Christiana Oyekunle is founder and creative director of Stylishmo, a fashion brand known for bespoke and ready-to-wear pieces that give women style, elegance, and confidence. Operating from Garki International Market in Abuja, she has built a loyal clientele across the Federal Capital Territory and beyond through a consistent focus on quality and customer satisfaction.
By Eberechi Obinagwam
Christiana Oyekunle is founder and creative director of Stylishmo, a fashion brand known for bespoke and ready-to-wear pieces that give women style, elegance, and confidence. Operating from Garki International Market in Abuja, she has built a loyal clientele across the Federal Capital Territory and beyond through a consistent focus on quality and customer satisfaction.
The beginning
Oyekunle graduated with a B.Sc. in Chemistry from Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife. Her entrepreneurial spark lit while she was still an undergraduate, listening to Mrs. Ibukunoluwa Abiodun Awosika, First Bank’s first female chairperson and a Chemistry graduate from the same university and department. Awosika visited OAU to speak about pivoting from Chemistry to furniture making with no factory and limited capital.
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Like Awosika, Oyekunle had a passion for styling but struggled to find tailors who could translate her ideas into finished pieces. That challenge led her to start Stylishmo.
From campus trading
While in school, Oyekunle supported herself with daring same-day trips from Ile-Ife to Balogun and Idumota markets in Lagos, buying women’s clothing to resell to fellow students.
“I would leave very early in the morning, buy clothing items, and return the same day. I was often worried about accidents and my parents finding out, but I needed to reduce the burden on them, especially after my father suffered a major financial setback”, she recalls.
She scheduled trips around her lectures, mostly on weekends or lighter days, and sold from hostels and female students’ rooms. Her unique pieces appealed especially to students from outside Lagos. Academics came first: she studied vigorously with friends, limited business trips per semester, and stretched parental food supplies to cut costs. She later expanded into cosmetics, including Mary Kay products.
After graduating in 2008 and completing NYSC in 2009, she paused briefly, then resumed trading with savings used to buy gold and fabrics from Kano for sale in Lagos. Losses from selling on credit pushed her into paid employment. But in 2015, after the birth of her first child, she returned to business. By 2017, she resigned and enrolled in fashion school to master design and garment construction.
Sustainability
Asked if leaving a science career for fashion is sustainable amid economic challenges, Oyekunle is emphatic: “Yes, it is sustainable. Fashion design and garment construction are industries that are here to stay. The sector is thriving with enormous growth potential.”
Success, she says, depends on building structures for growth, adaptability, and expansion. “I have no regrets. I see myself as a problem solver for my customers and everyone in the value chain. Today, I provide jobs and sustainable livelihoods for several young men and women, as well as older individuals. Seeing my team grow motivates me to do more”, she enthused.
Challenges
One of her biggest hurdles is affordable, efficient delivery to international customers. “Shipping through reliable logistics are often prohibitively expensive,” Oyekunle explains, stressing that many buyers rely on travelling relatives or friends. Cheaper options are slow and risky, while faster ones can cost two or three times the product value.
She is calling on government to collaborate with creative industry stakeholders on better logistics solutions for SMEs. In her words; “Such support would boost exports, increase foreign exchange earnings, create more jobs, stimulate entrepreneurship, and enhance the fashion and creative sectors’ contribution to Nigeria’s GDP.”
Japa
In 2008, when Oyekunle graduated from university, japa wasn’t yet a trend. She focused on building her brand and inspiring confidence through how people dress.
About Oyekunle
Oyekunle is founder and creative director of Stylishmo, a brand she started more than five years ago and incorporated in 2023. She graduated with a B.Sc. in Chemistry from Obafemi Awolowo University in 2008. After completing NYSC in 2009, she worked briefly in a packaging company, then moved to a marketing role in another firm. Unsatisfied, she enrolled at FRCN Training School for a course in production. Presentation was her first choice, but she wasn’t admitted to that track. Today, she is the creative director of Stylishmo, a top-notch fashion brand.
