Nigeria News
The Quirky One
Emmy Collins, Nigerian-born British bespoke tailor, talks about his designs, homosexuality and the fashion industry
At age 11, Emmy Collins would sneak out of hostel in Government College, Umuahia, Abia State. His destination, usually, the Ariaria market in Aba. He had an accomplice–Chinedu Nwaubani, his friend and classmate. The purpose of such trips was to buy fabrics.
Emmy Collins
Even at that young age, he had developed a sartorial taste for which he stood out in school. But he did not stay long in Umuahia before his parents relocated to Lagos. To Emmy’s delight, their next home was a shouting distance from Pepple Street in Ikeja, where Fela Anikulapo-Kuti had his Afrika Shrine. Emmy had been fascinated by Fela’s quirky style of dressing and longed to meet the musician. He started sneaking out to the Shrine, not to listen to Afrobeat but to see Fela’s smart apparels, which were often embellished with Afro-themed embroidery.
“Sometimes, I shudder to think of how my late mum would have felt if she had known I was sneaking out of school at that young age just to source for unique clothes and designs,” said Emmy.
For Emmy and his peers, there were plenty of parties to attend in Lagos at that time, and they always wanted to look fairly stylish at those. Since he loved to wear original pieces, Emmy decided to start creating them as well. He would sketch his designs, which he gave to a neighbourhood tailor to sew. From there, his passion for fashion was ignited. This, he did until the early 90s, when he left for Europe. His first station was Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
While in Amsterdam, his designing practice was stalled for a while. But when he realised that his favourite city did not nurture his fashion ambitions, Emmy moved to New York, where he rebooted the practice and tested their impact of his creations by mixing in with the city’s glitterati, which included the likes of legendary singer and songwriter, Prince, who complimented him on one of his outfits.
But after the 11 September 2001 attacks and his narrow escape from the scene of the attacks, the designer returned to Europe. This time, he settled for London.
With the help of a mentor, David Jones, he underwent some designing and fashion business management courses, after which he established his label called Emmy Kathy-Collins. The name later changed to Emmy Collins London.
With his unadulterated style, Emmy’s designs stand out. His latest creations include signature retro wide-lapel jackets and drainpipe trousers reminiscent of styles that epitomised the spirit of 1950s’ Rock and Roll. In addition to the fit of his jackets, much attention is paid to smaller, yet ever so distinguishing details like polka dots, linings and the use of 100 percent colourful pure satin trims.
His recent venture into fashion accessories resulted in items like skinny silk print ties and chunky bow ties that come in an array of black, plaid and neon colours. “My designs are a fusion of elegance and quirkiness. They are both fresh and daring, bordering on the debonair, but decidedly cutting edge,” Emmy said.
Testimony to Emmy’s claims came in November 2010 when he opened his flagship store on Great Eastern Street, Shoreditch, London, where many celebrity clients came down to check designs. In attendance were fashion legend, Janice Dickinson; X-Factor stars Brian Friedman and Belle Ami; Hofit Golan; David Van Day; Sue Moxley and Lizzie Cundy among others.
In a conservative society like Britain and the competitive nature of its fashion industry, Emmy said he has been able to build his client base across racial boundaries simply by being unique. “At the risk of sounding arrogant, I dare say that both in United Kingdom and beyond, I have carved a niche for myself and my clients appreciate me because of the timeless pieces I offer them,” said Emmy who claimed colour is no longer a barrier to success in the UK.
“As my mentor, Jones, would normally say: ‘Education you acquired, but talent you are born with’. Over the years, I have acquired education and experience to enhance my career, but I was born with the talent. I have been an individual with lots of imagination and innovative ideas hence the originality in my designs. My watchwords are originality, originality and originality. It is one word to you. But to me, it is three. This has made the colour of my skin inconsequential to my clients,” Emmy told TheNEWS.
Similarly, people’s sexuality is of no consequence to Emmy. He does not understand the fuss over homosexuality on the global fashion scene. “I would say that people’s sexuality is their business as far as I am concerned. I don’t care if heterosexuals or gay people rule the industry. As a heterosexual, who work with gay people, all I ask is to be treated with respect. I don’t understand why people are so hypocritical. Why buy clothes designed by gays if you are offended by their sexuality?” he asked.
