I was talking to a friend, a fashion designer, who is trying to involve herself with the Nigerian fashion industry, and I was concerned about what she said. She was still undecided about what name to use. When I suggested that she use her given name to market her brand, which is typical of many designers that we all know about--for example, Giorgio Armani, Vera Wang, Gianni Versaci, and the likes, she resisted, saying that her brand will not be marketable if she uses her given name to market her designs. Alarmed by what she said, I decided to do my own research. Click to read more....
After inquiring into the names of several of the preeminent Nigerian fashion designers, I discovered that a lot of them, if not all, do not use their given names to market their brand. For example, Folake Folarin Coker's line is called Tiffany Amber; Edith Okon's line is called House of Maufechi; Olabimpe Onipede's line is called Queen; Kelechi Ugoji's line is called Glee House; Bimpe Adebambo's line is called Beampeh; and Chibuzo Emeanu's line is called Amanjide.The brand names under which our Nigerian designers market their designs are obviously Eurocentric in character. My people, do you think Nigerian designers are ashamed of using their names to market their products, or they are using Eurocentric names because marketing under their given names, which is customary in the fashion world, would not appeal to consumers? What do you guys think?
SOURCE: Nairaland
Please what is Eurocentric about Amanjide or Beampeh or House of Maufechi? The writer should give themselves brain o.
ReplyDeleteI hate Naira land.
ReplyDeleteSee the rubbish they spout; Edith Okon of Maufechi. Seriously?
Maufechi has been around forever so a lot should know that the name is a mix of Maureen Ifeyinwa Amenechi. Is that foreign?
Are these foreign;
Bridget Awosika
Odio Mimonet
House of Nwocha
Ituen Basi
Deola Sagoe
Labanella
Mudi
House of Farrah
Frank Oshodi
Kosibah
Adebayo Jones
Ade Bakare
Toju Foyeh
These are the ones at the top of my head. Or you want Folake's story here? Ha! Ha!!
This story is crass!!!
I think there's pros and cons. If they aspire to break into the international market, they do need more western names. Also naija women just like that effizy of kosher names but personally, I think we should celebrate our tradition and culture. Our designers do not even stay true to our african attires, all their collections are bad imitations of what we see on ftv.
ReplyDeleteI watched a videolette on arnold swarzenneger(wateva) and he spoke about how people told him he will never make it in hollywood, an austrian with a weird name. But he stuck to his guns(literally) and he not only became a hollywood legend but also became gov of california.
Deola Segoe, Odion, Bridget Awosika etc.
ReplyDeleteTell ur friend to have several seats jor...
I think it boils down to what I and many others call neo-colonailism, its when we define everything according to western standards,if it is not foreign then its not good or authentic,I think Nigerians have inferiority complex this affects every aspect of our lives and d fashion industry isn't left out shikena!!!-Palo
ReplyDeletehiiiiiiisssssss
ReplyDeleteWhat about Deola Sagoe? iTunes Bassey? Jewel by Lisa? Remi Lagos? Sally Bawa? Many designers use their names...
ReplyDeleteD tin is Nigeria pple buy names.
ReplyDeleteTiffany amber is now folake folarin Coker
ReplyDeleteTiffany amber is now folake folarin coker
ReplyDeletethere are actually a number of them that use their names... Toju Foyeh uses a short form of her name.. house of nwocha uses her surname.. mai atafo, zizi cardow, lanre da silva, ade bakare.. to be honest, there are more Nigerian designers that use their names or their well known pet names from home as their label than those that come up with western/European names.
ReplyDeleteHow does amanjide sound foreign???
ReplyDeletewhether they use italian name oh or yoruba name or hausa name, their "creativity" is just copy copy. u should have seen useless things they showed at arise fashion week. abegi they should be more creative before they start putting name on their brand. imagine folake coker selling nonsense blouse for 50,000 naira.na beans? abeg comot there.
ReplyDeleteA lot of these yeye designers are just deceiving themselves. People know quality when they see it; the designer or brand name is completely irrelevant. I can think of a number of non-European names that have made it big: ozwald boateng, Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, Kenzo, Deola Sagoe, Thakoon... list is endless. You don't need an European name to break above the surf and excel if you're a world-class talent. In fact, your brand might ultimately be stronger for it.
ReplyDeletewait o this your sample model isnt she one of the designers that started the whole funkiefying names in naija. Also I could have sworn she had a huge wedding a few years back. What happened to her wedding band? is she still married
ReplyDeleteITK it is their choice
ReplyDeleteMiss Pepeye amebo. You asked the same question on Aloba's site and i was the one who answered you.
ReplyDeleteNah them sabi,ROCK MTN FREE CALL NOW. BLAZING WELLA
ReplyDeleteListen, use whatever name u desire, if you r good, u will sell no matter what name u use. Using foreign name does not necessarily sell clothes. You have been given names of Nigerian designers that are using their names and are doing very well. Even more names of foreign designers are: Stella Marcathney, Tom Ford, Coco Chanel, YSL etc and those are old. There is a reason Folake used Tiffany Amber, and the reason is her's alone.
ReplyDeleteFolake n FC r over....no need 2 bring up gist that will not help this young designer's matter biko
No brainer! Next pls!
ReplyDeletei guess this one will be deleted soon.
ReplyDeleteThe story s not on her cheating hubby or if she s cheating ... Pls o ... Face d topic of d day ... Abeg that someone is cheating etc is not news anymore jor ...
ReplyDeletestoryyyyyyyy. what is wrong with having a different name for your business? What rule states your name must be the name of the business?
