Frank Osodi has been a known name in Nigerian fashion circles. His springboard to fame was when he clothed Agbani Darego at the Miss World competition, which she eventually won 12 years ago. Since then, he has been sought for both in Nigeria and in Europe. In a chat he speaks about his career and his love for fashion.
You started off as a model at a time when modelling was not really known in this part of the world. What endeared you to it?
Then, it was not really a kind of profession. Even today in Nigeria, it is still not properly recognised as such. In those days, I just used it to get by and make quick money. I used it to pay school fees and all sorts. I never planned it to be a career. I also enjoyed the glamour and the recognition that came with it.
You eventually went into fashion fully. Was it your experience modelling for designers like Dakova and Nikki Africana that pushed you into it?
I can say that those experiences did contribute to it but fashion has always been with me ever since I was a little child. My mother used to make her own clothes back then. Though she had a paid job, every weekend you would see her by her machine making clothes. That was where I picked it up. As early as when I was in primary school, I was already familiar with tracing patterns and trimming patterns. I never knew I would end up being a designer until I started modelling. There, I met with many designers who ended up becoming my friends. I attended workshops and seminars and that was when I started getting ideas of what it was all about.
There are different definitions of who a designer is these days. Some say they own clothing lines and they really don’t know much about cutting and sewing fabrics but all they do is design what the clothes should look like. How exactly do you operate?
I am a well-rounded designer. I cut, I sew and I create patterns. I conceptualise what I want and how I want to achieve it, what fabrics to use, how to cut it, and from start to finish, I am involved. I take measurements myself, I make sketches and I bring them to life. I am more like the engine of my business.
You are also into make-up artistry, how do you combine the two?
I used to be into make-up artistry, but I no longer do it. That does not mean I no longer know it. There are many make-up artistes out there. Fashion has taken a greater part of me and I had to let make-up thing go. I cannot do everything. There are many people who will do excellent jobs out there and I do my best to encourage them. I even did a course in make-up artistry in a college in London. Make up and fashion and not all I studied. I did courses in interior decorations, and even fabric manufacturing.
Your name, Frank Osodi, is usually mixed up with the Lagos Oshodi…
…Yes, I get that a lot. I am not Oshodi, nor from Lagos. I am from Ogwashi-Ukwu in Delta State. Some even think I am from a Benin family that bears Osodi. But I am always ready to make clarification. When you mention Frank Osodi, the good thing is that people know who you are referring to.
Your fashion house is called House of Bunor, where does the name come from?
Bunor is my native name. It is a shorter form of Iwebunor, which means that there is no need to be angry, or anger is for nothing. I think the name has some effect on me. I don’t put things in mind. I am not quick to anger.
How did you feel working on Agbani Darego, and she eventually winning the Miss World title?
I did not see it as a personal victory. I saw it as a national pride. We are the giant of Africa and our girl is the first black African to ever win the title. That moment is one I would like to re-live over and over again. I was so happy that I did not even remember my own work or my own brand. I did not know that as she was crowned, my name also was being put on television across the world as the designer of the new Miss World. That was how ecstatic I was. It was not much about me or my business; it was more about the pride that a Nigerian could achieve such feat.
It was after the show that the effect of the exposure started dawning on me. Barely minutes after, I started receiving phone calls from all over the world. People were saying that they saw my name and were impressed with my work. That was when it all started clicking. I realised that this was not NTA publicity or a Nigerian thing. My work was being beamed across the world. Billions of people watched that final. Could you beat that? It went beyond my usual comfort zone; it went worldwide.
How did you end up being the one to clothe for Agbani?
Sincerely, when she was in camp (Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria camp (MBGN)), I was given the project to clothe all the girls in the competition. So, I had a team working with me at their camp. I met Agbani then and I noticed she was so quiet and gentle, and there was something elegant and exquisite about her. I remember calling one of the organisers and telling her that I see Agbani as a real queen. I begged if they could allow her to leave the competition and allow me to groom her for the next competition. She said no because they had already registered her name and her name was in the brochure; and that it would also be difficult to get a replacement for her.
Anytime I saw her, I could feel she exuded elegance, and my only fear was that she was too quiet. I didn’t think she could perform onstage with her shy nature. She told me she would do her best. Eventually, when she won (MBGN), and she qualified to contest for Miss World, they brought her to me, since I had always been interested in her.
Miss World must have been a competition for you as well because your clothes were to contest with those of other designers across the globe.
I knew it was going to be a difficult job to pull off, so I took the work very very serious. I made a lot of research. We knew we had to work with the green colour. At the same time, we knew we should not make it too greenish. We, therefore, went for something subtle and more virgin. Then, we did not have the kind of accessories we have today, so we had to work on good fabric and crystals. We used Swarovski crystals and also, Adebayo Jones sent us jewellery from London. We made sure that we went through tapes of previous Miss Worlds. We were practising different questions over and over. We were actually really gunning for the crown. And that came with a lot of pressure. We made sure that we did our best before we allowed her to compete.
Your efforts have surely paid off. How has your business grown since then?
That I will not debate. It gave my business a lot of visibility and took it to another level.
You started the West African Fashion Week, what was it about?
If you look at the whole of Africa, West Africans are the most fashionable. If you go around the world and see other Nigerian designers and their works, you will see how foreigners drool over our work. The fashion world holds us in high esteem. They see the richness in African design. So, I thought that instead of our designers going abroad for fashion shows, they too should come to us in West Africa. That was why I created a platform through which foreign fashion enthusiasts can also come to us.
But the event no longer runs, what happened to it?
