Emeka: Hi guys. Hope you had a fantastic week. You’re one and only Mummy G.O sends her greetings, and my name is Emeka Aaron and I’m excited to be here today on another episode of The Good Citizen Radio Show, which is brought to you by CSR-in-Action and proudly sponsored by Act Foundation. As one good citizen, let’s endeavor to get our PVCs and remember to stay safe and healthy. We’ll go for a short commercial break and we’ll be back shortly.
Did you know over the last 20 years, the increasingly rapid changes in fashion trends and demand have resulted in high waste generation, clothing waste, and perhaps of low quality clothing on the rise, causing major environmental issues and so much more, like soil pollution, surface water pollution, and climate change and all. But today we’ll be talking to the CEO of Labake Lagos to enlighten us on fashion sustainability in Nigeria. It’s important and how we can prioritize it. So I have me in the studio. Big drumroll. Yeah. Labake is with us today in the studio to talk about fashion and sustainability. How are you today?
Labake: I’m doing wonderful, thank you.
Emeka: Okay, I see you’re just chilling in the studio. The hot sun is really hot today. You’re so chilling right now, right?
Labake: Yes.
Emeka: When I brought me into the studio today and I saw you, I was like, okay, its fashion, right? It’s fashion. Good stuff, good stuff. So, let’s just have an introduction. Can you just introduce yourself so the listeners can know who you are? Right.
Labake: Okay. My name is Labake, a mixed breed. My full name is Anyebe Omolabake. I’m currently the sole founder of Labake Lagos textile and Fashion apparel operating and based in Lagos, Nigeria.
Emeka: Wow. Good stuff, good stuff. Welcome, Labake. And I hope you’re doing well today. Right. I have to ask you your surname, because when I said I was kind of confused, like, wow, you have your bad name in it, and you have another other name, so you can just explain that a little bit.
Labake: Okay, so I tell people when I’m being asked that I am mixed breed. My dad is from Benue State. My mum is Yoruba. She’s from Ogun state.
Emeka: Good stuff, good stuff, good stuff. So, you’re like you have the whole Nigerian, right?
Labake: Definitely.
Emeka: Okay, that’s good. So can you just tell us about your brand, Labake Lagos. I like the way it sounds. Labake Lagos, you know, you promise to tell us the meaning of Omolabake?
Labake: Omolabake means a child to be cared for. Labake Lagos is fashion brand and also a textile apparel brand, like I said, operating based here in Lagos, Nigeria, we work on creating essential and functional garment for working women in Africa. We also endeavour to tell stories, life stories, experiences that we have on a day to day basis through our textile design.
Emeka: Wow. I like telling stories through your textile design. And I was telling you about nice because I can see the story written all over it. Good stuff, nices. Okay. So in Nigeria, the concept of sustainable fashion is still relatively new and not widely understood. Right. So can you explain to us a little bit what sustainable fashion is and why it is so important?
Labake: Okay, so first, sustainable fashion is not a one thing. It’s not what I say it is. So for me, sustainable fashion, it came as an experience for me, I was working in a fashion garment company at that time, and there was just a lot of waste around me, like the off course once you’re done with someone’s project and just off course, that usually goes to landfill. And I think on having to do a little bit of research, the question just jumped at me and like, what are you going to do with all those fabrics, seeing that it still has some use me life in it? So, for me, that’s how it started. And right now, it doesn’t even involve from that that’s involved from just using textile waste to even if I have to use, quote unquote, like fresh materials, it has to be something good. It has to be of good quality that I know that it can last generations because that’s how I grew up. I grew up wearing my grandmother’s clothes. And it was exciting then. Definitely probably was in fashion at that time. But now it’s just something I’m very comfortable I’m comfortable in wearing old people cloth. Let’s go that way. And now it’s been like a fashion thing. You see the old tea fashion and it’s all around big garment wearing something very baggy. So sustainability is not a one word thing, but for me, it’s just how to prolong the life of a garment, how I have to make sure that this garment ent lasts longer and it’s more functional for me.
Emeka: Yeah, good stuff. I think I understand that part where you said you had to wear your grandma’s garments, right? Yeah, because when I was coming out of high school, my dad had this suit that he used for his wedding, right. And it was still inside the back. So, each time I’m cleaning his room and he was just like, you want that? I’m like, yes, just wait till you’re grown. And I was looking forward to that and pet you. I waited for that thing and there wore that suit to church. Oh, God. Everybody kept telling me, where did you get this fabric? Right. Because it’s about 30, 40 years ago, but it was still on point. Right. Okay. So, I think I understand that. I’m feeling cool with myself right now. Okay. A source of concern in the Nigerian fashion industry is the high reliance on important garments and materials from Asia and the rest right. Which frequently contains a lot of traces of hazardous chemicals as well as use of plastics and toxic chemicals down that may cause bleach, that may include bleach and also rise, residues and could end up in natural and other pathways of water. What? Do you have sustainable ways right. To be able to combat fashion waste in Nigeria? What do you suggest?
