Udeme Mojisola is the founder of The Victoria King – TVK, a fashion clothing brand operating in the Lagos metropolis.
Mozisola was inspired by his childhood love of artistry and design. She always loved to look her best and make others look better. Here are her attributes that drew her to the fashion industry.
“I painted, sculpted, and painted. I was doing all the art, so it wasn’t a shock to most people when it came to pushing the craft of art into fashion lines.” she says.
Before starting her business in 2020, before the Covid-19 epidemic, she provided tailoring services to family and friends.
“Before the official launch, I had been providing tailoring services to a close-knit network for the past few years. During my internship year, I attended fashion school to deepen my knowledge of fabric making.”
Mozisola also says he was a full-time hyperrealist artist before stepping into TVK. “There were several exhibitions I had to attend. One of them was – Down the Rabbit Hole.
“Exhibitions like this have opened my work to another clientele who are enthusiastic patrons of my work. and made money from it.
“Apart from the fine arts I practiced, I was doing hair for people and I was also making money from it,” she adds.
The young entrepreneur says that living with his parents helped him save money for the business at first, but he was still short on funds when he was trying to start his own business.
The money she saved (N80,000) could only be used for her first photo shoot, industrial straightener, fabric and packaging for her first 100 customers, so she was in the red.
“In November 2019, I had to borrow another N80,000 from Judith Omonua. ,” says Mozisola.
Based on her 2+ years of business experience, the young entrepreneur says that starting a business is the easy part, but growing and maintaining a brand is where the job comes in.
Since our founding, we have continued to grow steadily.
Mozisola says he went from making three dresses in two weeks to mass-producing more than 50 dresses in just seven days.
She describes her mother as a strong pillar that supports her brand. “My mother is one of the strong pillars of this brand. Without her constant encouragement, the growth of this brand would not have been possible.”
With the prayers and constant support of my immediate family and friends, she has been able to grow a client base of celebrities like Tope Arabi, Afro Dija and Ant Leckey.
“Before TVK officially hired four full-time and three part-time staff, 95% of them were women. From procurement to cutting, sewing, packaging and even delivery,” she explained. increase.
Modisora says that TVK sources 100% of its ingredients locally as it has a goal of promoting locally made products on a global scale.
Responding to a question about the challenges limiting her business, she said intellectual property theft and logistical issues were the major hurdles her business faced.
“From big brands trying to steal your ideas and designs, to logistics trying to beat your deadlines, it’s not easy.”
Talking about the impact of inflation on her business, she says the constant price hike has doubled her production costs.
Regarding the business’ short-term goals, she says the business plans to have a workspace.
“Our goal is to either buy space for sale, or buy about two to four plots of land, and develop it into a design home that will appeal to both TVK staff and clients.”
Regarding TVK’s long-term goals, she said the business plans to become one of Nigeria’s leading garment manufacturing lines, linked to other micro-fashion businesses.
On advice to other entrepreneurs, she said: Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is uncertain, but today is! Forget assumptions. Only after pushing the ball can it continue to roll. ”
“You can’t be 100% strong all the time, so make sure you have the right people around you,” she says.
“Most of the time, they see what you can’t see and are always there to guide you through the situations you work in.”
