Tunji Ayoola, a system engineer turned fashion designer, has carved a niche for himself in the industry, with his signature being adopted by the who is who globally. In this interview with OLAOLUWA MIMIOLA, he speaks on what lured him into fashion designing and how his works have been helpful to Nigeria's economy and image. Excerpt:Could you give a brief introduction of yourself' I was a system engineer, and had worked as system engineer in some banks in Nigeria, before retiring from Union Bank in 2006 as the head of information technology. Also, I earlier worked for an international information technology firm in the United Kingdom. After my retirement from Union Bank, I decided to pursue my dream, fashion designing, hence I became a wardrobe consultant and a fashion designer. This has been part of my life since I was young. Interestingly, I was not trained as a fashion designer or wardrobe consultant; passion led me into it. Actually, the whole concept started as a result of my travelling round the world and my realisation of how much I have spent on fashion; then, I decided to explore.Initially, I was just designing for myself. Later, friends and associates started noticing the designs, the quality and the fitness of the designs on me and appreciated them. As a result, the inquired into where I got it. When I told them I made them myself, they started asking me to produce designs for them, also. Other people saw it and appreciated the designs, the originality of the designs and the quality of the materials on them; so they started patronising me.What made your works the toast of your clients'As a matter of principle, we subscribe to high quality materials and unique designs. To achieve this, we use wool materials, ranging from Italian, Australian, Parsian, Swiss and French wool, among others. In fact, we use 'limited edition.' This means that you can hardly find the material we use for our works on every dick and harry in the society. Four yards of Parsian wool, for instance at my own cost is N166,000. So we sell the end product between N195,000 and 200,000 per one. We have some that are N185,000. For instance, the total amount of the yard of a particular Australian limited edition we have used was 250 yards globally, and I bought 50 yards.Why wool'This is because wool is a material that scarcely goes out of fashion, unlike other materials such as lace, guinea brocade, among others. Wool has the quality that stands the test of time and it is always accepted. Though good wool are very expensive, the money spend on it is justifiable as one must have used more than 10 inexpensive materials, while one wool material is still intact. In fact, you cannot finish using one wool material; you pass it from one generation to the other.How much does the suit on you cost'A high quality wool called Super 150 combed woo was used to make the suit. The material is good, because it is light and does not generate heat. So the suit costs about N358,000.What do you do as a wardrobe consultant'I access the physiognomy of people and determine what kind of cloth and design, both English and native, and even casual, best suites their physiognomy and could therefore enhance their physical appearance. By this, I have clothed innumerable Nigerians and foreigners, and sold Nigeria to the foreigners who had adopted my signature.What is your signature and label'Our signature is Simplemen, because we cloth men exclusively. Our label is Afritrendz.How do you think your job can affect Nigeria's economy'I do a lot of things that bring a lot of money in to Nigeria and put the country on the world map. There are a lot of people I cloth outside the shore of the country, especially in African sub regions, among other part of the world. They carry my signature and Nigeria's name around. Hence, apart from creating wealth for the nation, my works sell Nigeria and improve on the country's image. It tell the world that much more better things come from Nigeria, against what the Western world create about Nigeria, which is bad. A whole lot of things can come out of the country.Is there any relationship between travelling and fashion'Fashion promotes culture. In the first instance, it tells us something about the culture of a particular place. If you look at our works, you will discover that they are replica of one culture or the other. These concepts we got from several cultures in the world. For instance, we got the concept of our native attire from Mali, but we gave it a Nigerian tone, to sell the country and propagate the gospel according to its rich culture and tradition. Our works fit into every occasion. You can wear them for social, official and casual outings.Where do you get the materials'I arranged for my materials myself. A lot of them come from France, Italy, eastern world, especially Iran and Iraq.
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