Cutting Edges In Tailoring: The Story Of Alawiye Brothers

Alawiye brothers, Muhammed-Taofeeq and Al-Ameen, are fast growing fashion designers and wardrobe consultants in Ibadan, the capital city of Oyo State, Nigeria. They are young and vibrant, and highly resourceful too. Theirs is a passion groomed and nurtured into a brand called 'Awiye Brothers'. Not just a brand but the one determined to make a huge difference in the industry. In this interview, the duo of Taofeeq and Al-Ameen shared the story of how it all started, as well as their plans to make Awiye Brothers brand a household name within a short period of time. A dream they believe could be achieved through hard work and paying attention to details as their name (Alawiye) connotes. According to the Alawiye brothers, what sets them apart from others in the industry is the originality of their creations. Their story, no doubt, is an inspiration to every young aspiring entrepreneur. Enjoy the details of the quite interesting interview.

How did the tailoring thing start for you guys?

Actually, it's been a long journey. Its also has a family background impact as well. But I think one of the major things that really led to this was the love for looking good.

When we were younger our mother would take a lot of time dressing us up, especially during festive periods. So from the love of trying to look good it grew into passion. It came in form of whiling away time but at the end of the day, we find out that we were also making money.

We also got to know the trend of styles we wanted to create because a lot of younger folks are not ready to go into that kind of fashion. So we took advantage of that and turned things around in our favour.

Of course, there is nothing new in fashion but we felt, let's just go back to the olden days where our fathers wear Agbada, Esiki, Gobi, hand embroidered cap and what have you. We have people who really appreciate the quality of these attires. Whether we like it or not, the traditional fashion is going nowhere. And that is one of the inspirations we had when starting this brand. Funny enough, it wasn't that we plan for it. It just happened naturally.

So both of you decided to go into same line of business?

Taofeek:

I had plan of going into fashion business initially but not the bespoke aspect of it. We wanted to have a kind of clothing line which would deal in t.shirts, face cap, urban dressing kind of a thing. But later on we realized having that kind of business takes a lot of capital and infrastructure. So we just wanted to start from something little. My mind was just like okay, let me go and learn how to sew so I could probably start from there.

It was in the course of learning sewing that the inspiration came for us to start with the traditional aspect we had always dreaming of doing. So the plan was for us to stay by the traditional aspect of fashion then probably expand it and make it more acceptable by the younger generation. Maybe the little I could do out of sewing then I could just start from there. Something like cutting Aso-Oke to make different outfits and all of that.

While I was in the city doing the office part of fashion designing, my younger brother went to the interior of Ibadan to learn how traditional cloths are really made. So we learnt from different trainers.

So far, would you say your dream of recreating traditional fashion styles and make it acceptable is being fulfilled?

We have not gotten to where we want to be as far as the industry is concerned. The dream is to prove a point, that traditional fashion could be modernized and be acceptable by the younger generation. We are getting there but we are not there yet.

How has the experience been for you; has it been encouraging or otherwise?

Of course, it has been encouraging and at the same time challenging. Being an entrepreneur in Nigeria on it own comes with a lot of challenges. So much that sometimes you feel like, why can't I just get a salary job and safe myself of the stress? It is very difficult to see people that are trustworthy, people that really willing to work, people that really share your ideas to push the brand.

What then would you say has kept you going despite the enormous challenges?

It's the passion for the profession, honestly. After having an idea of what style you want to create, then you design and put the idea into reality. You put a lot of things in place to make the whole attire comes to life, people see it and appreciate it. You also see it and appreciate the end result and at the end of the day forget the stress you have been through in producing the particular attire. Because it takes a lot to produce a good attire. But in the end, everything becomes interesting and that is part of the things that have kept us in business. The positive feedbacks, customers' satisfaction.

What stands Awiye Brand out of others in this highly competitive industry of yours?

Like I said earlier, we studied the whole dynamics of fashion in Nigeria basically. And we find that even despite this 'Japa'-ing syndrome, people still fall back to the source, the origin. A lot of people want to recreate something in that like on their own. They want you to create styles of maybe forty, fifty years ago. People are going back to traditional wears, to handcrafted projects. So they want something exact, and that is one of the things that stand us out because majority of fashion designers want to do things that are in vogue. A lot of people are selling things that are in vogue but we want to sell stuffs that will sell forever. Selling forever means you have to do something original, something that is handmade. We do handmade Agbada that takes about three months to be ready. We do Ijebu caps, sometimes it might take three or about a week and they are handmade. So the process make them original. A lot of people don't do such. They want to do something that will give them money as quick as possible. Those are the areas we focus on in order to make a difference in the industry and to be unique in our creations.

There are lots of people that are into fashion designing, you find little that are into traditional wears, then you now find very little that are doing handmade traditional wears. Because that is the most complex aspect of the business. It takes full manpower to carry on. In fact, there is little machine could do in the process. It takes full manpower, full labour and a longer process. That is the value, that is the niche of it at the end of the day.

Judging by the competitiveness nature of your business, how do you manage your styles in avoiding repetition?

It comes naturally because I have been an artist right from the secondary school. My younger brother draws too. In fact, I wanted to be an architect but I couldn't go further because there wasn't technical drawing teacher in our school then. That was why I finally settled for Art basically. So, it was an advantage which I had in being creative and all that

What inspired the brand name, Awiye?

Our family name is Alawiye. We are from Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State. Awiye is part of our eulogies (Oriki). Alawiye is just an extension of Awiye, and Alawiye is somebody that speaks to details. So Awiye means speaking to details. We thought we could take advantage of the name because our works/styles speak to details. If you check out our clothes you find that yes, these people are deep.

You'd see the finishing, the dexterity. Our creations are original. So we didn't stress ourselves in picking a brand name. Alawiye is our name and we are two brothers, it is more or less a family thing. 

What would you have been if not fashion designers?

Taofeek:

Maybe I could have tried harder to be an architect or probably a journalist. I graduated as a mass communicator from University of Ibadan. I graduated from the department of communication and language art from UI.

Al-Ameen: 

If not tailoring I would have still be in fashion business. I have been involved in the fashion designing since my secondary school days, S.S 1 precisely. It's been part and parcel of me.

What are challenges you are facing in the industry?

One of the constraints is getting the technicals, the personnel to do the handwork and the manpower. It takes a lot because you are a creative person, you have something in your head that you want to bring to reality. You need somebody who understands or ready to understand these ideas of yours. Sourcing of materials is another thing. Of course, our materials are sourced locally but we wish we could get facility for more sophisticated equipments and more sophisticated finishing of the materials we use. Because some of them are not up to standard of production at the end of the day.

So, it is more or less like you just have to use what you have despite the fact that most of these materials are imported.

One of the materials we use is Aso-Oke, which is locally made but majority of the products use in producing Aso-Oke are imported. It's one of the things that affect prices of these materials.

You said you are from Ijebu-Ode, tell us more about your family background?

We are from Alawiye Iyanro of Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State. It is even one of the things that really influenced our going into fashion designing business. You know Ijebu-Ode people like extravagant fashion styles, show off. As we have witnessed at the annual Ojude Oba Festival over the years. So fashion designing, for us, comes naturally.

Where do you see Awiye Brand in the next five years?

Our vision is to become a household name in the nearest future. So I see us grow to the stage we have always been dreaming to be in the next five years. By then, when you see our works you should be able to say yes, this is from Awiye Brand. I tell you we have gotten patronages for the fact that the brand name is Awiye. They find it being original. So we want to make sure the originality is sustained, and the brand is well known and well respected and well recognized in the industry.

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