I Wear 100 per Cent, Yomi Casual

Not many people know that, Makun Omoniyi who goes by the moniker, Yomi Casual, his brand name, is the younger brother of one of Nigeria’s top comedian, Ayo Makun otherwise known as AY. Yomi’s meteoric rise in the fashion world cannot be overemphasized, as the graduate of Fashion design and clothing technology from Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi, isn’t only a recipient of several awards, a testament to his creative ability, he is a clothier to several top celebrities, socialites, politicians and business men and women. The young and vibrant creative designer spoke on his brand and his unique selling point.

Yomi Casual has been in existence for a while now, what brought about the concept?
My love for fashion designing started while I was still in school but professionally, the brand, Yomi Casual started in 2007. It is not something I just delved into for lack of what to do, it is something I studied in school. My brother AY gave me all the encouragement that I needed by asking me to move to Lagos, the fashion capital of Nigeria. Ever since I heeded that advice, God has been extremely wonderful. I have been able to turn my passion into a lucrative business and I am now an employer of labour. Now I am more or less a businessman as I concentrate more on the business side of fashion.

What give birth to the name, Yomi Casual?
Olorunyomi is my middle name. I was named after my father. The appendage, Casual, is the way I see my designs. Singer, Davido said my stuffs are not casual, but very serious. But my own definition of casual is different. It is not meant to be boring or slouchy, it’s meant to be smart.

What will you say differentiates you from other major designers?
The most important thing in every business is to identify and project your unique selling point, what will set you apart from every other person. Don’t try to copy what others are doing. Try to do something different. I remember way back when I incorporated embroidery in my designs, there were just a few designers who were doing it in Lagos. Even though  they knew about it, they didn’t quite know how to be creative with it. I’m an artiste, I sketch on fabrics. When I do my sketches on fabrics, I try to bring it alive with embroidery. So, that was what distinguished my designs from the rest. There is no way you can talk about Yomi Casual without talking about embroidery. The brand is synonymous with large and artistic embroidery. Another thing that set me apart from other designers is that, my stuffs are cut to fit which makes a lot of people including non Nigerian clamour to wear my pieces. Again, like I said, I’m a businessman, the way I reach out to my clients makes them value what I make. If you see people who wear Yomi Casual pieces, you will understand where I’m coming from. I read an article on the internet that says: the number of celebrities that rock your outfit will determine how good you are. So, I guess that saying is true about me because 80 per cent of our celebrities rock Yomi Casual.

What actually influenced the idea of you using celebrities to model your pieces?
I got that from my mentor, MUDI, who started the trend of using celebrities to model his designs

How has the experience been so far?
It has been sweet and good. It hasn’t been that rough because. Nearly everyone wants to wear a Yomi Casual piece now. If celebrities are gathered somewhere and almost 90 per cent of them are wearing my piece, the other 10 per cent would naturally feel left out. So, when I meet most of these celebrities and I tell them, I want to cloth them, they gladly embrace the offer. I’m privilege and they are always happy to wear my stuffs.

Are you implying that you never faced some down time in business? Wasn’t there ever a time you felt like quitting?
Well, that would be when I first started because I started small. I was living with my brother AY then. Comedians, Seyi Law, Elenu, all products of AY open mic contest, were all living with us at that time in an apartment. My bedroom was the sewing factory and there were four of us in that bedroom plus my sewing machine. During the day, the bedroom would be an office and at night, we would bring out the foam to sleep. It was very funny then because when clients come around, I had to take them to the bedroom. It got to a point, my friends started making money and I was still struggling to survive. When they come back from shows, they would just tip me some money. One day, I became their topic of discussion. They were like, “This thing you’re doing, are you sure you don’t want to do something else or better still, go get proper paid employment?” Within me, I knew this was what I wanted to do and if I remained serious with it, then it will be a very serious business. I just need to put my mind to it. So if I was in this because of money, trust me, I would have called it quits a long time ago. But I am passionate about what I do.

What has been your most memorable day as a fashion designer?
I won’t want to say meeting Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN, or the former Commissioner for Sport in Delta Stat, Amaju Pinnick, who is now the Chairman of Nigeria Football Federation or one of the Special Advisers to President Goodluck Jonathan, all of who are my clients, because I was introduced to them. But one year, I got a call from the Deputy governor of Jigawa State, Ahmad Mahmud. He called me himself, saying that he has been trying to reach me and that he wanted to wear my designs. Instantly, I knew it was going to be a good year for me. That, so far has been my happiest moment since I started out as a fashion designer. Do you know how humbling it is for a Deputy Governor to tell you that he has been try to reach you?

Does it mean your pieces are mainly for the elite?
No because Yomi Casual is affordable. It depends on your spending power. For instance, if you walk into my show room and you decide to pick a 2015 outfit, it’s going to be more  expensive than a 2014 design but not too expensive. Nigerians are very funny people, who would rather spend so much money to buy foreign brands rather than indigenous brands. I will advice Nigerians to spend their money on indigenous brands and promote them the way foreigners promote their own brands. That way we can grow too and be at par with our counterparts abroad.