ReplyDeleteAnd just so you know, celebrities everywhere change names.....here's a few
Alan Alda - Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo
Woody Allen - Allen Konigsberg
Fred Astaire - Frederick Austerlitz
Antonio Banderas - José Antonio Dominguez Bandera
Josh Brolin - Joshua Bruderlin
Charles Bronson - Charles Buchinski
Yul Brynner - Taidje Kahn
Nicolas Cage - Nicolas Coppola
Michael Caine - Maurice Joseph Micklewhite
Chevy Chase - Cornelius Crane Chase
Joan Crawford - Lucille Le Sueur
Danny DeVito - Daniel Michaeli
Carmen Electra - Tara Patrick
Jodie Foster - Alicia Christian Foster
Jamie Foxx - Eric Bishop
Greta Garbo - Greta Lovisa Gustaffson
Judy Garland - Frances Gumm
Cary Grant - Archibald Leach
Jean Harlow - Harlean Carpentier
Audrey Hepburn - Edda Kathleen van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston
James Earl Jones - Todd Jones
Michael Keaton - Michael Douglas
Hedy Lamarr - Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler
Jerry Lewis - Joseph Levitch
Sophia Loren - Sophia Scicoloni
Karl Malden - Mladen George Sekulovich
Jayne Mansfield - Vera Jane Palmer
Marilyn Monroe - Norma Jean Mortensen, baptized as Norma Jean Baker
Demi Moore - Demetria Gene Guynes
Donna Reed - Donna Belle Mullenger
Mickey Rooney - Joe Yule Jr.
Mickey Rourke - Philip Andre Rourke Jr.
Meg Ryan - Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra
Wynona Ryder - Wynona Horowitz
Susan Sarandon - Susan Tomaling
Jane Seymour - Joyce Frankenberg
Charlie Sheen - Carlos Irwin Estevez
Martin Sheen - Ramon Estevez
Christian Slater - Christian Michael Leonard Hawkins
Meryl Streep - Mary Louise Streep
Sigourney Weaver - Susan Alexandra Weaver
Bruce Willis - Walter Willison
My business name is in French but can also b pronounce in english , kinda doubds n look like an englsh name though , was not looking for a French name in d beginning but whn all d ola , Amaka , Ngozi , boyo , ade , musa names where taken nko wht should I do
ReplyDeleteNigerian designers and their love life woes, first Fati Asibelua, the Odio Oseni and now Folake Coker. Can anyone give us gist on Marifa Witte, she appears to be living a charmed life, so the haters can fall back.
ReplyDeleteNa wa oooo. This person should berra get a life.all u do is to investigate on ppls names.very jobless person.we r talkn about nigerian designers ur busy talkn about crapy ppls name s!!!
ReplyDeleteJobless human being. Mcthheeeew
ReplyDeleteStory storyyyyyy! Biko this is stale who cares whether they use their names or not. If your work is good then the name is not going to matter sef it will just add to it. Looks like they just want to start gist again on this lady or a few of the designers. Me I love designers like her, Bridget Awosika, Deola Sagoe, Ituen Basi, and Odio Mimonet as mentioned and I believe those ones use their real names and their works still stand out because they are really talented. You probably wont find too much yeye gist with these designers well except for the ones that are on the social scenes and the ones naija people like to over celebrate. They will be too busy working jare so move on please!
ReplyDeleteWell if there is gist why not. Maybe today is digging on our top designer's day. Hahahaha.. I find it very interesting that most of these top nigerian designers have a skeptical love life or marriage sha. Either married with problems or not married! Even the new and younger ones follow the samee footsteps.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm people are slowly name dropping pretending to love these designers. Oya start your story na
ReplyDeleteSo after you people finish with nollywood actors, musicians, politicians, socialite and dem lot na designers be the next one abi. Lmao!
ReplyDeletePple u c every day in church n in d mosque r normal every day pple so y r u surprise abt d kind of life they live ... They dnt force u to hv them as role models ... I dnt understand y any body expert anybody to b perfect whn u r not , celeb r normal every day pple
ReplyDeleteAnon 18 April, 2012 10:20 you sound retarded. Name dropping pretending to love who. You obviously didnt read the post. If you don't have anything to say just shut your url.
ReplyDeleteDebbie God is still watching you.
ReplyDeleteMust every post here be about someone's story. Gees some people are just haters and are here solely to read bad news.
ReplyDeleteLol anon April 18 05:34 reminds me of Lucabracee- too much unnecessary information.
ReplyDelete@ Anon 13:22, you're a clown oh!! Are you stalking all the posts and blogs and dropping remarks about Debbie Ogunjobi? O ga oh!
ReplyDeletedis anonymous dat kips writing debbie God is watching u....so obvious u r eager to spill sometin...live n let live pple.
ReplyDeleteLadun since you are so silly to post the Debbie Egunjobi posts, why don't you make it a post. Ask the person what exactly her problem is with Debbie and if she can't talk she should shut the fu*k up.
ReplyDeleteAaabeg Debbie no carry gist oooh except she got married , which is very stale news and who is God not watching .
ReplyDeletei agree with the posts that show Naija brands with Naija names n Celebs with changed names...
ReplyDeletemost of those that dont change their names have names that are easy to pronounce or easy to learn to pronounce by international customers
those that change their name are doing basic branding, names should be catchy and portray what that brand is....
if i had a luxury clothing line and named it OlorunsogonitoripeOnaopemipo & Sons
i doubt you will buy from me, n you may thing its herbal medicine i sell
my aunts own is an afro-inspired label orekebeau , maybe the english named labels sha
ReplyDeleteThere are more Nigerian names used by Nigerian designers than foreign names. Even when the name appears foreign, it is only an amalgamation of several names or a westernized version. Maufechi comes from Maureen Ify Amaechi, Ella & Gabby comes from Chiemella and Gabrielle. A designer should choose a name she or she feels comfortable with. Period.
ReplyDelete