I was talking to a friend, a fashion designer, who is trying to involve herself with the Nigerian fashion industry, and I was concerned about what she said. She was still undecided about what name to use. When I suggested that she use her given name to market her brand, which is typical of many designers that we all know about--for example, Giorgio Armani, Vera Wang, Gianni Versaci, and the likes, she resisted, saying that her brand will not be marketable if she uses her given name to market her designs. Alarmed by what she said, I decided to do my own research.
After inquiring into the names of several of the preeminent Nigerian fashion designers, I discovered that a lot of them, if not all, do not use their given names to market their brand. For example, Folake Folarin Coker's line is called Tiffany Amber; Edith Okon's line is called House of Maufechi; Olabimpe Onipede's line is called Queen; Kelechi Ugoji's line is called Glee House; Bimpe Adebambo's line is called Beampeh; and Chibuzo Emeanu's line is called Amanjide.
The brand names under which our Nigerian designers market their designs are obviously Eurocentric in character. My people, do you think Nigerian designers are ashamed of using their names to market their products, or they are using Eurocentric names because marketing under their given names, which is customary in the fashion world, would not appeal to consumers? What do you guys think?
SOURCE: Nairaland
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