Why Most Of My Designs Are Done In Ankara - IBADAN Fashion Designer, NIKE ADEGOKE

Her reputation as of the best fashion designers in Nigeria precedes her. Many have not met her before but they know of her. They have seen her designs. They have met celebrity ladies who have some of her designs.

That is how good Nike Adegoke is. That is how strong her label is. Her label is called Bling It On By HMK. She is based in Ibadan but her effect is being felt all over the world.

This is because she is focused, creative and enterprising. She is popular and well-liked by a lot of celebrity ladies.

She does remarkable things with Ankara fabrics. She does a lot of kaftans and boubous. She makes amazing Ankara combos for her clients. She does uniquely embellished boubous also that makes them stand out.

Does a whole lot of styles, like her lace plus Ankara combo dresses. She says she loves transforming fabrics into amazing outfits.

She is the creative mind behind the label Bling It On By HMK. Though she likes to listen to what her clients want in terms of designs, she usually likes to be left alone to come up with amazing designs. She likes to be left alone for her creative juice to flow unhindered. Whenever she sees a good Ankara fabric she comes alive. She begins to imagine what she can do with it and her clients trust her sense of judgment.

A few days back City People Online Fashion and Beauty Magazine asked her for the secret of her remarkable success.

We asked her why she loves Ankara.

I chose Ankara because of its versatility and brilliant designs. I like the wow factor it gives after it has been worked on. There's practically no kind of outfit you cannot make out of Ankara. Ankara has become the go-to fabric whether you're dressing up or down. It’s perfect for our weather, as an averagely good Ankara is made with cotton and a mix of other materials.

How has it been running her brand over the years?

I'm a fashion business owner, or Fahionpreneur if you like.

Running my brand is pivoted on pleasing the customer and leaving a lasting impression on them, building a team of people who understand the goal and being creative.

There are challenges, of course but running any brand is always a learning process. As you go along in the business, you learn a lot from handling your team members to satisfying customers with little or no excuses (which isn't easy!) and of course dealing with the harsh working conditions of Nigeria.

Ultimately, we want our customer to walk away happy, despite all the 'behind the scenes' challenges we face daily, so we work towards that on a day-to-day basis by improving on the product and polishing up customer service regularly.

How did she get into the Fashion Business?

I got into the fashion business thanks to encouragement from friends. It was something I had considered and abandoned a few times even before trying it out, but I was later literally pushed into giving it a shot by my late friend. She was also a fashion entrepreneur in Lagos (among other things) and she talked me into doing the same thing here in Ibadan.

I have other friends I ran it by who also encouraged me to go for it and here we are. Prior to doing fashion, I had always loved fashion. Not only have I always liked to look good, I also loved my friends to look good. I love makeup, hair, clothes so shall I say, it has always been in my DNA. I just didn't see the light to do it the way I do it now, earlier.

What kind of ladies does she design for?

Our focus in fashion is heavily embellished ready-to-wear outfits, with a major interest in the Ankara fabric. That's our niche and you can tell even from our name, Bling It On By HMK. Our products are known for the embellishments that we painstakingly adorn them with.

We cater to the mature and fashion-conscious woman who doesn't mind being in the spotlight.

Our customers are classy. They can afford the kind of fashion items they want in their closets and they aren't afraid to go for it. From young working-class ladies to grandmothers who still love their fashion just as before.

When she started out at first was she scared of not succeeding with the venture?

I was afraid of the business failing a lot of times even before it took off officially. 

I had so many doubts, having dabbled into a number of businesses prior to this and experiencing a lot of challenges which ultimately led me to abandon ship.

I did fashion afraid. Apart from the physical equipment needed for my job, all I had was hope and the determination to make it succeed by all means necessary.

Investing in self-development and business growth training has helped a great deal but at the end of the day, nobody succeeds more than he whose greatest fear is failure.

It's still a work in progress, I must confess. We still have ground to cover in terms of the success of the business but we are moving. We are not where we were when we started and we give God the glory for that.

There are major challenges as expected, there's the issue of power to contend with. Providing our own source of power is parasitic to the finances of the business and also managing the human resource. There's also customer service which is something a lot of businesses in Nigeria toy with but which is important to the growth of the business.

In all, when you're being faced with the possibility of failure, you've got no choice but to push for success.

Who is NikeAdegoke?

My name is NikeAdegoke. I'm a fashion entrepreneur, wife, mother and lover of all things beautiful. I love to create beauty out of anything, I am passionate about women and children. I love to read, I love to write, I used to write a blog Nike'sMusingsand I absolutely love to party.

I love what I do, and much as I don't like to be under pressure, I found out that my mind works at its best when under pressure.

Thanks for having me.

We are based in OluyoleEstate, Ibadanbut we cater to customers all Nigeria and around the globe.

Our Instagramhandle is @blingitonbyhmk

And we also respond to enquiries on 08053676811 on WhatsApp