You might think that what brought about the inception of SHAKARA, a clothing outfit in the heart of Lagos, ikeja, is a little weird, but that wouldn’t matter now as it has successfully become a name to reckon with when it comes to clothing so much so even celebrities seem to think so and to think this is just the beginning of a lifetime of success. ADA IGBOANUGO WRITES.
She had no initial intention to start up a clothing store. To Elsie Oluku, SHAKARA was more of dressing people up than herself.
‘I’ve always had this instinct of matchmaking colours to perfection. But it was more about the name. I loved the name and wanted to do something about it. I felt it was too significant to be a slang’ and with that came the thought of transforming this idea/love to a money-making business as really you can only say you’re successful when what you love is yielding financial results.
If clothing her kids could be counted as something, then Shakara would be said to have been well open forever; commercially though, the outfit was previously established in 2000. But she took a brief break which lasted for a year tending to other things; Things such as her hotel business.
The store which is situated at Allen Avenue Ikeja has a pretty friendly and colourful ambience; you’d feel welcome once you arrive. But in fact, SHAKARA isn’t the only thing Mrs Elsie is involved in.
The one-story building is divided into three; SHAKARA (the casual store) on the left, YANGA (the corporate store) in the middle and SWAGGER (the hair salon) on the right. GINGER (the bar) towards the far end near the gate and the makeup studio behind the building. In addition she owns a consultancy company, XSAJITE, which deals in hotel training and hospitality. A lot you say and quite funny names to name one’s company. When asked why she picked such names she said, ‘the question I’ve been asking everyone is ‘why not those names?’ if you are talking about fashion and an attitude towards dressing then I think there’s no other name I could think of than SHAKARA. YANGA is not as commonly used as SHAKARA so I thought why not the party brand as the former and the corporate brand as YANGA. But in sense, it still says the same thing- attitude; the act of showing of; which is what the outfit is all about’.
Challenges are well known to be part of anything in life these days. What Elsie faces as a challenge though should be wake up call for the Nigerian Government. Challenges such as insufficient power supply, lack of skilled labour, unwillingness to work, lack of social amenities, etc. All these factors, and more, drive her to go across the shores for production but it is not to take glory for all of it as the designs are made here in Nigeria instead. But with such challenges, one would wonder if the business would be rewarding but she optimistic as she says, ‘eventually it’s going to be. Right now it’s not. We are dealing with local government issues varying from tax to fire service to radio licence, etc it’s pretty challenging and sometimes I think I probably should have stuck in the hotel business of training people but because we have bigger plans and we are not here to play, though to have fun, but more to make a history’.
Though not a designer herself, most of her designs come from in-house designers and designs she sees and converts into something creatively genuine and more Nigerian so as to create that indigenous culture making shopaholics depend less on foreign designs and fabrics. ‘I used Batik because I didn’t want them to look like foreign make clothes. So what I did was to get a look of Batik and have it remade with the same designs’
What makes SHAKARA click is that it is the first and only indigenous clothing outfit with its own label. Other such as DAKOVA, MUDI, etc are couture made to measure but hers is ready to wear, manufactured on its label and it has all sizes for everyone. The outfit may have been on for quite some time but it officially opened its doors a month ago and has proudly had it first bridal train. Meanwhile it has artistes such as Tony Tetuila, Nomoreloss, and several others patronizing the store and soon enough it would be a name to reckon with.
Being fashionable doesn’t necessarily mean putting on designers and that is the kind of mentality, Elsie is trying to create in the minds of many. Better still you could be putting on a made-in-Nigeria outfit and look fashionable and more Nigerian and be proud of it. The outfit has got a radio show in which people are responding to quite well and positively too. But has owning a clothing outfit always being what Elsie wanted to do? No. In fact, Elsie always wanted to be a TV reporter or a broadcaster; even an actress or radio presenter as she was free spirited and was always active. But she was rejected most of the time mostly because of her nearly masculine vocal. Then one day she thought of this and said, ‘why not give it a try’.
The next level for SHAKARA and the rest of the company is the sky’s limit Elsie says. It’s looking into franchising but more importantly increasing export. ‘’taking Nigeria to the world’.
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