kaftan, senator outfits has taken formal business staple in Nigeria – Uche Nnaji 

Serial Style Entrepreneur and Creator of OUCH, a Nigerian Fashion brand Uche Nnaji has said that one of the huge milestones in the industry is how the Nigerian traditional kaftan and Senator outfits have taken the formal business staple for men.

According to Nnaji, the founder and brain behind the fashion house, OUCH, the Senator and kaftan outfits became  the new formal wear for Nigerian men after styling the former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 where he wore the iconic OUCH suit, “while styling him the suit, the former president said he hadn’t worn suit for over 20-years. This made me advise that our traditional outfits especially the kaftans and Senator can take the place of suits to help our economy grow even though we don’t make the fabrics here, we can make it our formal wear and take the place of suits. The more people embrace kaftan and Senator as formal wear, would make our textile mills resuscitated. People would see the need to go into textile production locally and then more people would come into tailoring hereby creating jobs. So yes the Kaftan and Senator outfits have taken the formal business staple in Nigeria Business climate and I am happy about it.”

Speaking on his journey as a style entrepreneur and creator and the ideology behind the brand name OUCH, Nnaji said: “It has been interesting. We started in the days when it was not fashionable to go into fashion so for me it was all about passion which drove me to assist other students to look sartorially okay. This inspired me to follow the path of fashion and never looked back. I attended the University of Lagos (UNIL- AG), where I studied political science. I never knew I would pursue a career in fashion. Though I made money from making fellow students look good, there was no plan to take fashion as a career.

“After graduation, I had saved up to 4,000 Pounds as a youth corps member to go to the University of Westminster, but I was not issued visa. I was very sad but I got encouragement from a number of mentors to take up fashion as a career, especially, since I was doing well at it. So, I wrote to Westminster and demanded for a refund of my 4000 Pounds and it was sent back to me. I used the money to open the first ‘Ouch’ outlet at Onigbongbo.

“OUCH as the brand name emanated when I was in UNILAG. A particular student with an American accent would always see me all dressed and say Ouch! you look so good it hurts! So, we decided to go with the name OUCH because we realised it’s an expression, and style is an expression. Although some would say Ouch is an expression of pain but in that context it wasn’t, it was a wow expression of stunning style and look. More so I wanted a name that would not have a pronunciation boundary and OUCH was just perfect.”

Narrating the emergence of his passion for styling people, he said he would go to Lagos Island Berlin market, a second hand clothing market and buy imported used designers shirt (okrika) and then go to Yaba market to buy fabrics made with Egyptian cotton that have equivalent texture as the used designers he bought which was like a guideline.

“Then I would go to the late Seyi Swob’s fashion designing shop in Jibowu for him to help me interpret the fabrics. So he started encouraging me. Now I literally do everything fashion and style for men and the rest is history.”

On the challenges of running a fashion empire in Nigeria, he said: “More often than not I feel like giving up especially with the challenges of power. I don’t know how people like me have been holding on to this dream, inspiring a generation and having people from far and wide looking up to you thinking that you’re ‘balling’ without knowing the challenges involved in the entire production process. We made the fashion industry appealing to a generation of young people but with the situation of the country, the good old days are probably behind us.”

Nnaji’s OUCH was first featured among global fashion heavyweights at the New York Fashion Week in February 2010. The Couture Week that was staged at the prestigious Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan saw the international launch of ‘The platinum collection and the unveiling of Fela Durotoye as the face of the collection. The collection was warmly received by the international fashion community and received wide reviews by the international media.

Nnaji recently received Ooni of Ife’s Recognition Awards at the Africa Fashion Week London. This esteemed honour was presented to individuals who have demonstrated exceptional service, dedication, and excellence in their fields, reflecting the values of the African continent.