Happy Birthday Ejiro!
Designer extraordinaire and TW May/June Celebrity feature, Ejiro Amos Tafiri celebrates her birthday today.
As a means of celebration, here’s Ejiro’s full feature story with us as in the magazine.
Enjoy!
Ejiro Amos Tafiri: The Drape Witch
If you’re a lover of all things fashion in Nigeria, then the name Ejiro Amos Tafiri should be anything but new to you. Satisfied customers and even fellow designers describe her as the drape witch because of her easy flowing styles. In less than 10 years she has become a force to reckon with in an often-unforgiving industry. From Ikotun Egbe on the mainland to Ikoyi on the Island, the journey to brand E.A.T has been a long one for this celebrity designer.
A sit down with Ejiro gave valuable insight into the woman behind the brand.
Ejiro is the first daughter of the Amos Tafiris, hailing from Delta state, from where they migrated to Lagos to start their own family.
Her journey began at the age of three (3) at her maternal grandmother’s feet. Then domiciled with the Amos Tafiri’s because of her health condition, grandma, a seamstress in her time, opened the little girl’s eyes to the wonders of threaded fabric.
At the time, Ejiro couldn’t even properly thread a needle and her grandma wouldn’t let her off till she got it right. Her very first Iro and Buba, made by grandma was what began her fixation with easy to wear clothing.
An A-student all her life it was just assumed that Ejiro would become a medical doctor, cliché, yes, but very true.
In her words, “From when I was about five (5), everyone would echo “Doctor” around me so I just got used to the idea of becoming a doctor someday. I thought I’d be a veterinary doctor because I didn’t want to work in a formal environment.”
As a science student, Ejiro was headed in that direction till a detour in choice of a vocational subject while in senior secondary school changed all that. “I chose clothing and textiles, (over Agricultural Science), and our first-class began with an excursion to Yaba Tech. That was my born-again moment.” Says Ejiro who maintained her A status even in this p and by the time high school was over she was hooked and certain that fashion designing was it for her and that it would be at the Yaba College of Technology. The feisty 16-year-old went as far as ‘failing’ the JAMB tests for University education, to get her way.
“I came home that day and explained to my Dad how I had a bad feeling about my JAMB – which I’d deliberately flunked – and I wanted him to know before the result came out. He took it well when I told him I’d like to take a poly-jamb form so I wouldn’t be idle at home, he agreed.”
Little did her father know she was going to fill in Fashion design as her course of study, by the time he found out, he was irate because it couldn’t be reversed.
“He’d assumed I’d fill something like medical lab science so I could go on to study medicine and this caused a lot of problems for me and my parents.” So it was that when her admission hit a hitch they were hopeful she would come to her ‘senses’
During registration, her science background almost cost her the admission, because she hadn’t taken fine art as a subject, which was then a requirement. Eventually, her clothing and textile subject was accepted, (and has remained so in Yabatech), to enroll for a fashion designing program. The team couldn’t ignore this super student who opted for a polytechnic rather than a University education, in a society that placed more premium on the latter. It showed how determined and certain the young woman was about her future.
“The registrar said she’d never seen such a bright student with so many other options, so enthusiastic about something that wasn’t making waves in the country at the time.”
And so it was that Ejiro made it through school flying. She began her journey in the real world interning at Fashion houses in Lagos even while still in school. She started with 3 months at Zizi Cardow’s, a very hands-on boss who “taught me what it meant to be respected in the fashion industry”, and then at Tiffany Amber’s where at just 17, “I rose really quickly in the ranks. In a month I became her PA and soon was placed in charge of graduates and other interns.”
Upon graduation in 2007, unlike most of her mates, she didn’t start a label. Ejiro spent her service year working with Out Of Africa, another fashion brand, and then two years at Tiffany Amber’s, as a staff. “I had my vision to build my own fashion house, and I was ready to work for 10-15 years to get here, so long as I did it right. I thank God it didn’t take that long. I owe it to my decision to learn and that learning mentality gave me what I needed to begin my journey.”
“E.A.T. officially opened its doors on March 1st, 2010. My first official project was a wedding dress I made for my friend Florence.”
Almost ten years after, the experience has been rich, more in the creative than the cash side she admits jokingly. Describing her ‘rich’ creative process, Ejiro says culture and creative storytelling drive her choices. It explains why for her brand, it is more about the narrative which is transmitted through the fabric. A reason why she doesn’t believe the fabric is what makes a dress African or not. “We all wear suits now and that’s traditional English wear. Today it’s seen as contemporary and I want to do that with my brand.”
This she did do with her beloved Iro and Buba, a traditional design, by using rather unconventional softer fabric like Chiffon, (her favorite) and silk, to bring it to modern times…
“Our local fabrics are so stiff and coarse. I believe women look nice when they dress is fluid and can swoosh! My favorite cartoon was Beauty and the Beast and I loved how her dress, you know, swooshed.” Now we know where the drape witch gets her inspiration…
With a daughter, Ogehenemine and now proud parents in tow, today Ejiro has these words for anyone wishing for a future in design.
“Being a designer requires creation. Understanding what it means to be a designer and having your own creative process is it what makes you unique.”
