Our special feature for this issue is Prejoy Fashion, a brand that has shown an impressive level of intentionality when it comes to using locally sourced fabrics to elevate designs and styles that will stay trendy for a long time and highlight the very essence of African fashion. Prejoy is a fashion brand from the Niger Delta region, Warri to be precise, who have in the last half-decade captivated fashion consumers, critics, and experts with culture-infused designs. A major point of attraction of the brand is the versatility that they express, combining diverse cultures in Nigeria with an enthralling fashion output and emphasizing their unique features as they stem from distinct fashion history.
We caught up with Jolomi Gedu, the brand’s founder and creative director to understand the idea behind making clothes to complement the heritage and history of tribes in Nigeria and she expressed that,
“Fashion is a form of art that cannot be restricted to a particular pattern or most popular fabrics. To sustain its relevance, especially in the African context demands that we do it differently by exploring the scope of unpopular local fabrics. Hence, this is our attempt at changing the stereotype and helping people understand that your choice of fabric can birth the perfect idea for a befitting design. Consider the fact that Apoche, Ankara, Adire, Aso-oke, and many others are the popular fabrics in Nigeria. What we are doing at Prejoy Fashion, is researching the distinct cultural variance of those fabrics as it pertains to the history of different communities and minority tribes, creating designs that embrace our findings with locally sourced materials and fabrics, collaborating with local craftsmen to interpret those designs, and in the end delivering quality product and styles that appeal to the essence of smaller tribes under major tribes. Take for example the Yoruba people are Oyo, Ilaje, Egba, Owo, and so on. These people have distinct histories and to create designs from their purview gives us a lot to work with, especially when we source the materials from them too. “
We explored their showroom and basked in the numerous designs that showcased their creative skill alongside tailoring techniques. We can confirm that the brand’s head is creative but its wealthy pool of tailors, fashion illustrators, pattern drafter, and weavers all contribute immensely to the entire process. Their product development plan is detailed to the T and is seamlessly the propeller of the brand’s development. It was a delight to experience such ingenuity and realize that the brand’s patronage of different women of all age and class are satisfied with their trajectory in the fashion industry. We are too, and as such relish their upcoming collection that launches later in the year.
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