Quite unlike some who come into business, flourish and then later go into oblivion after a while, you have weathered the storm for over seven years. What has been your staying power?
I can’t tell exactly why some come into the fashion business in the first place. I don’t know if it is to build a career or for something else? Personally, I didn’t go into fashion because of the money, it is something I have always had a passion for. When I was growing up, I really loved looking good and that has since become part of me. Be that as it may, passion for what I do is what has kept me going.

Some designers only sketch and can’t sew. Which can you do?
I did mention earlier on that when I first started, it was in my older brother’s house, from my bedroom which also accommodated four other people. I cut and sew as well. But now, God has blessed me to an extent where I now have a lot of young boys that work with me. You can’t do it all by yourself.

To what do you owe your success story?
If not for my brother, AY, Yomi Casual will not be in existence.  He gave me all the support that anybody could wish for. He would have given me money, he’s a big boy, you know, maybe put me on a monthly payroll of say 50 thousand naira and I would have been with him, like a lazy boy. But he saw that I had a passion for fashion and all he said was, ” I won’t give you money, I will help you. I will teach you how to fish”. He put out an advertisement for my fashion business on television for free; on AY Show which shows on DSTV and ten other different stations. At that point, my brand name became bigger than me. Then when I tell people that I am the person behind Yomi Casual, they found it difficult to believe because they expect to see a very big and successful person. So I owe my success to my big brother, AY.

Aside fashion, are you into other businesses?
Yes, I’m a set designer as well

Will you say you are fulfilled?
Not yet, I’m still learning and I’m still growing. Look at my mentor, MUDI. You need to see him then you will know what fulfilment is.

So, how will you define success?
Success to me is being a blessing to people.

When do you plan to walk down the aisle?
I’m not searching, I have a fiancé. To pop the word is not the big deal but to choose a date for the wedding is the big deal. Already, they know me with her; it is not a hidden thing. Hopefully, before the end of this year we would pick a date.

You are known to drive flashy cars. Is there any particular reason for this?
No. It is just my preference. If God blesses me well today, heaven knows the kind of car I’m going to buy, even my fiancé knows. Presently, the kind of car I want to drive now which I’m still going to get before the year runs out is a truck, a monster truck. I love exclusivity. I love being different. I love to be noticed when I go out. When I’m going somewhere, I like to make an entrance. I don’t like it when I enter somewhere and they don’t notice me. That’s the only way I flirt and not with women.

But this is the same thing that attracts girls to you, like bees to honey
They will always come around but they will find me very boring because I don’t party. I don’t smoke and I don’t drink. So, when they come around me and realise that I am boring, they will disappear.

What advice would you give to a roadside tailor who dreams of hitting it big one day as you have?
Well, first, you don’t really need to be so educated to be as successful as MUDI, one of the biggest fashion brands in Africa. I believe that you don’t have to go to school to be successful in fashion business. Just be outspoken, learn how to read, and do a lot of research on your type of business. Google has made it very easy for us; everything we need in life is on Google. I wish I had this knowledge when I was in school, trust me, I would have been bigger than this. Just log on to Google and it will take you to different websites that will help you find solutions to your problems. Some websites go as far as playing a full video and teach you as if you’re in a classroom. Through that, you can learn many things. Take for instance, the boys that work for me, they are ever grateful that I have helped to turn their lives around. If you had seen them when I met them, they were like the roadside tailors you are referring to, but now, they are all changed, they have ‘re-branded’. That is why it is good to package yourself in whatever you are doing. For instance, what I’m doing is just packaging, I’m just a tailor. It is not about my level of education, it is the way I packaged my brand. I can package a normal shirt that a road side tailor makes and it will look as if it is the best shirt in the world. So, roadside tailors should just put themselves together, package themselves and stop seeing themselves as just ordinary.

What is it about MUDI that endeared him to you?
He is a down-to-earth person. He can be in a gathering of fifty thousand people and just might be the greatest among them and you won’t know. That is why I keep praying to God that when I get to the zenith of my career, it shouldn’t turn me into something else.

Do you accept trainees or do you just employ designers?
I usually accept trainees. Right now, my place is filled up. I have four Industrial Attachment students working under me from Yaba College of Technology and I have over ten staff members. I think that’s enough for now.

What is your advice for young designers?
Don’t go into fashion because of money. Love and have passion for what you do. Trust me, in short while, it will pay off. Another thing is that, you don’t really need to know how to sew to be a fashion designer. You might be a very creative person and you know how to sketch and you have an idea about fashion, you can get tailors to help you achieve your dream. And if you want to succeed in this business, don’t just start the business because you know how to sketch, go and learn about the trade.

Do you wear other designers aside your brand?
I wear 100 per cent Yomi Casual