Rhoda Ebun is one of the established fashion stylist and consultants in the Nigerian fashion industry and has steadily become a force to be reckoned with . Having established her brand – The Rtf company 8 years ago, after arming herself with certifications from attending fashion schools both In Nigeria and in the Uk . Ebun has worked with quite a number of stylist both back home in Nigeria and at international level.
With quite an enviable portfolio of celebrities and non –celebrity clients , Ebun is also majorly involved in styling televised projects some of which are – Moments with Mo, Glamsquad, The Ultimate Love , Big Brother Naija , Trace Urban , Ebonylife etc . Her relevance In the fashion industry cannot be underestimated nor ignored, hence her outburst during the week over the lack of professionalism in both the Nigerian fashion journalism and the way Nigerian Celebrities conduct their brand , raised quite some dust that has somewhat stirred up a pending revolution and awakened the average stylist from their slumber .
Moriam Musa of Tribe and Elan touched base with her via a virtual interview , in other for her to shed more light on this silent looming issue that has eventually become a matter of growing concern.
T&E– Why did you decide to pick a career in fashion as a stylist ?
RE – As clichéd as it might sound, being a fashion stylist comes to me naturally. I’ve always liked and studied fashion as a child and I’ve always been fascinated even by the little details of Making and styling clothes.
T&E – What was your first big break ?
- RE. – My first major break as fashion stylist was being the stylist for popular TV show ‘Moments with Mo’ and then progressing to being the stylist for the whole channel.
T&E – What are the solutions to these challenges?
- RE. – Ahh…..there are so many. It’s like being a creative in this part of the world alone, is a challenge. Then add that there are no supporting nor governing systems and rules.
I’d like to say that things are better than when I first started out in the sense that more people are hiring stylists; BUT on the flip side, a lot of people are jumping on the ‘fashion stylists’ wagon thereby watering down that role.
Annoyingly, potential clients are skipping hiring stylists altogether and going straight to designers to style….honestly, it’s a lot.
T&E –Asides your fashion tutorials and videos , you are not known to be controversial but recently- you decided to shake a few tables . What ignited this spark ?
RE-I had noticed over time that Nigerian fashion blogs post more international content over local ones. They seem to promote international celebrities & stylists and act like they’re doing Nigerians a favor. They’ll probably even ask you to pay for it as an ad. During the ‘BLM’ movement, Fashion Bomb Daily took to upon themselves to promote & highlight ‘Black owned businesses’; which even consisted of Nigerian businesses; this did not hinder their ads how. You’d think this would inspire our blogs here, but No! Then Beyonce’s ‘Black is King’ visual album came and FBD did due diligence in the reportage, crediting everyone. If an editorial supports my work, do you think I wouldn’t pay to post ads regularly on that blog?
I know a lot of my colleagues were thinking it, but no one wanted to say it. So i just said ‘what the heck?’ I’m going to air my views.
Check most of these blogs, if they post a picture of an international celebrity or influencer, they’ll diligently give credits to all glam team plus designers. But if they post pictures of a Nigerian celebrity, they will deliberately omit the name of designer/stylist. It is pure BS….
T&E – What sector do you think can aid your craft more- designers or press? & Why ?
RE-. Both actually. And they each have their own roles to play. Designers need to first stick to their day jobs (except if they were first stylists) and encouraged their the use of fashion stylists for their projects; lookbooks, runaways etc. The Press need to acknowledge stylists more often as well their roles in building the brands of celebrities, designers and credit them as often as possible.
T&E – What is the role of a stylist ?
RE-. The role of a fashion stylist is to curate an appealing imagery of a client. The client could either be private, celebrity, designer of a fashion project. The stylist projects the client, through fashion in a positive light. It’s as simple as that.
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T&E – How important is a stylist to a fashion brand ?
RE-. Very important. In developed countries, most (if not all) fashion brands have stylists on their team. The stylist could be an Art or creative director or even a free lancer.
In most cases, the stylists helps to style the collection from sketch to look book.
T&E – Why do you think foreign stylist are more popular than the average Nigerian stylist ?
RE-. Because a typical Nigerian likes anything ‘abroad or foreign’. Its like a mental disease. In Nigerian parlance, it’s ‘see finish’. Just plain ridiculous. It’s the same way Nigerians prefer foreign fashion brands to theirs. That’s as best as I can explain it.
T&E – How do you think your craft can help shape the Nigerian fashion industry ?
RE-. Not just me, but in general, Fashion Stylists add to the autheticity of the Fashion Industry in Nigeria. I and a lot of my colleagues have curated looks for designers that have made it worthy of ‘international standards’. And we can already see how there has been a great shift with how the outside world view Nigerian fashion. It’s a collective thing.
T&E – Is it mandatory for every fashion brand to have a stylist? As most designers will tell you they can style their collection themselves(afterall they designed the clothes )
RE-. Well, if a designer can style their collection by themselves, then so be it. Even though, I honestly believe they are just cutting costs. However, if I have to be very honest, every fashion designer should have a fashion stylist on their team; whether full time or freelance.
The End
