Bennett Oghifo
TJWHO, a contemporary Men’s wear brand and design company, recently unveiled its spring-summer collection at the 2021 Lagos Fashion Week, held at Victoria Island, Lagos.
The Creative Director, TJWHO, Taju Ibrahim is one for detail-oriented garment construction which comes from his Architecture background.
He stated: “TJWHO is exhibiting a preview of our Spring-Summer collection, that is, SS 21 and SS21 collection.
Our collection for this year is themed Avant-garde Minimalism, an extension of the SS’21 Infrared Collection which combines homegrown style aesthetics with international standard and design techniques.”
Ibrahim said the exhibition delves into a deeper understanding of timelessness.
“The reason for this chosen subject was to acknowledge how timelessness has become part of our brand identity. The brand showcased an offsite with artistic installations to give a complete TJWHO brand experience. which basically means experimenting. We are for now basically experimenting and getting feedbacks, so we test the waters and get people’s reactions,” he said.
He stated that the constant evolving visibility of the Nigerian Fashion industry had provoked emerging designers to innovate from a modern narrative. TJWHO has shown a growing demand and acceptance for more complex designs in menswear.
TJWHO was fully established in November 2018, though had been around since 2015. It is a minimalist luxury brand, which bridges similarities between the African continent and other regions.
Ibrahim said: “We do a lot of things and fashion is just one of our co-medium of expression. We noticed a gap in the Men’s wear space and African fashion in general and we are trying to retail men’s wear in such a way that we can create a uniform for everyday wears that is more stylish, elevating basics, reinventing, and making wears fresher.
“At TJWHO, we analyse the needs of people and integrate multi-functionality into everything we create. Functionality is basically one of our ideology and methodology in design. We give details to pockets, reversibility of shirts, which can be worn inside out, hidden pockets, detachable collars, just to make it fun, but still keep it in order as well.
“I want people to understand the level of sophistication that goes behind the making of our collections, from hidden detailing in the garment, and highly attentive stitching,” he said.
“We continuously challenge staple designs by re-inventing them to ensure our garments transcend seasonality which is an integral part of our sustainable approach towards fashion. The collection revitalised interpretations of native and urban basics that can withstand time and trend for any generation,” he said.
“Our collection also accentuates detailing by focusing on plain fabrics with intricate embroidery inspired by the Japanese and West African culture.
“Our end goal is to cater to every kind of man, who needs to look good and smart. Projecting into the future, we are looking at participating and collaborating with fashion industries in Japan, France, England, and the UAE.
“Reaching out to our clients, we are present on the social media, we have a website with subscription platform, where clients could call in and book for an appointment. Our clothes are bespoke and tailored to fit each individual, as well as made-to-order for general wears. Issue newsletters on shows on events coming up
“We are 100% local contents users, though we still have challenges like infrastructure in the fashion industry. Financing is a major challenge, putting up a show is not cheap, and getting sponsors is not that easy too, we are happy to have Chivas Regal as our exclusive partner brand for this exhibition. On textiles, sourcing of quality fabrics is very difficult in Nigeria. We do rigorous laundry test with all our fabrics before tailoring them, which is a lot of work.
“I am working towards shifting my workshop to being almost 80% solar -powered, maintaining sourcing fabrics from eco-friendly manufacturers and leading a modern approach in showing artisans new techniques to adapt to.”.
He gave an exclusive peek into what to expect next by addressing the brand as having some big things planned in the international markets, soon, hinting at Paris.