Labake: I think people just okay, now it would be more to the designers. Now I think you just have to know follow the supply chain, follow it in depth. At least you need to ask, okay, where’s this fabric coming from? What is the composition, how was it made? Who are the people that made the fabric? What family, what country was it the cutting grown in? And all those things. You just have to be conscious and intentional as the fashion brand, especially in these times that we’re in a climate change climate action. So, it’s just that when I say, like, an extra mile, you have to go as a fashion designer, as a fashion entrepreneur working in that field, you just have to go the extra mile to know what exactly is the composition of the material you’re using.
Emeka: But you and I know that not everybody wants to go that extra mile to find out where it’s coming from.
Labake: Well, very true, but we are getting there. We have, thankfully, really a handful of Nigerian textile meals are still functional right now. So, it’s a really good option for brands that want to do cotton. They have different what’s the word now? They have different grades. So, if you want a line and feel, if you want a cutting, if you want something really cheap, they have it. So, you don’t even have to go all the way to order from China, from Asia, be worried about the dollar exchange rate. You have something here in Nigeria that is just waiting for you to experiment with.
Emeka: That’s one thing that a lot of people don’t even know, that we make our own fabrics here in Nigeria.
Labake: We do. We’re one giant and we’re getting back to that. We’re getting back to that position and even going bigger. But yes, we still have a handful textile mail still.
Emeka: That’s good stuff. Okay. So definitely, I know a lot of people want to call in to also ask you some questions about this. Almost every Nigerian right now is a fashionista. Do you have any opinions and questions or suggestions about the topic we’re having today or being discussed today on fashion sustainability? Right. We would love to hear from you and you can reach us on our phone lines on 07009 23923923 or you can send us a WhatsApp message to 08173136193. So, while we wait for your phone call, we’re gonna be jumping back into the conversation, right? Okay. So, can you tell us about the benefits and challenges of sustainable fashion in Nigeria?
Labake: Definitely it broadens your mind in terms of creativity, expression. So, you just always wonder, what am I going to do with this one? The fabric loops
Emeka: We call this generation the creative generation. Right? And it’s a lot easier now because you have apps that can do almost everything for you back in the day when you have to scribble things down.
Labake: Very true.
Emeka: Wow. So, what’s the benefit and challenges so far?
Labake: So, aside from broadening creativity, it also helps to tackle pollution, land pollution. So, you’re saving the landfill from waste. It also helps to make sure whatever you put out there and you put it under the label sustainable. Whoever buys it is guaranteed longevity. So, like I said, it’s something that you can also pass down to generation. So, I would say that those are the benefit of having a sustainable brand.
Emeka: So, what about challenges?
Labake: It could be more time taking in terms of the process. It’s not a fresh garment that has no it has a lot of court. Probably a born here, a stain here, and you’re like, okay, what do I have to do? So, you probably have to take more time, extra time in brainstorming what you should do with it.
Emeka: That’s good stuff. That’s why the people that make the tie and die where it’s kind of like very expensive and you just want to go to the market and say, let me buy one ready-made native material fabric and just wear and if you tell you 60,000, 70,000, I’d be like, why? I could just go into the market and just buy oneT shirt and jeans with ten k and 15K you’re good, and just jump out, right?
Labake: Yeah.
Emeka: Okay. Good stuff. So, the challenges of achieving sustainability goes may appear daunting right at first, but how can the Nigerian fashion industry encourage sustainability?
Labake: I salute the Nigerian fashion industry at the moment, they’re doing so well. I mean, there are a lot of green champion programs, from the Green Access Competition to GT, GTB also has their own programs. So, there are a lot of programs actually, that the Nigerian fashion industry is already initiating it’s out there. I just believe that every creative out, they just have to do a little bit of research. But at the moment, the Nigerian fashion is already in the field. They’re already playing this game of sustainable fashion. Yes. We’re not lacking behind at all.
Emeka: That’s good. Okay, so we’ll take a short break now and when we return, the conversation continues. Right?
Okay, welcome back. And it’s still the good citizen radio show, right? And if you’re just joining me, we’re talking to the CEO of Labake Lagos, right? And I would still love to hear from you guys. If you have opinions, questions, and suggestions about the sustainability of fashion sustainability in Nigeria, and you can reach us on our phone line on 0700923923923, or you can send us a WhatsApp message on 08173163193. So, we jump back into the conversation, and this is one question I’ve been waiting to ask you, right? In 2018, your brand was selected as one of the five finalists to participate in the Lagos Fashion Week, the Green Assets Competition. Right? And you were among the top five, right. So, can you tell us a little bit about your experience and competition?
Labake: The Green Assets Competition was a sewing experience for me in terms of, like, I just I got the seed. I got the seed of fashion. It opened me to the reality that fashion is not just glitz and glamour. I mean, we see it on television. We see it on our mobile device. It’s so nice. You see your favorite celebrity wearing one amazing outfit, and you’re like, wow, I love it. But there’s a lot that goes behind the scene. And even after the scene of after the runway, after that event that your favourite celebrity was garment for. So, Green Assets was that experience that ushered me into the reality of the fashion industry. What happens to people behind the scene, the waste, the off cut that comes out? And what do we do with it? Because at the moment, Nigeria does not have a recycling center for textile. So, what happens to the off cuts? What happens to the treads, the snaps, other things after you finish the fancy dress? And then what happens after the big day event? What happens with the garment? What happens to that design that your favourite celebrities wearing? So, Greenhouse has really opened me up to that reality. So, it was an amazing sewing experience for me.