We are still on it. Bringing the world to Africa is not a small feat. I do not joke with standards. It is better I do not do it at all than to mess it up. There are a few organisations ready to sponsor but they are not enough to achieve what we want. By next year, we should host another one. Next month, we have the Port Harcourt Fashion Week. It is a platform to discover and empower youths who have interest in fashion. There are many young people who have fashion on their mind and they do not know how to go about it, so we will encourage them and train them as well. There will be competitions and the winners will be sponsored on a fashion course in South Africa.
Fashion and being fashionable is seen as part of wealth or comfort because a hungry man will not think about fashion, what do you think?
That is wrong. Fashion is an expression of one’s self. We use things like clothes, shoes or bags to express ourselves outwardly. It does not have to be expensive. It is about coordination. Before, we used Lace and Damask and Aso Oke as Aso ebi but today, we use Ankara and they all still serve the same purpose. It is all an expression. You have to be realistic as well. If you have the money and you want to go all the way, that is fine. That does not mean you cannot express yourself with the little you can afford.
Why do Nigerian designers produce high-end clothes, when even foreign designers like Versace and Calvin Klein have street wears for the common person.
There are different markets, and the markets dynamics of Nigeria cannot be compared to what we have abroad. In Port Harcourt for example, there are many young aspiring designers but there are many boutiques in the city, which are selling cheap clothes. How can they compete in such market? It is the same in Lagos and Abuja. There are people in every corner sewing clothes but they have to sew them at prices they can make a profit out of. What they will produce for you is far better than the made in China products in boutiques. If I am making a shirt, and I go to Lagos to buy the quality material for N5,000, I put on my generator, I pay for the overhead of my office and I pay the tailors that will work with me, at the end of the day, I have spent another N5,000 on the cloth. How can I sell that kind of shirt for N2,500. We need the government to put some kind of ban on the clothes that come into the country. Even if they are allowed in, there should be tariffs and duties paid on them so that at the end of the day, there will be a level playing field. I am not afraid of foreign competition, as long as we are playing fairly.
Despite the respect Nigerian designers have around the world, none has made it to the mainstream internationally, why is this?
It is the same reason I talked about. You cannot make the same clothes they are making over there. There must be a twist you are adding. To produce that twist, you must have the capacity to produce what they demand. If they need 3,000 pieces, can you readily produce them? They spend millions of dollars for advert campaign; can a Nigerian do that? So, the most you can do is to go abroad and do shows, and get a few orders. But turning it into a full-fledged business is not an easy feat.
Also, there, fashion moves very quickly. If they do not sell your clothes in the next six months, they return them and they will not put it on their shelf the following year.
You have worked on people around the world. To you, what makes Nigerians different in terms of fashion sense?
Nigerians do not want to wear what any other person is wearing or has worn. That is why we have not been able to have the Giorgio Armanis and the rest here. Once someone buys a particular cloth, nobody will want to buy that cloth anymore. Everyone wants something unique. Even if it’s the fake one, as long as they are the only ones that own it, they are satisfied, even when they do not have the money. Of every 20 customers that walk into my office, 18 will tell me that they want something different. If you put glass on the cloth or even sand, they will say they want it as long as they are the only ones that have a cloth with sand on it. That is why mass production might not really work in Nigeria.
Is there any designer that you look up to?
I like glamour, and as I was growing up, I took interest in Versace’s works. He takes glamour to another level. He is completely out of this world. He took jeans and turned it into something else, putting all sorts of embellishments.
There are many young Nigerian designers out there. Who of them do you admire?
I met a young girl in Calabar some years ago. Her name was Sunny Rose. She came out with awesome pieces, which really caught my attention. I am involving her in the forthcoming fashion festival.
You are not married yet?
Yes, I am not.
When are you hoping to get married?
No comment.
You work with a lot of women. Do you get tempted at times?
No comment. When that time comes, we’ll talk about it.
There is a popular term now called “wardrobe malfunction”, what is it all about?
It has to do with not paying attention to details, and it happens when and where you do not expect it to happen. For example, if a strap cuts off, you should have noticed it before you left the house. Your button may just pop off, or the head of your belt could just go gaga. It must have been giving you signs that it is wearing off but you think you could still manage it. That is where malfunctions happen.
Is it the fault of the designer or the owner of the cloth?
It is most usually the fault of the owner of the cloth. You must have been wearing the cloth and you must have been seeing the signs but you neglect them. Even your washman or the person ironing your clothes should be able to notify you when they see such problems in your cloth so that you can make a quick amendment. Sometimes, you even know and you tell yourself, let me just manage it for today; then in public it gives way.
There is a new professional called stylist, which advises people on what to wear and how to wear it. As a designer, what exactly is a stylist?
What exactly does the stylist know? How much about people’s body do you know and how much about your client’s body do you know? It goes deeper than having the love for fashion. When looking for a stylist, you too should know more about your own body and understand what works for you. If your stylist comes and says: “Let me put you into something trendy,” you should know that trendy clothes do not work for everybody. If you are too old, you can’t wear something trendy. I don’t have anything against stylists, but you should look for someone that is a professional, who knows about the job. And the person must work with you on what will fit you and not dictate to you.
I believe ladies should do more for themselves. Many of those who parade themselves, as stylists did not go to any fashion school. That is why I advise that women should go to finishing schools. They should learn etiquettes. Even if they have to go abroad, it is a small price to pay for elegance.
What is your dream for House of Bunor and Frank Osodi?
I always tell journalists that I did not come this far because I planned it. I got here by working hard and continually reinventing myself. Just last year, I said that by this year, I would be going into bridal wears fully. There is good feeling when you dress a bride and she is happy. That happiness they feel is contagious. But after one year, I am still doing what I’m doing and the bridal line is yet to kick off. My customers ask me what they will be wearing if I leave regular clothes for bridal wears?
Just like that, there are many plans I have made that are yet to be achieved, and there are many things I never planned that I have achieved.
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