Sola Oyebade known with the sobriquet Mr. Mahogany has been in the fashion and entertainment industry for about four decades. He started as a model in the UK, became a fashion icon and recently started Fashion Finest Africa to groom emerging designers and creatives. In this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde, he goes down memory lane to talk about the opportunities, challenges, memorable moments and the things that drives what he does.
WHAT inspired the idea of Fashion Finest show?
What we are looking at here is that we want to change the narratives of African fashion. It is not just about fashion shows but to support and create work for people. If you look at how things are at the moment, you find a very high young population that has no work. And they don’t understand the business ethos of things. We are trying to
create those opportunities for people. So, whether it is for fashion show because they may never be able to do a big fashion show, they get a chance to do it here. This is because for some of the shows you have to be very well known to do this. So, we give them the opportunity and a place to come and exhibit at an affordable price, sell your market and get to a bigger reach.
The most important part for us is the educational side of it and the business side of fashion.
We had two different panels and it’s all about they can grow their businesses, how can they start their business, what is the knowledge, what is the information they need to take it to the next level.
COVID-19 lockdown affected a lot of businesses, what impact did it
have on the sector?
Of course, it was very difficult for a lot of people. People had to re-invent themselves. A lot of people started online businesses because they couldn’t sell to people. Also, there were less people buying clothes because they weren’t going out as much and so they didn’t really need the clothes. But that is changing now, the market is opening again and people are looking at more opportunities.
They are looking at what they did during COVID and how they can bring it into the new ways of doing things. They have increased their online participation, started Logistics companies and so many other things, just to take it to the next level.
In the past there was emphasis on already established designers while you focused on upcoming designers.
Would you say that you have achieved that goal?
Yes, we have. The Epic show is about new, aspiring and emerging designers. If you look at our list, you wouldn’t see any mainstream or top celebrity designer on our show. This is because that is not what we are about. What we are about is to discover the finer person in Mushin, Delta or Kano, that is just starting in their basement. Or in a little room at the back of the house and they want to become bigger.
Those are the kind of people that we are looking for to give them that opportunity. So, we are not saying go and do it but we are teaching them how to go and do the show. We are teaching them what they need to do, we are educating them and we are telling them this is the reason why you should do this.
The economy has affected show, are there no ways to survive the odds?
I think what we need to ask ourselves is that was there a need for the shows?
Unfortunately, a lot of people just do follow follow. You have to have a need. I have been doing fashion now for over 40 years. When I decided to establish this show, there were a number of shows out there already. I could have established the same kind of shows like them.
But then, the question is was there a need for them. So, I decided to look at a fashion show which had a difference and I decided to cater for a different market. If you look around there is hardly anyone doing what I do and that is what it is about. Trying to find something that is completely different.
What were the initial challenges doing this?
The biggest challenge is always money. There is also the issue of who are you, do we know you, are we sure, we should do your show, how are we sure it is going to be good are some of the questions asked. A lot of pricing too, because a lot of them cannot afford it. So, we have had to make our pricing the barest minimum. It doesn’t cover everything. We want to attract them, get them on board to do the things you want. The pricing of everything nowadays, especially with things like diesel and others. If you plan an event a year ago, and you say the budget was XYZ and you come a year later and the budget has tripled. These are all the factors that we have to contend with.
What advice do you have for government in terms of supporting the sector?
Government should regulate the fashion industry. I think that is very important and recognize the lead people, sit down and talk to them about their needs and infrastructure required. There are some little things that government can give us. We are not saying come and give us everything, but come and give us little things and then those of us in the private sector would do the rest. We just want that help. Also, they can help with legislation, to help make export easier. If you need to import some kinds of materials, let that be easier for us and it would help us to build the businesses. Let’s set up grants and consultancy so that we can also help those people as well.
Would you say that FADAN is living up to expectation?
FADAN is doing what they have to do. It’s better to have them, than not to have them. Definitely, I want to have them. So, they are the main people out there. However, there are other sides of the creative industry that we also need to have people that are taken care of.
You have been in the sector for about forty years, what is your assessment of these forty years?
Those 40 years has been very interesting for me. It’s been very hard because I started when nobody wanted to work with black people. I started in the UK and there was a lot of racism. All this were the things I had to deal with and contend with at the time. So, that was never easy, finances were also not easy. We had black companies that were not used to being involved in business, there was no legislation.
There were so many different things that we had to face. As time went by, it got slightly easier and slightly better and now you can see that there are designers everywhere. There are creative’s, stylists and manufacturers everywhere. Also, government has started to get involved a little bit and it is easier. We have also found out that the West; the white people have started to accept us. There are more opportunities coming to us than ever before.
Let’s talk about some of the memorable moments for you as a model?
Oh my God! I started when being a model was new. There were not many competitions. I did all the big brands in those days and that was really fantastic. I don’t think I want to be a model now. But it was really good then. I was one of the few then.
Are you saying that there is so much competition now?
Yes. My advice to upcoming models is to stick to their trade. Don’t give up. It is hard but that doesn’t mean that you cannot make it. So, stick to it, learn the business properly, understand what it is that you want to do and what aspect of the modeling industry you want and stick to it.
What are some of the other changes that you would like to see in the sector?
I think regulation is important. There are too many people that just pop out of nowhere. There is no regulation on the field, what they get paid, how they pay them and so on and so forth, needs to be regulated.
Where do you see the show in the next few years?
To grow bigger than it is. To help even more small and upcoming businesses and we are looking at all the creative’s. This is not just all about designers, there are Make-up artists, stylists, models, people setting up small businesses and the need to help them increase and do better. We think the sector is big now, but I think we can double the size. There is no reason why we shouldn’t be doing this in Abuja or other parts of the country. In five years’ time, I want a hundred people to say we started off from Fashion Finest Africa.