Adesina Bamidele Oluwafemi’s story is that of turning passion to mission and rising beyond initial odds to make bold statements in his chosen field – fashion and design.
By Eberechi Obinagwam
Adesina Bamidele Oluwafemi’s story is that of turning passion to mission and rising beyond initial odds to make bold statements in his chosen field – fashion and design.
Growing up, the graduate of business administration, not only loved dressing well but wanted others to look good as well. This pushed him to learn fashion design at Ethnikcity Fashion House in Lagos. Two years after the apprenticeship, he founded Dloxy Couture.
How it all began
Immediately after his youth service in 2016, Oluwafemi recalled a thought coming into him; ‘Femi go into fashion.’ That marked the beginning of the journey.
He said: “I love looking good and love to see others look good. With that, I began to look at how I could make people look good too. At first, my idea was to help people shop for clothes that could make them look good. So, when the thought came in 2016 after my service year, I started doing research on it and within a week, someone called me and asked if I would like to work in a fashion outfit, I accepted without wasting time because it was what I had been thinking through.”
Oluwafemi’s dream became a reality at Ethnikcity Fashion House in Lagos where he learned everything needed to make others look good, “I learned everything, like details, sewing, patterns, delivery and quality control at Ethnikcity Fashion House from October 2016 to 2018.”
In July 2018, Oluwafemi, a graduate of Business Administration from the Ado Ekiti State University, started up his brand, Dloxy Couture where he deals in men’s attire including suits, Kaftans, Agbada, contemporary wear and majors on Asoebi, weddings.
Sourcing for start-up capital
Oluwafemi believes you do not need excessive capital to become who you want to be. He learned the philosophy at a conference on ‘liquid capital,’ which is about starting a business within your circle without requiring substantial funding.
He said: “When I finished learning, there was no place to start from. So, through the initiative, I got the name, Dloxy Couture and created some impressions online and leveraged on the people I knew. I never had a specific amount for the business.”
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Oluwafemi said when he started his business, he stayed for a whole year without a customer, “It was quite challenging because I didn’t have a customer for one year. It was just my pastor who patronised me but I was persistent. I would sew for myself and post them on my social media. I didn’t have a machine. Whenever I wanted to sew, I would go to a fashion house and beg to use their machine. After sewing, I would snap and post. That is why I said you can make anything happen without much capital,” he said.
Oluwafemi added: “When the business started coming little by little, at a point I saw that I was losing deals, I sought to know why, and I saw that it was because people don’t trust online vendors except you have a space. So, I asked myself what to do and the idea of pay-on-delivery came up.”
Penetrating the market
Oluwafemi said it took him four years to penetrate the market, identifying capital as part of his challenge. “I just penetrated the market three years ago. It was tough and somewhat easy because I was still single at that time. When you are single there are risks you can take without looking at anything than when you are married.
“Capital was part of my challenges while penetrating the market because sometimes you want to expand, buy machines. Even now, we still need some modern machines to make the job easier,” he said.
He added: “I saw a breakthrough towards the end of 2022, but my major breakthrough was in 2023,” he added.
A stressful experience
Oluwafemi shared some stressful experiences in the trade. He said: “While struggling to establish my brand, people would order stuff and won’t even show up nor pay. I was doing it 70/30 for customers when I started, but when it didn’t pay, I had to change it to 50/50. I remember I did one at Ajah and up till now the guy has not paid and most times they won’t even come for it at all. Because the clothes are customised, the chances of selling them are usually very slim. So, it turns out as a loss to me. I am still having that challenge till now.”
He added another: “I once had an order from the US for Aso-ebi and after sewing and sending them, they told me that it didn’t fit anyone of them except the groom.
“That’s the challenge I do have because if it was my measurement, I would say it’s my fault, but they were the ones that sent in the measurement.”
He continued: “I am presently dealing with one. They owe me half a million. They were the ones who sent in their measurements. I always have challenges like that with those in diaspora because it’s easy for them to add weight after the measurement and I can’t do anything about it because I am not closer to them to make some necessary adjustments.”
The breakthrough
Oluwafemi said in 2019, a guy walked in and ordered twenty agbada and ten suits. He shouted, “What!!!’.” He said it was the first time he was having such a massive sale. “When I checked the amount, I shouted again. That was when I started to major in weddings,” he said.
He said the feedback he gets from customers made him stay on. “I have remained in business because of the quality of my job, and the good comments I get from social media. Although sometimes you won’t get good comments. But when you weigh the two and see that the good is more, then you are satisfied,” he said.
Challenges businesses face in Nigeria
The CEO of Dloxy Couture said capital, unstable electricity, and sourcing for raw materials are some of the challenges faced by business owners in Nigeria. “When I started my business, I wrote memos for grants to different government organizations. But it was only one that came through from the Bank of Industry. They didn’t give me a grant, they gave me a loan of N50,000 which I paid back but it was not up to what I was expecting. It was far from my budget to start a business.
“Thank God for my life. I didn’t allow that pull me out of my vision because I know a lot of businesses that have crashed because of capital. There is nobody to sponsor them to push their dreams. A lot of youths are in that category. They have dreams but no capital and they don’t know how to start and not everyone will have the opportunity that I have. Mine was just a miracle. I didn’t give up even when I didn’t make sales for a whole year,” he said.
He advised the government to work on stabilizing electricity. “Because if you want to start up a business, you have to think of buying generators and they are expensive now. And you will have to change it after three years because the capacity would have drained. If there is light, it will cut down on the running cost. And electricity sustains the life span of equipment than a generator,” he said.
Japa
Oluwafemi said he wants to be part of those who will make the money in Nigeria because there is money here that most people do not know and out of ignorance, they leave.
“During my training, we went to exhibitions and I found out that there is money in this country that people don’t know. Because of ignorance, people feel they should leave. So, I decided that I must make that money here in Nigeria. I believe I will succeed in Nigeria, with God guiding me in this business. My business is going to be suited in Nigeria. I can travel outside Nigeria to establish my brand but I won’t move it out here,” he said.