I like edgy elegance — Saheed Fawehinmi

Saheed Fawehinmi is the son of Late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, and runs Faw Couture. He talks about his passion for fashion

Q: How long did it take you to plan your fashion show?

A: The collections took eight months to put up. There was continuous pattern making, draping, grading, stitching, embroidery and beading. I am good at staging events, and I could do that in a week. But the actual work took eight months to do.

Q: Did you do all that alone?

A: Nobody can make everything alone. I designed everything alone, I sketched alone, and I made all the patterns myself. Manufacturing costs money. It takes resources and you need people. It is not like an artist that paints alone on his canvass. I am privileged to have quality people that I can train to make quality products that people can see and wear.

Q: How did you develop the love for fashion?

A: I have always wanted to be a designer since I was 17, when I started watching Cable Network News fashion segment called Style with Elsa Klensch. As a kid, I could draw and my father would always say people should do what they love. I always wondered what he meant then. I saw it and knew I wanted to be part of it. I was always fashionable as a kid and was not always satisfied with whatever the tailors put out for me.

Q: What influences the uniqueness of your collections?

A: Fashion is about aesthetics, beauty and elegant lines. A garment should drape the body without being too lose or too tight. I have been in this business for 16 years since I left fashion school. I have seen a lot and this is what I know. I cannot address it as a novice; there is a standard that should be expected of me. I do not settle for less.

Q: Which fashion school did you attend?

A: I attended Fashion Institute of Technology, New York City. It is the alma-mater to Calvin Klein, Norma Kamali and other great designers. I studied their works and was taught the highest level of garment construction. Anyone from FIT should not produce anything sub-par.

Q: Did your father want you to study law like he did?

A: My father never pressured any of his children. When I was a child, he used to tell us that it was his wish that my elder brother and I became lawyers, but he never pressured us to the vantage of doing what he wanted us to do. He encouraged us. He had a great character and was a great disciplinarian. He taught us how to walk straight in the society and hold our heads high. Hard work was the end result. He used to tell us that anything else other than hard work could get us in trouble and he would not be there to help us. He instilled the fear of God in us. As a kid, I wanted to take short cuts, but when I saw there were no short cuts, I had to align myself to the right path. I aspire to be great in fashion just like my father was in law. That is why I toil to get to where I am.

Q: What was growing up with him like?

A: It was great and fantastic. I wish I can give my child the same. We grew up in good economic times. Now, things have changed and we still strive to balance everything.

Q: With your clout and pedigree, were there challenges starting a fashion business?

A: I do not have clout, but I have pedigree. I would not deny that fact. My brother, Barrister Mohammed Fawehinmi, has clout. He is well-known in Nigeria and is fighting the same cause my dad fought for. I am just up and coming. No one knows me yet. I want people to know me through my work. I am grateful to my mother and brother. They sponsored my fashion dreams. They always came to my aid when I needed help. There is nothing like a self-made man. You need people. People also make you.

Q: Why does Nigeria not have a grading system for sizes?

A: We do not have a fashion industry yet. We are still in the doldrums in Nigeria; we are yet to blow the lid up yet. We need a lot more work and ancillary services that would support the industry so that we can compete with the outside world. There is a constraint that most designers have in Nigeria. We are used to just ethnic fabrics; we have to mix it up and make it more rounded. Let people see varieties and numbers in your collections. Give them a theme and story. We must think like they think abroad.

Q: What were the challenges you encountered starting up your fashion house?

A: It was hard. I started with the menswear. They were made overseas. I got the fabrics from Milan and shipped them to Hong Kong where they had low labour and made them there before bringing them back to Nigeria. That was expensive. I was not satisfied whenever I watched the collections in Nigeria and I did not like what I was seeing. We needed to step up. My wife encouraged me to start a womenswear line. This line entails a lot of variety and is more tedious. I sketched every day. I knew it would be time consuming and expensive to start in a colourful and magnanimous way.

Q: And the competition in the industry…

A: I have no competition. I am in competition with myself. I do not copy anyone. I design from my head and I do not look at magazines anymore. I can just see someone and look for a way to tweak things. I have a market that I service; I am not all over the place. I can do bridals but that is not my core business.

Q: What makes your outfit unique from that of other designers?

A: There is an essential rightness to them. There is a rounded nature to the collections. There are colours and silhouettes. But one of my strengths is my technical ability and it does not make me afraid. Some designers sketch and get workmen to do it; I sketch, cut, make my own patterns and construct myself. Sometimes, I cannot do everything myself and I would just tell the tailors what to do.

Q: What is your definition of style?

A: I like edgy elegance. I do not like grungy fashion.

Q: How would you rate the fashion industry in Nigeria?

A: We have a lot of work to do. Designers should be trained. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Benin, and an MBA in Marketing. Immediately I dropped my pen, I went to pursue my childhood dreams. People need to go for training. The industry has a challenge of human resources. The tailors move around a lot and really do not care how much you pay them. It is a matter of work ethics and they disappoint a lot. The industry needs to readjust itself for everybody to fall in line. Also, we do not have a textile industry; we depend on what we get abroad. We have a lot of deficiencies, but we always see ways to surmount them.

Q: Why did you not delve into fashion at the outset?

A: Coming from the family I come from, I had to go through formal education first. It is always good to have formal and technical education.

Q: How do you like to unwind?

A: I spend time with my family and fashion. Family is everything; it comes first. I also follow politics, observe it and analyse it. I run occasionally to keep fit but I do not have much time for that.

Q: How should people dress?

A: I cannot teach people how to dress. Everybody is a designer; they dress to express themselves.