Afripreneur
Hazel Eki Osunde, the German-Nigerian Luxury Silk Print Fashion Designer Behind EKI
Hazel Eki Osunde is the Creative Director and Founder of EKI. She was born in a rural town in Germany, raised in Nigeria and now residing in London. Hazel injects a bit of nature, culture and travel into her designs with Africa on her mind. After working in Asset Management for 8 years, it was her fascination with culture and colour that inspired her to pursue her own career in fashion. In this exclusive interview with Alaba Ayinuola, discover more about Hazel, EKI and her view on the fashion world. Excerpt.
Alaba: Tell me about yourself and journey as a fashion designer?
Hazel: I am of mixed heritage German-Nigerian. Born in Germany, spent my childhood in Nigeria and now reside in the UK. I spent my first 10 years in banking until I fell pregnant and found a new meaning to life. It was at this time that I decided to follow my passion which was a love for colour, culture and travel which I then translated into prints. My first love is designing prints that narrate positive African stories.
Alaba: What attracted you to fashion and what do you attend to achieve?
Hazel: Fashion can be very impactful. It can light up a room and also create a platform for change. It is powerful and it can be used as a tool to educate consumers on the importance of matters. My goal is to allow the EKI story telling of the prints to naturally evolve into other areas, creating the same magical feeling.
Alaba: When did you first realize you wanted to pursue a career as a designer?
Hazel: I was working in banking when I recall a friend of mine talk so passionately about her career in media and it was at that moment, I realised I couldn’t put that much love and excitement into my profession. So, I ventured on a journey of discovery. It soon dawned on me that I had a love for textiles, designs and a nostalgia for Africa. And that’s how it started.
Alaba: How do you walk the line between being unique and having commercial appeal?
Hazel: Uniqueness comes from the interpretation of our prints. I don’t design prints for everyone, nor do I follow trends. I pick shades and colours that I am drawn to and know my customers like. The designs of our dresses are quite simplistic and classic allowing for that commercial appeal. I believe with the bold EKI prints are balanced out with the styles we choose.
Hazel with Models on her new collection at the Lagos Fashion Week 2021 Image: Lagos Fashion Week)
Alaba: How is your work received internationally and where do you look for creative inspiration?
Hazel: The pieces have a clear African influence, yet subtle and the fact that we print on silk gives it that international appeal. The garments are also quite flowy and can be worn casually or dressed up, as our international clients are often quite simplistic in their style. Inspiration is always drawn from Africa and I always tap into nature, culture or travel and narrate the story from an African point of view.
Alaba: What is your favourite part about being a designer?
Hazel: I love hearing clients’ stories on how they felt wearing the pieces; the confidence, the sexiness and the attraction they got from it.
Alaba: How do you want women to feel when wearing your designs?
Hazel: I want them to own their femininity and exude a palpable feeling of confidence and sexiness.
Alaba: The term Fashiontech is still quite new. What is your opinion of the state of the Fashiontech industry and its growth?
Hazel: Fashion tech will become the new norm. There will need to be discussions on how we preserve the authenticity and creativeness of fashion. There has been such an investment into slowing the fashion down and producing pieces of meaning by people we should care about yet fashion tech goes completely against this as it cuts out the middleman, replaces them with robots with the sole purpose of speeding up the fashion space. The smaller brands that focus on individuality and handcrafting will have to create stronger identities and brand stories to be able to compete with faster fashion spearheaded by fashion tech.
Alaba: There’s so much pressure for designers to come out with the greatest collection season after season. What advice would you give to young designers just starting out and hoping to make it in the industry?
Hazel: Keep it creative, small and don’t overstretch yourself financially until you have created your clientele base who not just likes and follows your pieces but also purchases.
Models on EKI new collection at the Lagos Fashion Week 2021 (Image: Lagos Fashion Week)
Alaba: Finally, what would you like to achieve before the end of the year?
Hazel: I just presented our latest SS22 collection in Lagos, Nigeria and my goal till the end of the year is that this collection is very well received and we pick up on how sales were pre-lockdown because fashion in the UK in particular really came to a standstill during our endless lockdowns.
Model on EKI new collection at the Lagos Fashion Week 2021 (Image: Lagos Fashion Week)
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As part of Veuve Clicquot’s ongoing commitment to supporting and celebrating women in business, the Maison has created the Bold International Barometer in 2019 to shed light on and provide meaningful insights into the evolution of female entrepreneurship. Now in its 3rd year, the Barometer continues to lead the conversation around women and their presence in business, offering a deep dive into the data on female entrepreneurship in South Africa.
In 2023, over 49,000 women and men from 25 countries were surveyed. Encouragingly, South Africa’s data results speak to a robust female-led industry. The survey, which was self-administered online, asked respondents to give their views on several statements relating to the nuances of being a business owner and entrepreneur. Taking a global look first, the survey suggests that the rate of female entrepreneurship has slowed and is even diminishing in some countries. In some cases, this is due to both external—such as ongoing geopolitical crises—and internal factors, like striking a fair work-life balance.
This, however, is not the case in South Africa, where the data suggests a dynamic environment for women, fueled by a contagious desire among them to become entrepreneurs. Amanda Dambuza, Founder and CEO of Uyandiswa and the 2017 winner of the International Businesswoman Award by Veuve Clicquot says, “I am forever impressed by the spirit of South African female entrepreneurs. Despite the many challenges they face, they get up and back themselves to ‘bring home the bacon’. Next to Nigeria, we stand shoulders above the rest with high numbers of females identifying as entrepreneurs.”
