Growing up in Nigeria, I have seen maize(corn) planted and witnessed it go through the different stages of its growth. From a seed that was planted to the blade sprouting, the corn ear comes out and grows bigger till the stage where the corn starts growing out. First the blade, then the ear, and the corn. This is the first of many blog posts where I will be sharing my Iseewa journey. As I was thinking through the journey so far, the corn analogy came and I must say that is the TLDR of this journey.
First, the seed…
]The seed of Iseewa was sown many years ago when I was in college, in the days of picking styles from a bunch of catalogs. I had this really good tailor who asked me during one of my many style-picking sessions, ‘how do you look at these styles and you make up another style that turns out beautiful’?. I don’t know, I shrugged and casually responded. However, the seed had been sown, waiting to be watered. Since he said it, I became conscious of the fact that those catalog styles were not what I wanted, their purpose was to inspire what I would eventually make. It got to a point that, picking a style and making an exact replica never turns out as satisfying as when I simply use them as a source of inspiration to play around with my creativity.
Then the blade ( Seed Watered and sprouting)…
Fast forward to a couple of years later, I was selling imported ready-to-wear office dresses to my colleagues at work when the seed that was sown years ago came back to my mind. I woke up one morning playing around with the idea of creating my own design, working with a producing company to bring the designs to life, and putting my personal label on it. I decided to pursue the idea but it didn’t work out due to the high number of MOQs then. Also, I’m convinced it didn’t work out because it was not the right time but, the seed had been watered and waiting to germinate into a full plant.
A couple of years later, I was reminiscing high school days with a friend and somehow, we got talking about our Fine Arts class and the projects we did that ranged from different drawings, paper mache, and Adire making. I couldn’t get Adire making out of my head for reasons unknown to me at that time. Fast forward to some months later, I was in a conversation with some colleagues about how we should be proud of Nigerian-made products and strive to showcase them to the world. Our discussion found its way to Adire. There it was again, that name “Adire” that has been stuck in my head for months. We concluded that Adire, which is widely known to originate from Nigeria is the best print to spotlight Nigeria in the fashion industry. Nagging feelings about Adire gone, curiosity sparked!
I started looking into Adire, researching its history, processes, and uses. When I started my research work, one of my Aha moments was finding out that the process of producing Adire is environmentally friendly (sustainable and eco-friendly). I also found out that many artisan skills go into creating every work of art on an adire fabric. I had questions ranging from how well are these people are taken care of ( ethics of the trade), how adire is used, and last but not the least, what kind of styles we make from Adire. At this point, I knew there was no going back on my desire to work with Adire.
Then the ear (Seed is Germinating)…
I started to have a full conversation with myself and it went thus;
What if you could start designing your clothing line?
What if your clothing line could be an Adire clothing line? Then you could be part of those that will bring Adire and some of the fabrics produced in Nigeria into the spotlight in the fashion industry and world.
What if you could design contemporary styles and bring them to life using Adire fabrics?
What if adire becomes an alternative fabric in the fashion industry all around the world and renowned designers start using it to create their masterpieces?
Okay, these are good ideas, but there are lots of African-inspired clothing lines out there how would yours be different?
Remember, an adire print is a work of art, what if your print is the message? What if your prints tell a story that empowers everyone that buys any of your designs? What if your prints remind them of their inner strength and the awesomeness they are made of? What if your print reminds them of the truth they seem to forget? What if it is not just a fashion piece but an intentional fashion piece that reminds them to dwell from the well within
The self-dialogue went on and on and before I knew it, the seed started growing into a plant that will become a tree!
And the Corn…
Enter Iseewa!!!
Your intentional fashion brand, where every print tells a story and there is a message for you in the story!
Fun fact – I grew up in Osogbo, Osun State, and married a man from Abeokuta, Ogun State. Both towns in Nigeria are significant when talking about Adire. While the origin of Adire started from Abeokuta, Osogbo houses Nike Center for Art and Culture. An institution established by Chief(Mrs.) Oyenike Okundaye to the young underserved people at that time to learn a craft that would empower them to build their own life. The center has trained over 3000 young Nigerians and many African countries send their students to study textile art there.
The universe seems to be aligning something even when I didn’t know
Stay tuned for The Corn
