Our interaction with fashion happens daily. Whether we are adding a new pair of heels that caught our attention to our digital cart or finding inspiration for a new look on a magazine centre spread, how we consume fashion transcends way beyond the occasionally immersive experience of watching a live runway show. Having become a household name in the fashion industry thanks to the quality and consistency that aid its longevity and sustained it for almost a decade, Emmy Kasbit finally creates a lasting showroom experience that will allow friends and stakeholders of the brand a much longer interaction with the brand. In a chat with Kehindé Fagbule, he gives us a first look at the Emmy Kasbit atelier.

THE ATELIER CONCEPTUALISATION…

It was about creating a platform where we could engage more with our client base on a more interactive note. In the past years, we’ve done a lot of shows in different parts of the world, and we’ve done a lot of bespoke, but we’ve never really had that interactive space where customers, clients, friends and stakeholders of the brand could actually walk into and experience Emmy Kasbit as a brand, but not just as a brand, as a concept.

THE COLLECTIONS…

It was important to engage the customers through different architectural elements, and that goes from the structure of the place. The colours that were used are very neutral; it’s almost like a blank canvas. It was very important to have that because the designs are what speak for us as a brand. The designs, cuts, and silhouettes are very traditional to Emmy Kasbit as a brand, so we’re using indigenous fabric, akwete, a traditional handwoven fabric, to create traditional, modern and timeless pieces so inasmuch as the space is a very beautiful space, what then enhances in terms of beauty and invoking all the different elements and senses of the human body are the clothes—they speak a language of themselves and are able to communicate different emotions to different consumers.

FINDING BALANCE BETWEEN ACCESSIBILITY AND EXCLUSIVITY…

For us at Emmy Kasbit, we know our audience, and one of the most beautiful things is being able to interact with a new audience through transitions of different collections of our core target audience. We’ve also noticed that over the past years, as new collections are launched into the fashion ecosystem, we always get a new followership of people who are able to identify with elements from the collection. Every collection through all the seasons has been birthed through cultural and historical events in Nigeria, with many references coming from the Eastern part of Nigeria. When these collections come out, we are basically telling the story of culture, history, traditions and values through garments. The core ecosystem of Emmy Kasbit, the followership is amazing, and through the designs of each piece of garment in each collection, it appeals to a certain demographic. So we might have a collection, Spring/Summer ’24 coming up. We might have 30 to 40 looks, and each garment in that collection will appeal to a certain person. So when the collections are released, of course, we are releasing them in limited editions, so we can have 500 of each look. We then don’t say, “this is for you; you can’t buy this,” because it is for everybody.

CLIMATE CONTRIBUTION…

At the atelier, we are very sustainable in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With the design, we are very minimal. A lot of wood was reused, upcycled, recycled, and this is just our commitment to contribute positively to our SDGs.

COLLABORATIONS…

For collaborations, we always look at it from a different point of view. Our major number one objective for collaboration is with the community, not just with brands or different stakeholders. Our first source and most important objective for collaboration is the community that works with us. This goes down to our artisans in the East, the women that work with us, weave for the brand, and the women that continue to teach the DNA of who, what and how Emmy Kasbit is as a brand. That is our major community collaboration, taking these skilled artisans, working with them, providing a source of income for them, and giving back to the community, not just their families, children and husbands, but the whole community at large. Of course, taking it a step further, we have local sustainable jewellery makers that work with us on different collections, we have shoemakers that design shoes with us for collections, and then you go into the large ecosystem of collaborations, partnerships and delivering season after season. It is a large ecosystem with a lot of stakeholders involved, but we take it a step further because collaboration and commitment for us are working with our own artisans in our own artisan hub and creating and developing something unique that stands the test of time and make the brand who we continue to be.

FUTURE PROJECTS…

We are really excited; there are a couple of projects on the way. First of all, of course, we are looking forward to the Spring/Summer ’24 collection, which will definitely be showcased at the Lagos Fashion Week. We are all eagerly looking forward to that. Secondly, we are also coming up to our 10th anniversary next year, so that’s going to be a big deal to celebrate 10 years in the fashion industry in Nigeria, Africa and the world at large.

As for the atelier, the plan is to continue to be more of an interactive space for people from different walks of life to come and experience the brand, engage with the brand, and discuss opportunities for the future in different aspects of the industry.

We want it to be a hub and a place where we are able to engage with people, not just consumers who buy our clothes and pieces. We want it to be a space where we can have conversations about the fashion industry, sustainable fashion, developmental goals, and breaking poverty within the fashion industry. We want it to be a space where we can meet with and engage different stakeholders and different personalities from finance to architecture to food and entertainment, and Emmy Kasbit is the muse that brings all these people together. The primary source is fashion, but when you take it out to a broader spectrum, you now look at the secondary factors of how it can all collide with the fashion world. That is what we want the space to be, that is what the space is becoming every day, and this is why we decided to open up this space.

Kehindé Fagbule
Website | + posts

Self-identifies as a middle child between millennials and the gen Z, began writing as a 14 year-old. Born and raised in Lagos where he would go on to obtain a degree in the University of Lagos, he mainly draws inspiration from societal issues and the ills within. His "live and let live" mantra shapes his thought process as he writes about lifestyle from a place of empathy and emotional intelligence. When he is not writing, he is very invested in football and sociopolitical commentary on social media.