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The founder and chief executive of Orange Culture, Adebayo Oke-Lawal is of the opinion that more African designers can win on the global stage only if they do it the right way.

Oke-Lawal also shared tips on how this can be done.

He said, “The first thing is to build your brand. How effective is your storytelling? How effective is your self-marketing?”

He emphasized that it is important that brands can connect to Nigerian designers.

“Once you have an audience, the right people are talking about you and you are working with the right influencers, people start seeing your brand. This can lead to interest and more people start to talk about you.”

“The second thing is, as you are building your brand, are you preparing yourself on how to interact with buyers?

“A lot of times, people will say, ‘I want to be international’, but are you prepared? Do you have what it takes to have meetings? Are you prepared to sit in a room with buyers and defend your business?”

Using himself as an example, the creative director explained that he was able to get into the big rooms right from the very start of his business but he made a lot of mistakes.

He explained how he will be in meetings with buyers and when they ask questions, he wasn’t able to put his idea into words. But this has changed today.

“You have to package your business in a way where when you sit in a room with opportunity, the opportunity does not go far unless you do not want it.”

The Orange Culture founder also noted that positioning is also a great way to get people to see more of African designers.

“Social media is great but are you actively going to places where people will actually see you?” Oke-Lawal questioned.

Oke-Lawal’s Orange Culture currently produces menswear and womenswear collections which is popular for  blurring the boundaries across both culture and gender.

In 2014, he was selected as a semi-finalist for the LVMH Prize and since then, has collaborated with top brands such as Budweiser, Nosakhari London, Dennis Osadebe, Rokus London and the popular singer, Davido.

He emphasized on how positioning has gotten him to where he is today.

“We (Orange Culture) have a very big American audience. We used to go to lots of showrooms in different places,” he said while noting that such positioning will ensure that you are in places where buyers will find you.

“You spend money to be seen. You have to go to those showrooms and sit in those places where buyers will find you. You have to suffer a bit. Fashion is not only about glitz and glam. It is not about being famous.

“If you are looking to be an international business – where customers know you in different places, these are the kinds of steps you need to make,” the designer added.

Speaking in an interview shortly after the session, Oke-Lawal noted that his vision is to take Nigerian Fashion to the global scene.

“My vision for fashion is to create a supportive community of people who are pushing together to take Nigerian fashion and African fashion to the next level and the global audience.

“We have a lot of talent and it is time the world hears and listens to us,” he said.

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