Kiki Okewale: Eroding Pain, Embracing Purpose

Her fairytale life was upended at a young age by the death of her beloved father. Still, Kiki Okewale-the young woman behind the fashion brand Hope by Kiki Okewale and wife of the popular fertility doctor Babatunde Okewale is not easily deterred by life’s circumstances. Like a phoenix, the fashion designer overcame the unbearable loss to become one of the leading businesswomen in the fashion industry. Vanessa Obioha captures her inspiring tale and her mission to help others live a purpose-driven life.

The imposing building of Hope Plaza along Opebi-Oregun Link Road is unmissable. Quite easily, it pulls the attention of any passerby with the bold image of an elegant female covering the side of the building facing Opebi Road. The accessories donned by the model are convincing enough to lure anyone into the plaza. Inside the white-coloured showroom is a display of luxury; think of expensive fabrics, footwear, bags and other glittering accessories that accentuate the beauty of a woman. All of these make up the three fashion brands owned by Kiki Okewale. They are Hope by Kiki Okewale for fabrics; KO Ready To Wear for party/evening and casual dresses, and Bling By Kiki for jewellery, shoes and purses/clutch bags.

Okewale is no stranger in high society. She is the wife of the popular Lagos fertility doctor Babatunde Okewale. On the fashion scene, she is known for unique designs which often come with glittering embellishments, earning her the moniker, the Queen of Blings. Her clientele boasts of prominent personalities in politics and the business sphere. Within the short period she forayed into the fashion industry, the young woman has carved a niche for herself, stitching her name tightly into the Nigerian fashion landscape.

Before she veered into fashion, Okewale worked in notable PR companies like TPT owned by the prolific Tokunbo Modupe, although she disclosed that her venture into the field was out of necessity since she just returned to Nigeria at the time. She would later veer into the events arm of the company OO1 Prisme Events Limited where she lived her passion for event management. But she realised that the job won’t be suitable when she finally settled down and by 2010, she left the world of PR and event management.

Today, the proud mother and wife boasts of a résumé that includes more than one career and continues to chart into new territories that are fashion related.

One can call Okewale a workaholic and will not be far from the truth. She runs a blog, non-governmental organisations and offers mentorship classes on fashion entrepreneurship.
This reporter’s arrival on a recent sunny afternoon interrupted a scheduled video shoot. Wearing one of her ready-to-wear outfits, with her face all made up, the tall brown-skinned fashion designer settled into a seat in her showroom within arm’s length while the camera crew waited upstairs in her office.

“If I ask you to wait, we may not be done till evening,” she explained, striking a pose that suggested she was ready to tackle any questions thrown at her. But once we began the interview, Okewale relaxed and turned out to be engaging.

Starting off with a compliment on the neatness of her showroom, particularly the pristine white walls, she confessed that she was finicky about cleanliness with a story to that. It all began during her stint with OO1.

“I had a couple of cleaners there that would always look up to me. Some of them wanted to go back to school and I sponsored them. I realised that I paid so much attention to their cleaning. I’m always pointing out the areas that are not properly cleaned. I’m very finicky. Even here, they are tired of me. I’m always pointing out one dusty area or the other. It’s not as if they are not trying but it’s not enough for me.”

She explained that she deliberately painted the showroom walls white because other colours hide dirt. It is now habitual that she repaints every year to keep the glow.

Her penchant for cleanliness led her to open a cleaning facility that supplies cleaners to hospitals, hotels, and corporate organisations. She also manufactures cleaning products such as detergents, handwash, etc. Still driven by ambition, Okewale honed her skills at the Green Cleaning Institute when she travelled abroad.

“They basically teach you how to clean in a green way,” she said. She eventually became their representative in Nigeria.

Okewale’s entrepreneurial spirit can be traced to her childhood. At the age of 11, she lost her beloved father. His death was a big blow to Okewale and her family. As the last child and the only daughter of her parents, Okewale was used to the fairy tale life.

“I was practically a spoiled child. My Dad and my (five) brothers overly pampered me. Not until my father died, I honestly didn’t know that there were some people who couldn’t afford three square meals in a day. I didn’t understand that. I just could not imagine that there were some children who had no idea how they would feed or where they would sleep because I was sheltered and privileged,” she revealed.

