Seun Safia Kekere-Ekun is a fashion entrepreneur passionate about preserving Africa’s heritage. She holds a degree in Mass Communication from Covenant University. As the creative director of Aries Couture, she is reinventing African fashion through her minimalist use of the adire fabric. She has hosted fashion Pop-up shows in London. In this interview with IJEOMA THOMAS-ODIA, she talks about her passion for enhancing femininity through her art.
You are a strong supporter of ethical fashion, what fuels your passion?
What fuels my passion is fairness and exhibiting humanity in all one does. Ethical fashion is about activities and conversations surrounding fashion going beyond the creative genius of the brand, practicality of its designs, to what matters more; which is what is your business really costing humanity? In a country like ours, where basic resources for smooth business operations are severely lacking, there is pressure on business owners to find cheap ways to achieve huge turnovers.
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And often this translates into unfair treatment of staff in matters of remuneration; paying them what you know can never cover even their most basic needs, company culture in form of overworking of staff, verbal/emotional abuse of staff and more. The term creativity alludes to an invitation to escape, dream, be happy and create under a cloud of ease. So, anyone engaging with it, from the fashion designer to the production crew and the customer should have such experiences. Not all the time but most of the time, and if that is not the case then that is unethical.
How are you contributing to the country’s economic development through fashion?
Our brand is passionate about driving economic development through ‘targeted inclusion’. This reflects in all that we do. The Aries Couture brand has been intentional about finding ways to ensure that all age demographic benefits from its existence.
For example, we contract the print design for our Adire pieces to Yaba Tech students in Lagos. Once the design is done, we contract the elderly women at Ile-Ife in Osun State to print it on the fabric using the age-long tie and dye process. You need to see when this process is being undertaken, how the elderly women dance and sing folk songs when they are working. It is so heartwarming and beautiful. This way both the youth and the elderly are financially empowered. Then the tailors, who are fathers and mothers with families, are also empowered through the remuneration they receive. The transport businesses also profit from fashion businesses in Nigeria, along with the individuals who register for internships to acquire skills either in the business or the creative aspect of the fashion business. When their internship is through, many go on to open their own businesses, which in turn enhances the country’s economy. There are myriads of ways the fashion business as a whole drives economic development and its relevance to economic development of Nigeria has been age long, before even colonialism.
You run a brand inspired by African heritage; what informed this and how does it stand you out?
Growing up, I had always known adire. As I grew in age, I wondered why it was no longer the main staple in Nigerian fashion. As a child, I remember that my mum would have pieces and strips lying around the house, which I would take to a fashion designer and make dresses out of for participation in community carnivals. Now with Aries Couture, I aim to be part of the ongoing movement to make adire a main staple in global fashion, as well as a ‘come to stay’ feature in Nigerian fashion. This is what informs the fashion pop-ups overseas.
Pop-ups overseas are expensive to organise, but my joy comes from seeing both Nigerians and non-Nigerians in the Diaspora excited about the indigenous beauty of the adire fabric, and the power of its colour palette, designs and long history evoke. It is such an honour to be born African and Nigerian, to be privy to all our rich resources and history, and to also be in a position to showcase all to the world.
With adire textile and production materials now largely imported, what would you say went wrong and how are you coping with the situation?
A lack of sizable and consistent investment from the government, amongst other reasons, is one of the things that went wrong. Financial injections or subsidies will go a long way in helping the fashion industry venture into mass production of our fabrics. Until mass production is possible, the cost of production will remain a stumbling block. It will make more business sense to import large quantities of fabric at bulk price, with which you can produce more clothes and realise higher turnover. Also, cost of production in the face of poor electricity supply, high cost of transportation of fabric to and fro production location and more are some of the challenges. They all impact the quantities we can produce.
For example, I have to source and ship the base fabrics for adire production, like chiffon/cotton/silk, from overseas and we know the huge cost of logistics in Nigeria; although creating a blend using diverse fabrics, like created in other parts of the world, is not bad. It is what globalisation is really about, creating a global community from making a melting pot of our diverse cultures and resources. But a balance must be sought, and we are seeing that happen with how the world is embracing Afrocentric fabrics.
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Share with us some of the challenges you have faced running your business and how you are able to pull through?
One of the main challenges I have faced is adopting the international retail model in Nigeria. For example, a customer buys a piece from us, two years later the piece has a tear and you see them bringing it back for us to amend. None of us will do this for any fashion brand overseas.
Another challenge is the usual, costly and epileptic power supply, difficulty hiring trustworthy staff, barbaric rent surges and more. For example, in the spirit of fairness and implementing a sound company culture, I handle housing for my staff – from the security guard to tailors. Imagine how that is setting me back financially. If landlords were fair in how they set the rent and transportation did not cost an arm and a leg, fashion designers may not be obligated to house their tailors especially.
What lessons have you garnered from the business over the years?
Some of the lessons I have garnered over the years is to have a clear and defined goal, beginning with a periodically reviewed business plan. Secondly, the creative side of fashion can easily become a distraction from other factors that equally matter and contribute to the business’ success and growth. For the business side of fashion, if you are failing business wise, then creativity will naturally begin to dry up. Thirdly, investing in effective marketing and Public relations cannot be over emphasised even though my journey towards this has been quite slow, because I am a very private person amongst other factors. But much of the business side of any creative endeavour is doing what you do not like or want to do, but impact must be felt. I have also learnt other salient values like doggedness, positive thinking, investing in creative out-of-the-box thinking for business scaling and staying consistent with excellence.
How do you get inspired and stay motivated?
A fear and great distaste for being broke is one of my major sources of motivation and inspiration. This is always a solid motivation for Nigerians. The fear of being broke motivates us to go the extra mile. It keeps us on our toes. It is what I believe also informs our globally celebrated resilience and knack for excellence. Also, I am greatly motivated by other female-led brands and women in different sectors like law, oil and gas, real estate, the Nigerian royal families and women I have also had the divine privilege of styling in my brand.
How can more women rise to the top and live their dreams?
Women can rise to the top and live their dreams by leveraging business tools like business plans, goal setting, funding opportunities, being part of professional organisations, networking, further learning, an intentional relationship with God, loving relationship with family and engaging the honest celebration of other women who are winning. Employing all these factors will guarantee any woman opportunities and empowerment to scale and succeed.
How do you unwind?
Spending quality time with family is one of the ways I unwind. The older you get and the more of life and human beings you experience, you realise that after God, family (whoever has become that for you) matter the most.
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