A client once paid me £2,000 for a jacket –Nnaji
APRIL 13, 2013
Uche Nnaji
Uche Nnaji is the Principal Consultant and Visionary of Ouch, a fashion and lifestyle brand. He tells Ademola Olonilua about his career
Nigerian men are fashionable
I would say that Nigerian men are highly fashionable. I consider Nigerian men when it comes to global ranking in being fashionable as number three, when we talk about style. In the past five years, there has been a serious awakening for Nigerian men, as if they have been sleeping for a while in terms of fashion. The past five years have seen me attending and relating to men on sartorial matters. They are now aware that they need to up the style game to another level and they do not take their wardrobe for granted any longer. So I believe that Nigerian men are highly fashionable.
Basic fashion errors men make
Some people would say that there is really no laid out rule in terms of styling. But with my experience, I would say that it is not taking into cognisance some basic things like body structure. Knowing that we have different kinds of body structures like the ectomorph, mesomorph, endomorph just the way the women have the hour-glass shape. A man needs to take into consideration that he would not want to wear something just because it looks nice on another person. For example, you will not have a man with one pack of belly want to wear the kind of shirt he sees a person with six packs because it looks nice on him. That is a fundamental error when people do not take their body structure into consideration before they dress. Also, dress codes. I think that a gentleman never goes out of style if he keeps adhering to dress codes. For example, when they say it is a black tie event or you have to wear a red tie to an event, I think a gentleman needs to adhere to that. You never go wrong in adhering to such. Those are basic errors some men make.
The most expensive item I have done for a client
I usually say that money cannot buy style. When I say that, I do not mean that the worth of the product makes you stylish. Having said that, I would also say that for you to really keep on being a major player in the style department you need to spend some money. For me, the most expensive item I have done is actually a jacket. It was for a certain client and it was somebody you would least expect to pay for such. I don’t do wristwatches and all that but for a client to bring out £2,000 and say that he is willing to pay for that jacket at that price I think that yet has been the reasonable most expensive fashion item a client has paid for.
What I would not leave home without
In terms of accessories, if I’m wearing a jacket I must have a pocket square on. If I do not have a pocket square on, the substitute becomes a badge. When it comes to accessories, it has to be my neck chain because it is always on my neck. I cannot leave home without it.
Most expensive item I have in my wardrobe
The most expensive item I have is a jacket. It is not about how much I got it. It is what people have offered to pay for the jacket. Someone has told me that he would pay £1,000 for the jacket. It is not a suit. The truth is that it is made from a trussardi fabric and I made a jacket with it. It became a winner in a competition and somebody once offered N250,000 for it. I would say in terms of clothing that is my most expensive item.
Difference between a fashion designer and a tailor
A fashion designer I want to believe is more like an architect. Building up a structure, you have an architect, an estate surveyor, the masons; we have people that have different roles to play. I see the fashion designer as an architect, the person that does the drawing, the person that has the concept in his head; while the tailors can be likened to the masons.
Homosexuality in the
fashion industry
I would not say that in its entirety it is not true that there are homosexuals in the fashion industry in Nigeria. I would agree that I have had some personal experiences where some funny characters were making passes at me. When I say making passes I mean men looking at me in a funny way and shaking me in a particular kind of way. Of course, maybe because I was at a show. These things happened when I was at shows abroad. It is a global village as we say. As far as we watch cable television, we travel abroad and we want to live the kind of lifestyle there, everybody is watching the reality television shows, keeping up with this and that, that is what is happening. Europe would sneeze and we would want to continue to keep catching cold.
How I got into fashion
I studied Political Science at the University of Lagos. My late dad used to complain that I spent a lot of time in front of the mirror trying to look good as a young boy. While in school, a lot of students acknowledged my extra touch in sartorial issues so they would come to me and say that they wanted to dress like me. I should help them knot a tie or pick a suit. It saw me discover a side that was hitherto sleeping. Prior to that time, I was majorly into music as an undergraduate. That fashion side came about when students started acknowledging that I was a good dresser and they could take tips from me. By virtue of that, it gave me joy to see students happy and testify that it is this guy that helped them to look like this, say that I helped dress them; or when I wear a shirt that I make, that I go to the market at Yaba (in Lagos) and I give my tailors to make and students bid for it because they know that it is unique. They bid for it and say that they would come to my hostel for it. Those are the things that made me realise my other passion, which is fashion. That was what gave birth to that other side of me.
How it was starting from school
It was a hobby for me. When I say it was a hobby the way any other young person in school that has a hobby that can be a business but does not know; that was how I took it. I realised that my primary assignment there was to get a degree and after getting the degree I needed to go for further studies at Westminster, because I wasn’t planning opening fashion stores but my student visa application was turned down. When that happened, I realised that I had been building followership so why don’t I take this thing up? It was after my national service that I decided to take this up. The rejection of the student visa application was part of what made me to realise that I couldn’t keep trying to appeal because I had paid £4,000 as part of my tuition. Re-appealing as everybody told me was going to easily get me the visa. People said that they just wanted me to reapply but I saw a bigger picture somewhere in me. Something kept telling that when I go and come back I would not get this kind of market because I was already having access and becoming friends and having phone numbers of people. I felt that if I was coming out as a corps member to go and look for a job, they would be the people interviewing me. They would be my bosses but there I was relating with them on a first name basis. For me, it was a pointer that as a young man I can ride on that and I never regret taking that step.
My parents’ reaction to my career decision
A lot of parents want their children to follow in their footsteps or do what is in the family tradition. But my parents knew that as a young man I was highly opinionated. Being who they are and how they believe in their children and being supportive as well, I did not have those challenges at all.
Coping with the ladies
I have come to realise that I cannot marry all of them. So with that at the back of my mind, it has made me to look out for those features that don’t get into my head, in terms of mixing fans for someone that is supposed to be family. When I say family, I’m talking about a future wife now. It is very easy to get carried away with the way women celebrate successful people like the way they did to David in the Bible. Because of mentorship, I understood that very early in life and it has helped me. So, it hasn’t really been a problem.
Craziest thing a fan has done to me
A girl once locked me in a room and said that I must have sex with her while she was taking off her clothes, which I did not do. I have a woman in my life and I’m not available.
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