Timilehin Fagbemi is the owner of the tOF bespoke men’s wear fashion brand. He told ROTIMI IGE his journey into the industry and how he overcame challenges to become one of the most sought after in the South-West.
You say you had a humble beginning…
I am from Ipao Ekiti in Ekiti State and I spent my early life in Ado Ekiti before moving to Ilorin, Kwara State, to study Civil Engineering from the University of Ilorin. I believe so much that whatsoever we intentionally set our minds on, we can achieve and whatsoever is worth doing at all is worth doing well.
I grew up in a family where integrity, hard work and discipline were never undermined. My father is a disciplinarian and I remember him always telling me, “never forget the son of whom you are”.
I remember always asking why we couldn’t behave like every other child because there were always laid down rules for almost everything. It was tiring and I thought he was actually robbing me of my childhood. However, it also set me and my siblings on the right pedestal. Looking back now, it was all worth it. A very supportive family with the right set of values can’t be compared with anything in the world.
How did you develop interest in fashion?
My interest in fashion started as a need for me. Growing up, I hardly got my size of clothing in the market due to my size and amending them, most times, ended up in damages to the garments. It was a dream come true, when my friend, Owen Patrick Tayo, introduced me to the art of fashion design and tailoring during my early days at the University of Ilorin.
At the initial stage, I fell in love with the process. Having an idea, sourcing for the right set of materials and executing it were fascinating to me. I later thought about the economic benefits and with a little research on the fashion industry, I decided to give it a try and it has been a journey of no return since then.
How did you juggle academics and fashion business?
To be very honest, at the initial stage, it was fun. The whole process of ideation, sourcing for the suitable materials and execution fascinated me until tailor disappointments set in. All I was really concerned about at the initial stage was experimenting a lot of the ideas in my head and not really business.
But even at that, it was a great task because of the busy schedule that my civil engineering department required. I had so many lectures and practicals to attend but this period was very fundamental to everything we do now. It was the time I set the course for the business. Even though I didn’t know how it would be done then, I knew it could be done and if it would be done by anyone at all, it would be us.
What have been the challenges so far?
One of the major challenge we have faced so far is personnel management, getting the right set of hands and minds to work with and get the job done is tasking. Also, keeping them motivated to give their best on the job and organising constant training to improve their skill set, so as not to settle for the status quo, is another huge task.
One recent success is the introduction of our premium. Over the years, we’ve done research on how to give our clients a premium product and service.
We’ve been able to achieve this with the introduction of our recently launched fashion collection and re-launch of our website which enables our clients make orders for our product from the comfort of their home.
As a premium brand, how do you connect with clients as regards pricing?
The issue of pricing is a challenge when we present our product and service to the wrong market. Our products have a need they are meeting and we have a target market of professionals in middle and top management, entrepreneurs, the young at heart that wants a better chance at the opportunities around them.
At the initial stage, when we first started the business, we had a lot of issues with people not willing to part with their money for our service but as we continued to work on our service delivery and build a better brand identity/awareness, the hesitation has reduced.
As a young enterpreneur, how do you think start ups can be supported to thrive in Nigeria?
Having the necessary infrastructure in place for various industries is important to how well startups will perform in Nigeria. For example, in the fashion industry, owning a fashion line means you have to think and do almost everything by yourself from start to finish, from ideation to production, sales and even after-sales service.
Doing all of these makes it difficult to specialise and makes some of our services deficient. Also, we incur a lot of cost in the process which, in turn, is passed down to the consumer. Imagine having a production hub across the country which can handle production appropriately and to specified standards. This will reduce the cost of production and hence everyone is happy. Putting the necessary infrastructure in place will enable startups to thrive in Nigeria.
Define your style…
I flip between a lot of styles depending on the occasion and the message I’m trying to pass. Sometimes the ethnic style works for me and other times, it’s formal or business casual and on some occasions, it can be casual/streetwear. But in all, simplicity is key for me because as Leonardo Da Vinci put it, “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”.So when juggling between these styles, I love to keep it simple.
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