My designs are too flashy, I don’t wear them –Remi Buttons
MAY 12, 2013
Remi Buttons
Celebrity designer, Remi Owadokun, popularly known as Remi Buttons is the CEO of Buttons Couture, a bespoke tailoring outfit for men. She tells Ademola Olonilua about her style
How I came up with the name Remi Buttons
Remi Buttons is actually what people call me but my label name is Buttons Couture. I got the name Remi Buttons from MI. He was trying to save my number on his phone and he was wondering how he was going to differentiate me from other Remis that he knew. So he said he was going to save it as Remi Buttons. I put it up as my Blackberry display name and ever since, people have been calling me Remi Buttons. People actually confuse it, I am called Remi Buttons but my brand name is Buttons Couture.
How I got into fashion designing
I would say I stumbled on it. I love sketching, especially when I’m bored. This was since I finished high school. I was so confused about what I wanted to do. If I wanted to get busy or upset and needed a distraction, I would sketch. I was always sketching and I did not have a particular notepad with which to sketch. I would use anything I saw that was plain as my sketch pad. One day, we were moving houses and my mum told me that I needed to do something about all my sketches; that she was tired of me littering the house with my sketches. She said I should do something about them. I gathered everything together and decided to register my business.Even after I registered my business, it took me about seven months before I started doing something commercial with it.
My parents’ reaction to my career choice
My dad is late. My mother has always been supportive. She just wanted me to be busy, do something you like and be constructive. She has always been my number one fan; she did not have any objection at all. For me it was a smooth journey.
About my father
I was daddy’s pet, especially because I’m the only girl. I was always getting preferential treatment. My dad used to work in Port Harcourt. He was transferred to Port Harcourt from Lagos and anytime he came on weekends, I was the only one that he used to get gifts for. When my brothers asked, he always told them that it was not their birthday. They would say it was not my birthday either but he would tell them that I was his only daughter. My elder brother would say that he was the first born and my younger brother would say that he was the last born and that everybody in the house had a position and nobody was special. My dad then used to tell them that when they become a girl, they would become special. He used to spoil me a lot. If he was going out, I used to be the person that went out with him. The rest would be at home. Yes, I was a daddy’s girl. He died of cancer. I felt terrible and I was in shock for a long time. I actually didn’t see him until the day of his burial. I was 15 years old when he died.
My early days
Growing up, I was a tomboy; I was always fighting my younger brother. We used to fight a lot, punch each other, and tear each other’s books. In school, I was very respectful, I was the neatest girl. Apart from that, I was okay. I used to win the prize for the neatest girl in school, I was a gentle girl and I still am. We used to travel a lot. It was fun because my mother is a Brazilian. We used to go to Brazil at least twice a year and from there, we would go to other places. It was always fun. My childhood was fun but after my father died, it reduced because my mum became the breadwinner of the house and everybody had to give her support. If we had everything in excess before, now everybody had to manage. It was still fun for me though. It was moving from the level of having more than enough to just enough.
How I come up with ideas for my creations
Funny enough, my ideas come suddenly. So, I always make sure I have a notepad and a pen in my bag anytime I go out. If I want to go for a party and I’m with a small purse, I make sure I have a sheet of paper in my bag. Inspiration can come from anywhere and anything. It could be from discussing something someone is wearing. I could see it and feel it could look better if it did not have a sleeve or if it had more colours or embellishments. My inspiration can come from absolutely anything.
Challenges faced while building my brand
One of the major challenges I faced was finding good tailors. Their finishing was just too bad and because of my clients, I had to constantly change tailors. There was a time a tailor came and said he was going to take the fabric and bring it back in two days and I did not see him till three weeks later. The client kept calling me and I couldn’t just tell him that somebody ran away with his apparel. It made me look bad. Then there is the issue of power. There is always no power supply and when you make money and you think it will go back into your business, it goes into buying diesel and fixing your generator. When I started, nobody knew who I was, most of them did not want to pay for my clothes. They say they don’t know me, they would rather go and buy from somebody else; or when they travel, they would buy their clothes. So I had to do a lot of free clothes for a lot of people for the first year and a half before people realised that my clothes were actually worth buying.
Why I use celebrities as my models
My clothes are for anybody that can afford them. The reason why people think I make clothes for just celebrities is because the kind of clothes I make are very flashy. It is not something a banker would wake up one morning and wear. For instance, the jacket I made for P-Square’s Alingo, it is not something that somebody would just wear to a party. Somehow, my designs are eccentric, colourful and different; they tend to attract people who like to show off, people who like to look different. The reason why I use celebrities as models is because most of them are my friends and they are the ones that wear the clothes. It just made sense for me to make clothes for them. Obviously, if somebody walks up to me and says he wants to buy my jacket, I am not going to say no. If someone buys my outfit, he is saving it for one event or something special.
Most expensive outfit I have made for a client
That would be the outfit that I made for Darey Art Alade’s Love Like A Movie concert. It cost a lot of money. I made a jacket for him for over N65,000. If you watch the clip of the concert, you would know how many jackets I made for him.
Common fashion errors Nigerians make
I think Nigerians sometimes try too hard. I think we just need to take life easy, have fun and be comfortable in whatever you are wearing. When they are going for a party or an event, they want to look nice and attract attention. Sometimes, I think they go overboard. They try too hard to get that look and if you look at them well, you notice that if they had just removed maybe a piece or two from what they were wearing, they would have looked very elegant and classy. Sometimes, some people end up looking like a trash. I think that is Nigerians biggest problem; sometimes they try too hard.
About my hairdo
It is an Afro. I actually had very long hair but I was always packing it in a bun. It was always in a bun and I just got tired. I told myself that if I was always going to be packing the hair, what was the point in having the hair, let me try something different. So I cut my hair two years ago and I am all natural now and I tend to maintain that.
The most expensive items I own
I like phones, I love gadgets, I like to work on the go so I make sure my laptops and my phones are with me. Those are the things I invest my money on. I don’t spend money on clothes or shoes. I spend money on things that can get me money. I spend money making clothes for other people. I don’t wear my clothes because I like to be as discreet as possible unlike my clients that like to show off themselves.
An item I cannot leave home without
That will be my Blackberry phone. But when it comes to accessories, I’ll say it is my watch. I have a watch that I love; I always make sure I wear it before I leave for anywhere. It was given to me by my manager two years ago as a birthday gift.
The Nigeria fashion industry and competition
I don’t believe in competition. I believe that the fashion industry is big enough for as many fashion designers as possible. We all have our target clients. My clients don’t wear only my clothes. They wear clothes made by other people and when they travel, they buy clothes too. Like I said, my clothes are not things you wear everyday; you can’t expect my client to wake in the morning and wear my jacket or go down the road to buy noodles in my jackets. They wear T-shirts, jeans, traditional attires, those are the things I don’t do. I don’t believe I have any competition. If we have one million designers, I am sure there are more than enough people for them to satisfy. After all, the population of Lagos is about 20 million and Nigeria has a population of about 160 million. So, I’m not dragging space with anybody.
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