On the Nigerian fashion industry, he believes some positive strides have been made over the years, but some have been made in the wrong direction, especially in the area of runways. “It is important for fashion show organisers and designers to understand the essence of fashion shows and what it should offer designers. A show should be an opportunity for a designer to create awareness and secure new clients. You don’t organise shows just because there is availability of sponsorship or else it will ended up a waste of emotion and resources,” said Emmy.
He added that too much emphasis has been placed on runway razzmatazz in Nigeria than the quality of garments being showcased. “I will advise show organisers to get selected home-based buyers/retailers involved, as some of these local stores sell a lot of products, but unfortunately they are often ignored so they never buy Nigeria. However, to persuade them to buy Nigeria, you have to offer quality because you wouldn’t expect people to buy your products on sentiments,” he added.
Emmy is hoping to nurture passionate upcoming designers to be different in approach to their craft and the business side of it. This he started with a free fashion workshop held in Lagos last December. “I have seen some fantastic designs from some of these young designers. Sadly, the quality of their tailoring lets them down. This is an opportunity for me to explain to them the importance of quality tailoring because any garment that is not tailored properly becomes rubbish, irrespective of how good the design might be,” he warned.
Emmy knows how slippery the Nigerian terrain is. Six years ago, he spent lavishly to open a store in Ikoyi, Lagos. Three years into the business, he was forced to shut down the store and scoot out of the country.
“I found myself in a knotty situation where I had to choose between Lagos and London, but I wasn’t yet ready to settle in Lagos. It became more painful, as I couldn’t find an individual here who shares my vision and passion enough to manage the showroom,” Emmy said disappointingly. But in spite of that experience, he said Nigeria will remain an important part of his business.
So where does Emmy see his fashion brand in 10 years? “Basically, I see Emmy Collins as a successful brand that will demonstrate that you can keep your designs edgy and still be successful just as Vivienne Westwood has demonstrated already. Having an Emmy Collins on Sloane Street, London or the 55th Street in New York wouldn’t be a bad idea either,” he summed.
—Funsho Arogundade
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Posted in Nigeria News. A DisNaija.Com network.
Source: PM News
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The Kano State Government on Saturday said it has transferred 1,098 ‘almajiris’ to different states of the country.
The commissioner for local government, Murtala Garo, disclosed this while presenting a report before the state’s task force on COVID-19 at the government house, Kano.
Almajiris are children who are supposed to be learning Islamic studies while living with their Islamic teachers. Majority of them, however, end up begging on the streets of Northern Nigeria. They constitute a large number of Nigeria’s over 10 million out-of-school children.
Mr Garo said the Kano government transported 419 almajiris to Katsina, 524 to Jigawa and 155 to Kaduna. He said all of them tested negative for coronavirus before leaving the Kano State.
Despite the coronavirus test done in Kano for the almajiris, the Jigawa government earlier said it would quarantine for two weeks all the almajiris that recently arrived from Kano.
Mr Garo said another 100 almajiris scheduled to be taken to Bauchi State also tested negative to COVID-19.
In a remark, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje said the COVID-19 situation in Kano was getting worse. He appealed for a collaborative effort to curtail the spread of the virus in the state.
Mr Ganduje, who commended residents for complying with the lockdown imposed in the state, said the decision was taken to halt the spread of the virus.
Kano State, as of Saturday night, has 77 coronavirus cases, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
The decision to transfer the Kano almajiris is part of the agreement reached between Northern governors that almajiris in each state be transferred to their states of origin.
However, even before the latest agreement by the governors, the Kano government had been transferring almajiris to other states and neighbouring countries after it banned street begging in the state, most populous in Northern Nigeria.
Despite the transfers, however, no concrete step has been taken to ensure such children do not return to Kano streets as there is freedom of movement across Nigeria although interstate travel was recently banned to check the spread of the coronavirus.
