when an idea that once worked had reached its limit.

The woman and the label were growing at the same time. Kandé became the clearest expression of what that growth had produced.

A NAME CLOSE TO HOME
The rebrand also brought the business closer to Buhari’s personal history. Kandé is connected to her mother, whose appreciation for beauty and detail influenced Buhari long before she became a fashion entrepreneur.

Her mother’s elegance was not simply about clothing. It was present in the way she noticed beautiful things, understood design and carried herself.

Buhari explained the connection: “My mother has always influenced the way I see beauty. She notices the details, understands elegance and carries herself with such grace. Kandé is a way of honouring that influence while giving the brand a name that feels deeply personal.”

The name gives the fashion house an emotional centre. It carries memory and heritage, but it is not limited by either.

For Buhari, Kandé can feel intimate in Lagos and still hold meaning when the clothes travel to London or another part of the world.

A QUIETER KIND OF LUXURY

Kandé will not be Vogue Woman wearing a different logo. Buhari is refining the designs, storytelling, presentation and customer experience around the label. Its identity will draw from modern African luxury, femininity, elegance and individuality.

The ambition is global, but the perspective remains African. Culture and craftsmanship will shape the clothes without turning them into costumes or reducing African fashion to familiar symbols.

Buhari is also resisting the pressure to make Kandé the loudest brand in the room. She wants its identity to become clear through the consistency of its clothes and the feeling they create.

Her approach is simple, “I believe recognition should come from consistency. The way we design, communicate and make people feel should tell them what Kandé stands for without us having to force it.”

The Kandé woman is not expected to disappear beneath what she wears. The clothes should strengthen her presence and allow her to feel feminine, confident and fully herself.

LONDON TEST
A London pop-up gave Buhari an early chance to see whether the brand could speak to women outside Nigeria. The experience placed her work before a different audience and challenged the idea that its appeal had to remain within the market where it started.

Recalling the pop-up, Buhari noted, “London showed me that the emotional connection to the brand could travel. Seeing women in another city respond to the clothes and the story behind them was a powerful reminder that African fashion can speak to people far beyond its place of origin.”
The moment widened her ambition, but it did not remove the difficult realities of building a fashion business.

There were mistakes, periods of self-doubt and decisions that required her to abandon comfortable ways of working. Buhari gradually learnt that change was not always evidence of failure. Sometimes, it was proof that the business was ready for something larger. That lesson eventually carried her from Vogue Woman to Kandé.

BEYOND THE CLOTHES
Over the next two years, Buhari plans to expand Kandé across Africa and enter selected international markets. She is not interested in rushing that growth. Her focus is on building a fashion house recognised for craftsmanship, creativity and storytelling rather than visibility alone.

The larger goal is to create a complete world around the Kandé woman. Every collection, image and customer experience must contribute to that world while protecting the Nigerian and African identity at its centre. Her ambition is clear, “I see Kandé becoming a global African luxury house, but I never want that ambition to come at the expense of where we come from. Our Nigerian and African identity is part of our strength.”

Vogue Woman gave Buhari a place to discover her voice. Kandé gives that voice a name of its own.