Headwear making in Nigeria now globally recognized- Adeola Agbana, CEO Allured by Ruby Head wear academy

With the passion to help women achieve self discovery and handcraft, Adeola Agbana Co-founder and Lead Creative at Allured by Ruby Head Wear Academy is not stopping at empowering leading women achieve their desire. Having trained well over 13,000 women, Adeola in this chat disclosed that why she created the head wear academy, opinion about the Nigeria fashion industry, future plans amongst others

Kindly introduce yourself and tell us about your educational background?

My name is Adeola Agbana and I’m the Co-founder and Lead Creative at Allured by Ruby Head Wear Academy located here in Lagos. I’m a Milliner, Online Tutor, and Entrepreneur who has a passion for helping women achieve self-discovery and actualization by awakening their creativity while also monetizing their innate skills and capabilities. I hold the National Certificate in Education from the Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education majoring in Theatre Arts; I’m an Alumna of the Leading Ladies Business Institute (LLBI) and currently a student of Psychology at the Lagos State University.

What is the Allured by Ruby Head Wear Academy all about?

Allured by Ruby Head Wear Academy is a formal training school where we teach female creative’s the amazing craft of making hats and different types of headwear’s ranging from Fascinators, Turbans, Head bands, Auto Gele, Head pieces, Bridal accessories, etc.

What prompted your decision to establish the academy in the first place?

Quite a few years back after trying and failing at several businesses, I decided to explore my creative potentials; it was very difficult to find any formal creative school that could physically teach me to make headwear’s except for the tailoring apprenticeship shops. After further search, I found one that only taught Fascinator making without any structure in place; teaching was a master – servant thing which I didn’t want to do plus I couldn’t afford it at the time. This need to fill a skill gap amongst aspiring fashion creative’s together with the strong drive to impart knowledge and my creative skills birthed the Online Academy and over time the physical Head Wear Academy was also established.

You have trained well over 13,000 women, don’t you think you have done enough already?

Smiles, no it isn’t and I strongly want that number to quadruple many times over as time progresses. The vision is to provide women in Africa and beyond with top-notch millinery training, help them master the skill and transit them into generating sustainable income from their headwear products, expertise and experience. We have barely scratched the surface yet.

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What have been the reviews from past trainees so far?

Honestly, the reviews from both our online and physical classes have been hugely gratifying and soul lifting. This is an indicator that we are doing it right and gradually progressing towards achieving our vision. We equally pride ourselves as the first formal Headwear Academy in Lagos that teaches several categories of headwear making in very simplified methods that ensures every student is reached at their learning level whether you have any previous knowledge of headwear making or not.

What’s your thought generally about the fashion industry in Nigeria?

The Nigerian fashion industry has really revolved over the years despite its many challenges. Fashion in Nigeria has played an important cultural role and is also contributing significantly to the country’s economics. These days, women are paying more attention to fashion accessories to complement their outfits. Modern fashion trends have made it such that without head pieces to complement your outfits, it doesn’t seem complete. This was clearly represented in the movie; King of Boys where for every outfit worn by the character, Eniola Salami, there was a complementary headwear to give her that regal look which her persona depicts in the movie. This millinery sector of the fashion industry has now become a growing avenue for generating income and empowering women because it is sustainable and scalable.

Do you think our Headwear designers are better competitors to our foreign counterparts?

Headwear making in Nigeria has grown to the point where it is now globally recognized and I strongly believe Nigerians can hold it down anywhere in the world, just as we have various professionals proudly representing us all over the globe. That being said, with fashion constantly changing and evolving, head wear designers here have come a long way and I make bold to say can compete favorably with our foreign counterparts. We have shown that with the quality of our designs and millinery works at various hat exhibitions both locally and internationally. There are lots of big Nigerian names that have been etched into world history by virtue of worldwide acceptability of their works.

What’s the future of Allured by Ruby Head Wear Academy in years to come?

I’m really excited about this because the future is very bright. With headwear’s; turbans, fascinators, auto Gele, etc. now becoming very complementary to fashion designing, there is the growing need to train more women who are interested in venturing into it. We’ve been getting a lot of invitations to come setup in other states, so creative there can also enjoy what our Lagos creative community enjoys in terms of physical classes and events. It is our intention to also institute a mentorship program which would focus on accountability and business growth in the headwear making sector of the Nigerian fashion space. Amongst many other plans which are in motion, we would be standardizing our Online Headwear Academy to conform to global best practices in online education with the launch of our Website in the first quarter of 2022