Such a luxurious lifestyle sent many tongues wagging when her father died. Some laughed at her mother, basking in their moments of schadenfreude at the plight of the family. Not a few concluded that the mother would remarry, probably to one of her late husband’s friends to maintain the elitist status.

Little Okewale was however bothered that all everyone saw in her was a spoilt brat. So she resolved to prove a point to all that she was more than the spoiled rich girl tag attached to her.

By age 12, Okewale started working.
“I did different things. I had neighbours who wanted me to take care of their children. So when I returned from school, I would do that. Others needed their laundry done and all of that.”
Meanwhile, her mother was unaware of her hustle. She however pointed out that the aim was not to make money.

“I was just happy rendering services and being there for people.”
But her clients were impressed by her dedication and rewarded her. From the monies she received, she started saving and taking care of some of her personal needs as things became too tough for her family. Okewale landed a job immediately after secondary school. She was recruited in a poultry farm in Ibadan and within one year, she was made the manager. Her take-home pay was N12,000.

“It was a lot of money at the time. And from it, I would send money to mum and save for my university.”

While her initial plan was to run a degree program, Okewale ended up with a diploma, largely because of her working schedule. However, she didn’t stay too long. She eventually went to the United Kingdom to study. “My Dad’s loss really shook me. We were very close. It was a blow but it helped me to be purpose-driven.”

Even in death, Okewale endeavours to honour her late father by following his principles.
“My Dad was a philanthropist and he helped a lot of people. Like my father, every year I try to sponsor two students to the university and I make sure I pay their tuition throughout the course. So far, I have sponsored six people.” She added: “It’s not easy. Sometimes, you have to pay even when you need the money most.”

Okewale finds fulfilment in helping people. She currently runs two non-governmental organisations: Stitches of Hope which focuses mainly on training young people while Kiki Okewale’s Foundation is concerned with taking care of less privileged people on an annual basis.
Unlike most people who find their creativity nudging them into the fashion world, for Okewale, it was about overcoming her body image. She revealed that as a child, she had issues with her appearance.

“I felt like I had a lot of features that were very masculine because I looked a lot like my Dad. Even though I had a passion for fashion, it was difficult to mingle with others. If there were four children seated here, because I lacked confidence, I would never feel comfortable and beautiful. So I learned how to add embellishments to my attires just to stand out in the crowd.”
Her skills came in handy when she eventually left the corporate world. Okewale’s mindset was that since she could not be part of the events management, she would probably dress people going to events.

“That was why I went into fashion as I have always loved to but I didn’t want to do normal sewing. I thought about a lot of people who had self-esteem problems. Even older people still suffer from such and feel they are not older people. So I thought of how I could help them.”
A recurrent feedback from her clients is how her clothes make them feel confident. Such testimonials make Okewale feel she is living a life of purpose.

“For me, it’s not just about styling, it’s about making you feel comfortable.”
Although she has physical stores, Okewale was able to leverage the opportunities that come with promoting her brands on social media, particularly after the outfit she made for actress Mercy Aigbe for the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCAs) went viral. Her social media pages gained traction overnight. About 80 per cent of her clients now are from social media but the fashion designer is a bit wary about social media following the blackout that affected Facebook and its sister products a few months ago. Nowadays, she ensures that she gets the email addresses of her clients. But the most instructive lesson for her was that the brick and mortar space is still very important in today’s business landscape.

Perhaps, the greatest lesson Okewale has learnt so far in her needle and thread trade came during the pandemic. She stated that the pandemic helped her look inwards.

“I started a garment production company BK3 during the pandemic because we realised that many boutiques were buying from Turkey and China but everywhere was closed during the lockdown period. Boutiques were suffering. After I did some research, I told myself that in every problem there is a goldmine. I never would have thought that having a garment factory would be rewarding. Because now, boutiques are bringing jobs to factories. It is cheaper for you and saves you from shipping expenses.”

Okewale’s utmost desire is to empty herself before leaving the earthly plane. One of the ways she is doing that is through an Instagram live program called ‘Pain to Purpose’ where she brings people to share an experience that was painful at a point but later became a purpose. For her, it was her father’s death, an unbearable pain that has now steered her into a purpose-driven life.