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Aregbesola, Ooni Of Ife, Lanre Da Silva, Tobi Bakre others light up Lagos with Ijinle fashion showcase

By Tobi Awodipe
01 December 2018   |   4:34 am
Former governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola; Ooni Of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi; Chairman, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Wale Adeeyo; Adebola Williams and Founder, LDA Couture, Lanre Da Silva Ajayi, were among the personalities who witnessed the graduation of the first stream of trainees....

Former governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola; Ooni Of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi; Chairman, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Wale Adeeyo; Adebola Williams and Founder, LDA Couture, Lanre Da Silva Ajayi, were among the personalities who witnessed the graduation of the first stream of trainees to power a new fashion social enterprise focused on preserving vintage Yoruba tailoring tagged the Ijinle Project at Terra Kulture, Lagos this week.

Ijinle is focused on entrepreneurship development and heritage preservation and was built around veteran tailor, Kabiru Durojaiye, a custodian of the age-old and fast-dying master craftsmanship in vintage Yoruba tailoring, the traditional way of making Yoruba wears. To preserve Kabiru’s skills, Osun set up an entrepreneurship project, competitively selecting 15 promising young tailors to intern with Kabiru over 18 weeks, learning intricate details of producing vintage traditional pieces and new products.

The event was hosted by musician, Sound Sultan and Segun ‘Laff Up’ Ogundipe, as the initiative also launched its maiden product line, Ijinle Vintage, Ijinle Millennial and Ijinle Smart, with Big Brother Nigeria 2018 contestant, Tobi Bakre joining the runway models to showcase the innovative Ijinle vintage and smart pieces.

In keeping with the project’s goal of advocating for further adoption of indigenous fashion in public and private sector for the purpose of boosting the local economy and a Nigerian identity, the event featured Ojoma Ochai, Director of Arts West Africa, British Council who made the case for government to evolve practical policies to expand the demand side to boost the Nigerian garment value chain given that the country currently wastes $4 billion yearly on imported clothes.

Speaking at the event, Aregbesola commended the trainees, stating that the project is the fruition of the inspiration and efforts of many individuals, working to improve the state’s economy and the country through creativity and entrepreneurship.

Trainees were placed under an 18-week internship program with Durojaye, based in Mushin, where they honed their skills in producing vintage pieces like the traditional Agbada, Dasiki, Buba, Kembe, Agadasi, To’Bo and Kamu.

Upon graduation, the project and its participants will transition into a vintage garment production company based out of Osun with a business development center in Lagos and will be producing premium vintage and smart traditionals for both corporate and public sector says project coordinator, Muinat Atunnise.

Prominent Nigerians were seen placing orders for the premium vintage pieces at the event. Atunnise announced that the project was open for business and orders could be taken online at the project’s website www.ijinleproject.com, email Ijinleproject@gmail.com or  @ijinleproject on all social media handles.

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