In short, female entrepreneurship in South Africa is flourishing. South Africa stood out as one of the global leaders in female entrepreneurship where, currently, 61% of women self-identify as entrepreneurs (primarily aged between 20 to 29). According to the survey, they tend to be better educated and have higher incomes than their male counterparts. Yet they remain concentrated in lower-income sectors like beauty, food, retail, and fashion, while men dominate tech. However, in industries such as transportation, finance, and real estate, there is relatively equal representation, suggesting there could be potential for more women to succeed in these fields, should they want to diversify.
WHAT’S MOTIVATING WOMEN TO BECOME ENTREPRENEURS?
According to the data, 39% of female respondents said ‘that being your own boss’ was the biggest driver for becoming an entrepreneur. Despite this, most women and half of men agree that it is more difficult for women to become entrepreneurs. Further to this, most women concur that securing business funding is easier for men, a view that remains consistent with previous years.
“This finding resonates deeply with me,” says Morongwe Mokone, the 2024 Bold Woman Award by Veuve Clicquot winner and Co-Founder of Mo’s Crib.
“It highlights the persistent gender and structural barriers that women face.” She continues by commenting on the need for strong role models among respondents, with most women and men agreeing on their importance. This emphasizes the need for female visibility and representation,” Morongwe adds. 72% of aspiring South African female entrepreneurs can name a successful woman they admire, surpassing the global average.
Refilwe Sebothoma, 2024 Bold Future Award winner and Founder of Hakem Energies adds, “It remains our responsibility to keep forging a way for those who come after us. In this way, success doesn’t become a too far-fetched idea but a reality which can be attained by fellow women entrepreneurs.”
However, as glowing as some of these statistics may be, women still face challenges that, in many cases, their male counterparts don’t experience. In addition to difficulties accessing funding, women also must navigate balancing work and family, with 63% of women and 56% of men agreeing this is harder for female entrepreneurs. Further to that, since the conversation about working women can’t happen without mentioning their families, half of the female respondents believe that female entrepreneurship disrupts family life, compared to only 25% who feel the same about male entrepreneurship.
“Women must know without a shadow of a doubt that despite cultural and family pressures, they deserve to pursue their dreams of entrepreneurship,” says Amanda.
Further to this, two-thirds of women say that managing entrepreneurship with family life is harder for women, and about half say that working full-time affects family life. This indicates that while entrepreneurship is thriving amongst women in South Africa, there is still much work to be done to support women getting into business, as well as helping them stay there. “It is encouraging to see the growth and resilience of women in this field despite economic challenges,” says Morongwe. “However, it is essential to focus on breaking down the barriers that limit women’s participation in higher-revenue sectors and ensure equal access to funding opportunities. By addressing these issues and promoting diverse role models, we can further empower women and drive sustainable economic growth.”
“Authenticity, resilience, and just being ourselves is very important. As women, we need to keep making a difference, no matter how insignificant we think it is because when that impact is replicated, women will change the world,” concludes Refilwe.
Balladjigui FOFANA, a young Franco-Malian entrepreneur based in France. Passionate about law for several years, he is a lawyer and founder of MYJOBHELP.FR, a platform specializing in international recruitment, international mobility and the completion of administrative formalities for the employment of foreign employees.
Balladjigui has always believed that talent has no borders, and that it should be within everyone’s reach, no matter where they are in the world. In terms of training, he holds a Master 2 in Corporate Law and another in Management and Human Resources Management. He has had several experiences including at the Mutualité Française, then at Couleurs de Tollens and TGS France.
Driven by an entrepreneurial soul and a desire to impact his community, he decided to launch his own company: “MyJobHelp” in October 2022. Convinced that he had found his way, he decided 2 years later (in July 2024) to focus 100% on his career as an entrepreneur.
MyJobHelp makes it possible to secure the recruitment of foreign workers to offer French and international companies access to competent profiles from all walks of life. Work permits, changes of status, visas, residence permits, recruitment, expatriation… MyJobHelp takes care of everything! From now on, don’t worry about paperwork. By trusting MyJobHelp, you are choosing to work in complete serenity and security.
Brown T is a family business launched by two women, sisters, Soraya and Melissa Saidi, and afro-feminists. Born and raised in France in an environment where black/mixed-race women were underrepresented. Having both had the same educational background, they progressed in the world of nursing in order to help and safeguard the health of their neighbors.
However, Soraya and Melissa have always known that they had a mission within their community. To participate in its elevation, particularly with the emancipation of women in all its forms. Their background has allowed them to acquire skills in terms of listening and analyzing the needs of the population and they have therefore decided to use them in the world of marketing to meet the needs of Afro-descendant women.
Brown T wants to encourage the upliftment of black women from an economic, social and cultural perspective. To do this, Brown T is committed to exclusively highlighting Afro-descendant women designers. By giving them exclusive visibility, Brown T wants to be a pillar in the circular economy within the Afro community.
In addition, Brown T is socially engaged by focusing on creating a caring Afro-centered and feminine community that aims to help women on a daily basis feel better about themselves, accept themselves and embrace their differences and their history. Brown T aims to become the benchmark marketplace that offers a solution adapted to the specific needs of Afro women while favoring healthier products that are respectful of the environment and promote overall well-being and self-confidence.
Brown T marketplace offers more than just hair and body products; it provides a holistic experience that values health, natural beauty, Afro entrepreneurship, and sustainability. The brand provides opportunities for Afro women to care for themselves holistically, with a focus on their health, well-being and cultural identity.
