Rikaoto is one of the leading couture brands in Nigeria today. Over the years, the fashion line has proved exceptional and unique in their pieces based on client’s personalities. Beautiful and radiant, Maryam Elisha is the Creative Director of the brand. She talks to Tosin Clegg about her brand, clientele and plans for her company
We focus on the wow look kind of fabrics…
At Rikaoto, we focus on the wow look kind of fabrics, making it look different. What makes this exceptional is that we use a mixture of English and African while most people focus on one. We are in the modern days whereby most clients that we get say they want to be African and a little bit of English. So we do classic as we marry the two to fit the personalities of clients. We are at present working on a collection and we are going to launch our fashion show very soon. It’s going to be really fun having different collections of ours for different clients.
We’ve been doing lots of bridals lately…
Because it’s like a wedding season and lot of people have recognised the Rikaoto brand as one of their first choice to work with and we are grateful about that. Also we have been doing reception dresses and now people like to change to another attire after their normal white outfit from church or mosque. We are approaching the season of pageantry too and we have been doing a lot of those wears and we are lucky to have different pageant winners emerge wearing Rikaoto just like the last Miss Charismatic and so many of them. It’s been great and fun working with different class and personalities.
I don’t have a particular kind of fabric I use…
What I try to do as a fashion designer is to convert what I have available into something different and unique. We could have a normal fabric but the way I would deliver would be quite different from the way any other person would interpret the fabric. I like to use less of the main fabric and more of different combinations to figure out a dress. Most of the time, that’s what I do and people keep asking what kind of fabrics is this and I tell them it’s about four different fabrics here put together and that’s what I do. It’s more of creating the type of fabrics we use than using one particular fabric.
I would just say we are affordable…
Affordable maybe expensive for Mr. A or C; it may be cool or affordable for another person. So we are just affordable and that’s what I can say as we are not so expensive like so many others that I may know. My idea of fashion is to build a brand people can afford and it’s very fantastic, such that people can afford with detailing and good finishing.
Lately, I have been judge on different pageantry…
It’s been great having been invited as a judge on different pageants lately. I love pageantry as I started as a model and won a beauty pageant. It’s just completely fantastic seeing young girls wearing different gowns of different designers and of course I’m a fashion designer and I love to see creative works on stage. And I love to see upcoming girls answering questions just like I did in the past. It reminds me of them but I have been doing that lately though.
I won’t be able to mention names of people I’ve made pieces for…
We have been lucky to have great personalities as our clients. And I don’t love to mention the names of clients but just like the Ex-President, Goodluck Jonathan, we were assigned to be one of the fashion houses to make wears for him throughout his tenure. We are lucky to have that and have such great personality believe in made in Nigeria and African brand doing this and I was called upon to do this; it’s really honoring and I am grateful. Of course we have been making lots of clothes for actors and actresses, beauty queens, models, brides such as Ibinabo Ferasima and lots more but I can’t remember all.
Fusion of entertainment and fashion…
Entertainment industry is in a circle form in the sense that we have an artiste that needs to look like one we see in videos and stuff like that so the business goes in circle in the sense that it compliments each other. So, the fashion and entertainment industries all come together to make a celebrity. Fashion is really getting there as we have top actors and musicians celebrating major brands.
Rikaoto is a creative brand…
We are not necessarily focused on one particular segment of fashion. We are that brand that if you want this particular thing and want it achieved, we would get it done. So, it doesn’t have to be restricted but we put it the way out clients want. We are an African brand that delivers the need of our clients. Our brand is focusing on giving our community that kind of look they deserve and personally. I like to dress people who are going to get married, contesting for a pageant and that kind of wow red carpet looks. But generally we are creative.
I will be getting married very soon…
I don’t like to talk about my private life but I know soon someone is going to propose and probably my surname is going to change. And I don’t have to say if there is someone or not and if there is nobody I have faith someone will come.
Source: Thisday Newspaper