By Kola Alhassan
Opeyemi Oyindunlola is an upcoming entrepreneur. She is the founder of OYINDUNLOLA COLLECTIONS, a business outfit for the design and production of adire, a native attire. It is located in Isolo axis of Lagos.
Speaking to IkejaBird in an interview, Oyindunlola noted that making adire requires painstaking efforts to get a great result.
Talking about the process, she said: “It involved tie and dye. You get the cotton materials you need, you also get different colours of dye mixture in which you dip the materials. It is interesting, but you need to be meticulous to get a good design.”
The young entrepreneur, an undergraduate at the Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (AOCOED) Otto-Ijanikin, now Lagos State University of Education (LASUED), noted that she gets patronage from various categories of people. She said Professors in several institutions and lecturers in her school purchase adire from her.
“Different sets of people patronize me. My collections are for everyone. Professors, lecturers, even pastors like adire,and they buy from me. Even my fellow students like it.
However, I have different shades and grades for different categories of people, without compromising quality.”
The business owner, while speaking on challenges faced in the business, noted that getting top quality materials is difficult and very expensive.
“This past week, I went to get materials for my production. It was tough. The fuel scarcity really had effect on prices of everything. However, I can’t increase prices of my adire tops and clothes, so I don’t lose my customers,” she said.
On prices of her adire, she said: “Adire tops go for N5,000. The tops are unisex. Also, I make gowns, jumpsuits for ladies and women, which go for N8,000.”
Oyindunlola also noted that she makes adire T-shirts mainly for young people. They are sold for N3,500 each.
Her words: “Apart from using cotton fabric to make adire, I also use T-shirts of various colours and shades. It is a departure from the regular adire that people wear. I am trying to make it modern with the use of T-shirts.”
For the adire maker, patronage is encouraging, but it could be better.
She also stated there is room for people who want to learn adire design and production, adding that the fee is affordable.
