Amiable and ever smiling designer, Zizi Cardow is no doubt working round the clock. She’s showcasing breathtaking Zizi Collection at the forthcoming Africa Fashion Week Nigeria 2017 in June. Fondly called Zizi, her Zizi Industrial Clothing Company located in Lagos has showcased Nigeria on the global map. The fair-complexioned designer who hails from Abia State has featured in all local and some international media including CNN, FTV, SABC and Channel O. After her first year of breaking into the Nigerian fashion scene, Zizi won the prestigious designer of the year award at the Nigerian Fashion Show in 2001. This award launched her designs into the African market (South Africa) as well as the European market (Italy, France and Britain). She celebrated 10 years in the fashion business on May 15, 2010 and was honoured in her hometown in 2011 as she was conferred with the title Ada Ejiaga Mba 1 of Isuikwuato in recognition of her immense contributions to the growth of the community. In this interview, Zizi reflects on her journey in life so far.
You are a great designer, what’s your inspiration?
Fashion for me is about style, personal style and everything. What I do on the runway sometimes is not the same as what we have in the shop. The runway for me is a canvas where I paint, I just let my imagination flow but the society here tends to have a closed mind to that and they want to just believe that what’s on the runway is all that is. I have always liked to be different. I keep saying it, I’m a nonconformist. I design based on what I feel from inside. I have always loved the feminine silhouette and I always try to build on that by exploring the sensuality of a woman because I think every woman has a sensual side that needs to be explored, appreciated and applauded. For me, it’s all about you wearing the dress, not the dress wearing you. So, most of my designs are wrapped around that fact; I always believe in elegance and simplicity.
They are like timeless pieces. Year-in-year-out, you can still wear them. When I say timeless, my pieces most times, when I design them, take five years before you start seeing them in the market. I like to be fashion-forward. I like to think out of the box. As a designer or as a creator, your job is actually to think of new things. That creative side of it is what excites me. People look at me sometimes and say, “You are just weird”. I tell them two, three years from now, you’ll tell me different things.
What’s your take about runway models in Nigeria?
Models are very important but it’s a shame how they’re being treated. Personally, I think as a rule, models shouldn’t be as skinny .I prefer my models full-bodied, because clothes fits better on them. I think they play a very important role in the fashion industry especially here in Nigeria. Earlier, models had such a hard time being labeled and all that. Nowadays, they are quite lucky but at the same time, I think there should be a law as to how skinny they have to be. It’s crazy. A lot of them sometimes don’t eat as much as they should and they starve themselves. I have known quite a number of them for 10 or 12 years now. Those I started off with, many of them are married and now with kids and some others are outside studying and doing wonderfully well. They are doing different things and I’m in touch with lots of them. Some have made us really proud. Look at Oluchi, Bisi and Bunmi.
Quite a number of them have made Nigeria proud. People bad- mouthing models are just being myopic and hypocritical, because we tend to have that attitude about every other thing that we don’t understand in this country. The fashion scene is a fast lane and the girls need to be very global. You cannot say because you are a Nigerian model you now have to restrict yourself to the Nigerian market. You need to be a model first of all, because you are a mannequin at the end of the day. As a model, when you are on the runway, your body doesn’t belong to you anymore, it belongs to the designer, the hairstylist and their interpretation of what they want to suggest is what you have to relay to the crowd.
You championed the Iye ball in your local Cherubim & Seraphim church. What was your motivation?
It started like two and half years ago as a membership drive and to enlighten the public that we worship God, the true God, because people have different perspectives concerning white garment church. It has not been easy to convince people but we know that we are serving God Almighty. With an enhanced congregation, we see that conviction and people are now associating with us, knowing that we serve Almighty God.
At the ball, awards were given out to outstanding people who excelled in their fields of endeavor. I have always been active in the church. It’s not something I go screaming about my faith. Everybody has that calling, that purpose to impact people differently and positively. I think at the end of the day, that’s why we are all on this earth. How many souls have you won for the kingdom? I have had the opportunity to preach on different occasions in church and during revivals.
You are ever young and with a lovely physique and comportment. What’s the secret?
I don’t know really. I can’t really say what it is, because I don’t do Spas, I don’t do all the girly-girly things. Everyday I wake up, I do my normal makeup and I’m good to go.
I don’t have any special diets. As a matter of fact, I got a day at the spa for my birthday, which was May 4th, and I’m yet to redeem it. I’m yet to have that day at the spa. I think the most important thing is generally to be happy. Make yourself happy, don’t take yourself so seriously. I keep telling people that. For me it works. Just take life easy, as easy as it can be. Sometimes, as humans, you just worry unnecessarily over material things, all those worries, all that stress tells on you. My advice to anyone is just to be happy and take life easy. I am who I am. I don’t try to be anybody else. I always say I don’t conform because society is you and I. You don’t have to be a follower. I believe in being a leader. In everything I do, I think the utmost thing I have in mind is to be happy. When you try to be somebody else, when you try to do things that are not your purpose in life, you end up frustrating yourself, putting yourself into a lot of problems but I see myself as a happy going person. I like to have fun however and whenever I can. The cheapest medication is laughter.
Your daughter is a fully-grown lady. What legacies did you learn from your mum that you imparted to her?
I learnt that communication is key; you have to communicate with your kids. I didn’t enjoy that benefit of communicating with my parents. I now learnt how important it is for you to sit down with your kids and have a heart-to-heart talk. In bringing up my daughter, I don’t think I have ever raised my hands to beat her except once and I apologized to her about it. She was like three years old and I never did it again. I’d rather sit her down, talk to her about why I’m unhappy with what she did. It worked for me. Now, I have a daughter who is like a best friend and we share and talk about so many things. When my daughter was nine, I was already talking to her about periods. When I’m in my own time, I make her understand what it is. Sometimes, I make her go through it with me. If we are going out, I tell her to look out if any stains are on my garment. Even though I knew nothing would happen, I just wanted to prepare her for her own time. I told her that when hers starts, the tradition is we have to kill a whole chicken and she has to finish it all by herself.
I did that so that she would not be afraid or shy when she’s having her period. When hers started, I remember she said “mummy” and that mummy sounded different from any other mummy I have ever heard. That day, I talked to her about how to clean up herself and I took her to Shoprite and in the middle of Shoprite I started telling her about life and boys. A very neutral ground, she wasn’t uncomfortable and neither was I and I started telling her about boys.