NNATIVE

When I arrived in New York from Nigeria in the summer of 2001, my first love was the television. Pretty soon, I relegated my dreams of becoming an engineer to the background and began to dream about creating fashion items to match the splendor I observed daily watching the news, sit-coms, fashion shows and movies. Determined to impress my parents, I maintained good grades in math and sciences throughout my high school tenure. Ii needed all my wits to convince my parents to support my decision to apply for a bachelor’s degree in a fashion school. Being accepted at FIT New York affirmed my potential and going forward, Ii did not look back. For three and half years, Ii worked part-time while commuting from New Jersey to my school in Manhattan. For someone who wanted a career in a trendy industry, I rarely dressed fancy but my friends and family always looked impeccable following some tips or wearing my designs. In my final semester at FIT, my garment was shown to be presented in the BFA fashion show and the creation appeared on Style.com. The motivation to start a fashion company came very natural. Now that I have found my canvas, what picture would I paint? The world waits. Style is my compass.