Community is at the centre of TUBO; locally, at our headquarters in Nigeria and internationally. Giving back is our way of contributing and building our community in a way that is sustainable and beneficial.
I have been privileged to learn from an amazing community of men and women in my journey so far. This has helped me in several ways and back in March for International Women’s Day, a concept came to mind #IMPACTDAYWITHTUB022.
A lot of times, people "pick my brain" around operations, sustainability, finance and business management. I will start by saying I neither know it all nor do I have all the answers but, I recognize that I have been at this for some years now and I embrace the fact that I have achieved a few things and what I can do is pay it forward.
I was willing to share a day with 10 selected women within and outside the fashion industry. Women who not only followed me but wanted to learn from my wealth of knowledge, acquired skill, education and journey as a business executive and the Creative Director at TUBO. To participate, they had to register their interest via an application.
Less than 48hrs later, the applications rolled in and we received 491 individual applicants. I was humbled and knew I wanted to give them a TUBO experience they’d never forget so we made arrangements to accommodate more people and got a bigger venue.
My team and I went through every single application and selected the women who stood out. On the day, the venue was packed with engaging, brilliant, and resilient women ready to push through all the challenges the economy and their various industries had imposed on them.
I was going to walk into a room of powerful women and knew that I needed to wear a power suit but I wanted it to be stylish. I needed a look that set me apart and made me stand out afterall, I was hosting the event.
The Impact Dress suit evolved from a collection of roughly unfinished, corset-inspired dresses that I had designed and wanted to include in our upcoming RTW collection. Originally I was going to wear it with a shirt, but this was updated to a jacket which really puts the power in the power suit!
I visualised the Impact Dress Suit and sketched it whilst on a solo travelling work/procurement trip. Four key words played in my head when the idea came; deconstructed, masculine yet still feminine and of course tasteful nudity.
When I sketched the design, I sent it to my design team back in Nigeria and they didn’t disappoint. Excellence definitely flows through the DNA of the TUBO brand because when I returned back to Lagos, they had brought to life a dress with the zipper flipped to the thigh and a jacket that had been split in half because they thought not to cover the greatness that was the corset completely.
When the time for #IMPACTDAYWITHTUB022 came, it was the perfect outfit that was not only inspiring but would not overpower the content of my message!
It really takes a great team to have a great brand and I'm forever grateful to my team who constantly execute with excellence. We created a piece that pushed the boundaries of our craft in a way that reinvented a style that was powerful, professional yet fashionable.
