I get inspiration from my African roots - Kolade Folarin

Kolade Folarin runs the London-based fashion company, BanKola Brand Limited. Folarin, an international fashion designer and business administrator of Nigerian descent, is a graduate of Oil and Gas Management from the Coventry University, London, United Kingdom.

He creates cosmopolitan ready-to-wear African attires, as well as contemporary designs, with his brand’s signature touches, drawing inspiration from Akon. Folarin shares his experience in the creative world and brand’s uniqueness. He also talks about The BanKola Brand Fashion Event held in Lagos recently in this interview with Ferdinand Ekechukwu

What was it like growing up in Nigeria before relocating abroad?
Life was good. I really enjoyed my childhood in Nigeria. I was born in my native town of Owo, in Ondo state. I spent part of my childhood in Ibadan and Lagos, before relocating to United Kingdom as an adult. My dad was a businessman, dealing in importation of cars and I used to assist him in his business. As a young boy, I was good in fixing faulty things in the house, and I made myself useful in fixing some of the faults in the imported cars, before my dad would sell them to buyers. My parents were disciplinarians, and both of them were into business. I learnt the rudiments of business from them.

Why did you go into fashion business?

Fashion is a way of life. I felt the African fashion is so unique and has to be promoted in the Western world. In summer, our African dresses are admired by all and sundry, but the market for it is still developing at a slow pace, due to a lot of issues. The way the foreigners admire quality African designs shows it will be widely accepted all over the world, if huge investment is made in it. I realized there is so much potential in massively producing the African wears and I decided to develop a brand that will stand the test of time.

How have you being sustaining the brand?

From the world go, I had my mind set on capturing a wide market and not limiting demand to the United Kingdom. The concept I developed is online ordering of our wears through our website, from different parts of the world, and over time, we have perfected a seamless way of delivering orders in affordable prices, promptly. We get orders from different parts of Europe, United States of America and Africa. Our designs are for both sexes and done with optimal quality in mind. We produce both the cultural and urban wears. We also specialize in clothing trendy and fashionable people who love street style. We use reputable courier services to deliver our orders within 5 to 15 working days, in any part of the world. We also have a social media presence on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

What differentiates your brand from others in the competitive fashion industry?
The BanKola brand’s uniqueness is in its creation of ready-to-wear contemporary urban and cultural designs, at affordable prices. Through branding, our designs are distinctive and easily recognizable. The fact that we design tastefully-made cultural wears in the United Kingdom also stands us out. Our trendy wears are very fashionable. We give people quality at minimal cost.

As the creative director of your brand, what inspires you?
I get inspiration from my African roots, as well as from where I am currently based. I love to create wears that make people feel exquisite. The fact that many of our clients also find what we produce exciting and satisfactory inspires me. I feel highly exhilarated seeing people wearing our African clothing.

Do you have a forerunner who inspires you in the business?
Akon is one individual I respect a lot in view of the success he has recorded with his fashion brand. He launched his clothing line in 2007 and since then, he has never looked back. I admire his tenacity. He is putting Africa on the map as far as fashion is concerned and I hope to replicate that soon.

Why did you decide to organize The BanKola Brand Fashion Event in Lagos?
The idea was conceived to find the Face of BanKola for the year 2021. We decided to search for the winner in Nigeria and organize the event in Lagos to showcase the Nigerian culture. We needed to put in a lot of logistics to ensure success.

Did you face any challenge in organising the event?

We were planning the event when COVID-19 was declared as a pandemic throughout the world. This caused a lot of disruptions in our plans. Events were banned from taking place in Lagos due to health hazards. Because we did not know when the ban would be lifted, we had to keep things on hold for a while. This had adverse effect on the planned budget. When we finally got an approval from the Lagos State government, with the understanding that we would observe all the COVID-19 protocols, I heaved a sigh of relief. The event was held at Landmark Event Centre, Oniru, Lekki, Lagos. The Nigeria Center for Disease Control, (NCDC), and the Lagos State Safety Commission, (LSSC), were very supportive. We collaborated with event managers like Allevents, DopeBoy Entertainment, and Brendance and Crusaders Limited. We had over 20 professional models from Nigeria and the Diaspora on the stage, wearing various cultural and urban wears created by us. Over 700 guests were in attendance. It was made colorful with the presence of DJ Xclusive, Denrele Edun, Brymo, Acapella, MC Smart and Kulh. They engaged the audience in their own ways. For the search for the Face of BanKola 2021, we had a total of 1,400 registered contestants. The grand prize of a brand new car and an ambassadorship deal for the year 2021; N300,000 and N100,000 cash prizes were given to the first, second and third prize winners respectively. We overcame the challenges because we were focused on achieving success, in spite of the prevailing situation.

As an African involved in fashion business, what do you think should be done to improve the African fashion industry?

Africa has approximately 1.4 billion populations. This is huge. The bulk of this population is favourably disposed to wearing home grown clothes, though these people have low purchasing power and this invariably limits their demands. The African design could be less expensive, if mass production is used in a more structured industry. The African designer places a value on his garment-which could be considered high by the populace-because he does not mass produce and has limited reach. The production chain needs to be developed to optimal level to reduce cost and encourage affordability. China is the second largest apparel market in the world, valued at over $1.7 billion, because the country mass produces garments. Many international brands produce their garments in China for the fact that the labour is cheap. This enables the brands to sell at competitive prices in different parts of the world, most especially, in the Western world. The retail prices of some garments sold in Europe and America would triple if they were to be produced there, due to minimum wage issue.

As an entrepreneur, how do you give back to the society?

I am involved in charity works that focus primarily on poverty alleviation and health concerns. These organizations empower vulnerable communities in Nigeria and the UK.

What are your plans for the future?

The Face of BanKola competition is planned as an annual event. Having done this year’s edition more will come. We are also going to establish a fashion, art and dance school to help develop our culture in Africa and the UK. My optimum goal on the brand is to give the masses in different parts of the world, affordable casual and cultural wears, tastefully done with unique materials. We plan to have the brand growing at a steady pace. We are also going to have a chain of BanKola fashion stores in Nigeria.