By Damilola Fatunmise
Without creativity, fashion and style would be drab and unexciting. This is the assertion of Isaac Temidayo Olayinka, the creative mind behind the wave making fashion brand, TemmyDwears.
Olayinka, who birthed TemmyDwears in 2015 as a business and way of exploring the fashion world, said the brand started off as a mere dream before metamorphosing into a full business venture.
On what prompted his interest in the fashion business, Olayinka recalled: “Sometimes around 2014, I had a deal with a renowned fashion designer for my graduation ceremony. But on the delivery day, I put on the clothes and the designer asked me ‘is there anything you don’t like about it?’ To be honest, I had a lot in mind to say about the clothes but I just said ‘it’s perfect’. The question was an eye opener for me as someone with a commendable sense of fashion, and I started looking into ways to make it better in the fashion industry. My priority is not to know or see what everyone else is doing, but to exhibit my vision of fashion ‘change’ to the whole world, bringing new designs to people.”
For inspiration, the fashion entrepreneur said he’s inspired by artworks, movies, especially those embedded with cultural values. “I draw most of my inspiration from artworks, movies, most especially, the ones embedded with so much cultural values. I convert these into my own art pieces to suit current fashion trends in creating my collections,” he remarked.
TemmyDwears initially started off with suits and corporate wears. But a few months after, it rebranded into the design of suits, incorporating a bit of casual aesthetics, which surprisingly became a hit.
As an entrepreneur, Olayinka encountered some hurdles before success beckoned. “The most challenging factor to my journey of becoming a successful fashion entrepreneur is that, in the fashion world, there is never enough time to plan for the future. There is so much competition in the fashion industry as it is in other industries today. But every business is creative, so creativity has been my push,” he stated.
The fashionista described the African fashion odyssey as impressive. According to him, “Africa is making great impact globally, and we owe this to the fact that African designers are growing in the understanding of what the creative process really means, the sense of real fashion differentiated from trends. Creativity is the heart of fashion.”
Counseling aspiring fashion designers, Temidayo Olayinka admonished them to always seek knowledge towards any step they want to take. “Dreaming is amazing and working to make it a reality is more wonderful. But in every area of life, there is always a learning curve, so it is important to seek knowledge towards any step you want to take. Most especially, if you are dreaming to be different, you have to be knowledgeable about what comes before, so you understand which rules you want to break. In everything, learn something,” he declared.
In the next five to 10 years, the creative designer looks forward to putting out more designs towards transforming fashion into an industry that entails creativity without boundary. “I aim to expand the boundaries existing in the fashion world,” he concluded.