Fashion Designer, Vina Textiles, London
Talk about a fashion icon and you would get one in Otunba Francesca Aina. A look at her and you conclude on these adjectives –– big, buxom and beautiful. She would gladly agree that her figure would compete favourably with any slim woman! Ask her what being a lace designer/merchant entails and she will tell you, “Since I’m a student of fashion and designing, I really don’t find it difficult sketching out designs for laces. I would have veered into the seeing aspect of fashion but in England the competition is high and I would not want to be a part of that. Initially, I was selling these laces but I realised that I was good at designs and sketches. So, I opted for designs and sale of lace fabrics. Whenever I’m at work, the first thing on my mind is who wears this?
“If I’m designing for women, I try to see which part of the world the fabric will get to and, oftentimes, it’s Nigeria and other African countries. Colour schemes are important and I don’t joke with them. For lace fabrics, my mind comes to Nigeria and the many categories of women. The Igbo woman tends to go for bright colours; the Hausa are known to love subtle colours, while the Yoruba are in the middle. They go for both, depending on the occasion. Designing for Korean, Swiss or Austrian manufacturers means a lot. I love unique designs and I make sure they are not replicated. That could be expensive but I would not mind. Fashion also means uniqueness; a fashionable woman has to be unique with whatever she wears.”
According to her, Nigerian women will always go for laces, no matter how expensive. “When I started 12 years ago in Liverpool Street, London, I discovered that Nigerian women love good things. The street is popular for lace fabrics and Nigerians throng there. But, at a point, my Gambian customers begged that I pay attention to them like I do to Nigerians and I decided opening a shop in the Gambia. I even go to far eastern countries for my designs because the craze for unique lace fabrics is much.”
Even the whites are interested in laces. “Many of them buy from me and ask to be taken to a haute-couturier. Laces are fabrics and should not be limited to buba/iro or the blouse/skirt. Good tailors/designers abroad play around with them. Moreover, because I live in London, I try to consider all the seasons whenever I’m sketching my designs. There are certain colours for winter, summer, autumn and spring. Any lace designer must be in tune with colours and their seasons because a slight mistake could be suicidal.”
Married to an Ijebu, Asaba-born Franca wanted to study Mass Communication. “That was in 1985, and I was looking forward to being a journalist. But my husband advised me against it and told me to go for fashion courses because I am very fashionable. I was born in Lagos, and had my education there before I went to England in 1983. That must have influenced my life as a young girl, and I must confess that I’m a fashion freak,” she enthuses.
But how much will she spend on any fashion accessory? “As much as I can afford. Really, I can’t give a particular price, but whenever I see what I like, I buy. To me, fashion is all about you, and I would not go out of my way to look fashionable. Why go to any extent to look good?
“First, I’m happily married and my husband appreciates my looks. I wear what suits me, and I put my frame into consideration when dressing up.” But is there anything she would want changed about her? She quickly replies, “You can’t change anything in you because you didn’t create it in the first place. There is nothing I want changed about me. I’m beautiful, and I will not tamper with my skin because it’s beautiful and natural. Women should learn to appreciate their natural looks.”
With a dream to have a lace manufacturing plant in Nigeria, she highlights the challenges in her line of business. “The Koreans and Chinese are concerned about quantity and not quality. They produce cheaper fabrics, which, oftentimes, are substandard and they sell to the public. I’m not against that because not all fingers are equal and not everybody can buy expensive laces, but I always tell my customers that the life-span of any fabric is in its quality and not quantity.”
Ask her who a fashionable woman is and she gets excited. To her, being fashionable starts from the inside. “An unhappy woman could wear good clothes but a heavy heart would not brighten up whatever she wears. Luckily for Nigerians, we are happy and tend to push our sorrow aside. Even abroad, the white ask me why Nigerian women are so fashionable. Get to any store and you get a Nigerian! Fashion is more than an art. It is innate and you must have a flair for it. You are what you make of fashion,” she explains.
Judging the Nigerian fashion scene to be more than vibrant, Aina declares, “Nigerian women, especially those in Lagos and other major cities, are termed to be the most fashionable in the world. Any fashion idea that originates from Lagos is a trend-setter in England and the United States. You need to see women abroad dying to read fashion magazines from Nigeria. The designs, the cut, the carriage of the women, the glamour and colours are what dictate the trend in England. An example is the ankara fabric. I never liked it, and didn’t really embrace it until I started seeing Lagos women in these fabrics. The mind-blowing designs and even the beauty when used as aso ebi are indescribable. Many thanks to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who promoted the use of the ankara fabrics. I was shocked one day when I read a Nigerian magazine in England, and I saw a governor wearing ankara at his daughter’s wedding. That changed my thoughts on ankara. So, the rich wear it too? Nigerian women are show-stoppers anywhere.”
Does Aina have any beauty routine? “Not really,” comes her reply. “I use Visible Difference; drink lots of water and get adequate rest. Though I’m fashionable, I will not go through stress trying to look good. I don’t move with the trend, I’m just myself as Otunba Franca Aina.”
By Kemi Dayo-Aiyetan, http://www.punchng.com
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