Frank Osodi: I can’t alter my cultural identity
By Josfyn Uba and Chinwendu Uzoukwu
Saturday, June 28, 2008

For a little boy whose mother’s hobby was designing good dresses, threading the needle or fiddling with a pair of scissors while growing up was not out of place. So it was for Frank Osodi. Years after, that childhood experience and daily interaction with a mother’s passion has turned out to be his lifeline and mainstay.

The renowned fashion designer has not only gained fame and fortunes from his creative prowess but has also serenaded many women with his designs. His lovely designs have also graced the closets of first ladies, queens and princesses but he gained instant global acclaim with Agbani Darego’s evening dress at the Miss World pageant and so basking in the sweet scents of success of over a decade and half of business, the Delta born Frank is quick to tell anyone who cares to listen of his mother’s great influence in his career

Frank who, not only likes to experiment with fabrics also likes to experiment with ideas. He is currently cooking up an idea to sell Africa to the world using fashion as a platform. The project tagged African Fashion Week; Frank Osodi is in collaboration with Jan Malan, international producer.
In an interview with Saturday Sun at his Surulere office, Frank gave an insight into the project which is to hold in Lagos soon

Excepts:
My African Fashion week project
African fashion week is an exhibition that we intend to do using fashion as a platform to draw attention to the great works that we have. What we doing is to showcase our rich cultural heritage, to promote our tradition and sell Africa to the world. We are rich in tradition and culture so the African fashion week is aimed marketing and selling the rich it to the outside world.

We have great potentials in terms of fashion and creativity and we had thought that the world will accept us but that is not happening. The international fashion scene is not ready to accept Africa. Who says that we can not market what we have to the outside world?

We have good products. Look at our Aso Oke, Akwa Ocha, Adire and other quality stuff, who says we can not market them to the outside world and get them to accept it? It is all about packaging and presentation. Ghana has been able to get the world to accept kente and who says we can not do that with Aso Oke?

The primary intent of this exhibition is to sell Africa to the world using the fashion platform which of course, is a strong and viable platform. Apart from showcasing the African culture, we hope to open the window on tourism potentials on Africa and get the world to see Africa
And for the project, I am partnering with Jan Malan, an international producer. He is a great producer. He has a great team and they are good at their job

Why now?
Now is the time. We had long thought that the world would accept us but that we have seen is not happening because I, as an African fashion designer can not design to suit them. Because I cannot delete my heritage, I can not delete my culture. I have a culture and I would like to promote my culture using the fashion platform. If I do not promote my own thing, who will do it for me? We have waited for so long but it is now time to launch out. Africa is a great place with so much to offer. We are now ready to take Africa to the world.

We are ready to sell Africa to the rest of the world through our creativity.
In Paris, London and France, their annual fashion week is known and celebrated all over the world and they do not have products those African designers yet, we celebrate and look forward to theirs. So, what is wrong if we start our own? We will be deceiving ourselves if we say that we are waiting for the world to come to us. We must create our own platform, package our designs and market it. That is the whole idea of this exhibition. It is all about packaging, presentation and promotion

Can do spirit
Just look at Ghana and see what they have done with their kente, a locally made fabric in Ghana. They have succeeded in getting the whole world to accept it. In the international market, kente stands out. Everyone loves it. Same thing has also happened to Ghana
And I ask, why can’t we do the same thing with our own Aso-Oke, Akwa Ocha or even, Adire fabric?
We have good quality fabrics and so, who says we can’t launch and promote it to a level of international relevance? This is the time to start and when the world needs us, they would come to us.

Suitcase export
What most fashion designers do is what I call suitcase export. This someone takes a few of her designs on a trip, sells to a few friends who would like to see their products. That as far as I am concerned is not export. This is a situation where you would be selling with someone’s label, and not yours. No, I won’t do that because I know that I have good product and I would rather sell with my own label. And so, where this is not possible then, it doesn’t make any sense.

Designing to suit African women
They want us to design to suit them. They want us to design to suit their women but that it not possible. I am an African designer. I know my cultural heritage and I can not delete my culture and identity. I design to suit the sexy curves of the African woman. Quite unlike white ladies who are often flat -chested and have no butts. African women have good statistics and I design to serenade them. That was the same thing they did with our girls in the modeling business.

They want them to be like their girls and some of these girls do not know where to draw the line and they go hungry. Where they manage to eat, they would throw up afterwards. Is that sensible? Unfortunately, these models become so skinny and almost lifeless, all because you want to be accepted by the Western world. It doesn’t just make sense. I will continue to work and promote my heritage. I cannot compromise my identity in my bid to either copy or impress the whites.

International publicity
Yes, designing the dress for Agbani Darego, I would say gave me international publicity but it was not the high point of my career. I have designed outfits for some first ladies, high profile celebrities and stars
Even in Agbani’s case, I remember I was just home watching the television when I saw my name on the TV as the designer of her dress because I didn’t travel for the event and so it was just like any other time too when I had seen my name written like that and not until I started receiving calls from all over the world. People started calling from places like Holland and other places to say they had just seen my name on the television. It was Ok but I have had shows in South Africa and other places.

Challenges of designing female dresses
The challenges are numerous. From their sizes, variations in shapes to their temperament, I have contended with all these years. One essential factor I have not lost sight of all my years of being business is to treat every woman differently and that no two women are the same. Again, unlike the whites, African women are not like the whites where a size10 lady is the same everywhere. It is not so with our women. No two size 10 women are the same with African women. There are differences and variations in shapes, curves, busts and hips. They come very pretty in different shapes and sizes and so you struggle to get them right.

What you find as size 14 in a certain lady may not be with another lady. There is no standard size in African woman. We don’t have a uniformed size in women. What you find as size 15 in England or America will not be same here.

There is difference in butts’ size, hip, and waist but with an understanding of all these factors, I am able to deal with them very well and it’s been most fulfilling designing for them

Styles in vogue
You know that fashion is eternally moving. It has not stopped changing and it will not stop changing. What we are seeing now, are rather old school styles. Short dresses with frills and ruffles. We have had them before. That is to show you that the fashion pendulum never stops swinging.