Emeka: Oh, good stuff, good stuff, good stuff. So, that brings me to the second part of the question, right? So, what’s your plan to maintain your brand sustainable Echo Fashion System? Let me take that again. Echo Fashion system.
Labake: Oh, I had to take a deep breath for that one. The truth is, I’m still learning, and my plan is to take it one day at a time, one experiment at a time, one design at a time. There is no I’m still learning the ropes. I just know I want to make clothes that are functional, clothes that matter. When people wear it, they’re happy, they can connect, they can relate. There’s an excitement. The possibility that someone buys a cloth now and they say, like, in the next two or three years, they give it to that child or the sister, and then the story just, you know, continues. So there’s so much possibility, you know, for Labake Lagos, and I’m just taking it one day at a time, so yes. And then I think we’re about to launch a revive line. It’s a service line, it’s a textile service line, where we would collect faded garment, faded jeans, faded shirts that are still in good quality, the cuts in natural fiber garments, and would help you revive it by dying into a different color. And then you could still keep tracking your shirt. So that is definitely one that’s an agenda that’s down the pipeline that’s about to be launched.
Emeka: That’s something cool.
Labake: You have faded jeans, shirt that you really love so much. Maybe your grandpa gave it to you. You’re so sentimental about it, and you actually wear it, so you’re just sentimental about your clothes, and you’re just leaving it in your cupboard for that one special thing, though. You’re sentimental about it, and you wear it off. When even has, like, mending it toss somewhere, you mended it. It carries a lot of history, and you just want to keep wearing it, but maybe the color is already running out. So, yeah, you could definitely just send it to us and we’ll revive it.
Emeka: I like that part where you said it carries a lot of history because a lot of us and I know even people listening to have that same story, you have those clues that even if you’re out of shape, you don’t want to throw them away. I have a lot of that. I can relax. I can relax. Okay, so a lot of young people are listening to you right now, I’m telling you. Right. And they would also want to hear from you, like, your business secret with something that’s been like, a factor that have driven you this far. That one thing that’s been pushing you, pushing you to be able to keep pushing even if it’s not working. Right.
Labake: Okay, so for that, I would say know yourself. Yeah, I know in the business world, they always, like, know your competitors, know what they’re doing. So, you could always outshine them, outsmart them. I mean, that’s good in the sense of it. But more importantly is know yourself, know where it is that you’re lacking. Are you lacking in certain knowledge? Are you lacking socially? If you know the area you’re lacking, always look forward to researching. Just helping yourself. Also, having mentors would help so much. And mentors doesn’t mean you have to go knock on that door and be like, oh, please, I want you to be my mentor. Doesn’t really work all the time, but you could be that mentor from afar. You know, now we’re connected. Everybody’s connected. Social media, you could just study, you know, how they are, you know, do probably do like Instagram, live, all those things, you know, just keep following that work, keep learning from a distance. And the ones that you have access to physically, you can approach them and be like, oh, please, admire you, admire your work. And I would love to be my mentor, but also at the same time, also have something you drop in a table, like in value that you just be taken. Yes, I’ll say that. Just know yourself, have a mentor, and don’t be too hard on yourself always. I mean, that’s this proverb how true. But there’s this proverb that says necessity is the mother of great invention. So don’t be hard on yourself when you don’t have everything figured out. When you don’t have the industrial machines. I mean, if you have the manual machines, you could use it. Those are the machines that were used really old times to do the couture dresses that everybody’s loving. So, you don’t have to have all the fancy gadgets at once. Once you just have one thing, just keep pushing at it. Have friends that support you in words by also patronizing you. Maybe not all your friends will be able to patronize what you’re buying, but they can. All, I love what you’re doing. Keep it up. There are always those people. Even if it’s just one person, we always have that one person that just encourages us. And just cherish those words, cherish every step you take, and that’s where you’re good to go.
Emeka: Okay, good stuff. Good stuff. For all the people listening and trying to encourage them to have a mentor that they can follow. So, how can they follow you on social media?
Labake: Okay, you can follow me personally on Labakeany. That’s my personal Instagram page. For the business, it is LabakeLagos. That’s where you see theApple, the fashion apparel works. And for the textile design, it is Labaketextilestudio on Instagram and Twitter.
Emeka: Okay, good stuff. So, people, you’ve heard it from Labake Lagos. And I had a good time. I had a good time. So, we hope that we’ve all learned from this discussion about sustainability and fashion sustainability. Thank you, everyone, for listening, and we do hope you have a lovely weekend ahead. Until next time, let’s continue to be a light to one another. The show is brought to you by CSR-in-Action. And proudly sponsored by Act Foundation. And I remain your one and known as celebrity show host, Emeka Aaron. Let’s please endeavour to get our PVCs till next time, stay safe and be good.