Sourced From: Premium Times Nigeria
By Ugochukwu Alaribe
Operatives of the Abia State Vigilante Service, AVS, popularly known as ‘Bakassi Boys’ have arrested 24 market women hidden in a container truck, at Ekwereazu Ngwa, the boundary community between Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
The market women, said to be from Akwa Ibom State, were on their way to Aba, when they were arrested with the truck driver and two of his conductors for violating the lockdown order by the state government.
Driver of the truck, Moses Asuquo, claimed he was going to Aba to purchase stock fish, but decided to assist the market women, because they were stranded.
A vigilante source told Sunday Vanguard that the vehicle was impounded while the market women were sent back to Akwa Ibom State.
Commissioner for Home Land Security, Prince Dan Okoli, who confirmed the incident, said that smuggling of people into the state poses great threat to the state government’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID- 19.
Sourced From: Vanguard News
Operatives of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Yaba of the Lagos State police command have arrested one Mrs Nene Steve for allegedly killing her maid, Joy Adole
The maid was allegedly beaten to death by Nene for requesting for her salary at their residence located at 18, Ogundola Street, Bariga area in Lagos.
Narrating the incident, Philips Ejeh, an elder brother to the deceased said that he was sad when they informed him that his sister was beaten to death.
He explained that the deceased was an indigene of Benue State brought to Lagos through an agent and started working with her as a maid in January 2020.
‘’She reported that her boss refused to pay her and anytime she asked for her salary she will start beating her.
She was making an attempt to leave the place but due to the total lockdown she remained there until Sunday when her boss said she caught her stealing noodles and this led to her serious beating and death,’’ Ejeh said.
He called on Lagos State Government and well- meaning people in the country to help them in getting justice for the victim.
The police spokesman, Bala Elkana, stated that the woman and her husband came to Bariga Police Station to a report that their house girl had committed suicide.
Detectives were said to have visited the house and suspected foul play with the position of the rope and bruises all over the body which confirmed that the girl had been tortured to death and the boss decided to hang up the girl to make it look like suicide.
He said: “The police moved on with their investigation and found a lot of sign of violence on her body that she has been tortured before a rope was put on her neck.’’
He added that the police removed the corpse and deposited it in the mortuary for autopsy to further ascertain the cause of the death.
Elkana said the matter has been transferred from Bariga police station to Panti for further investigation while the couple have been arrested and will be charged to court.
Ostensibly alarmed by the latest killings of dozens of soldiers by Boko Haram insurgents, President Muhammadu Buhari has summoned an urgent meeting of Service Chiefs to find ways to stop the trend.
He has also dispatched the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, to the neighbouring Republic of Chad for an urgent meeting with President Idris Deby and his defence counterpart.
Knowledgeable sources said in Abuja on Friday that the president is worried by on the deterioration of security situation on the Nigeria – Chad Border that has led to the recently increased Boko Haram terrorism in the area.
The sources which did not want to be named in Abuja said: “Nigeria has a Chad problem in the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) put together to secure the Lake Chad basin areas and repeal the Boko Haram terrorist attacks against all the countries neighbouring the Lake.”
The sources noted that Chad is believed to be having their own internal security challenges and this has reportedly led to their pulling away their own troops manning their own border around Lake Chad, saying: “That lacuna is being exploited by the Boko Haram terrorists, who go in and out of Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon to launch terrorist acts. This is a clear illustration of the fact that terrorism is beyond national borders.”
When contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed that the Defence Minister is going to Chad but said he is unaware of the purpose.
Meanwhile, the military authorities are said to be in the process of identifying the families of the latest victims with a view to making contact with them.
Credible sources revealed that it is the reason the president is yet to make any pronouncement on the matter.
“The President has called an urgent meeting with the Service Chiefs, as well as the fact that families of the latest victims of the Boko Haram are being identified and contacts made before a government pronouncement on the tragic attacks. This, it is understood, is the reason for the silence of the government over the incident,” the source said.
Sourced From: Tribune
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
Military, Police Ring Abuja to Forestall Boko Haram Attack
UFC: Usman gets N584m after beating Masvidal
Insecurity: Lagos bans occupation of abandoned buildings
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