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From Christy Anyanwu, London
Born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, Bunmi Ademokoya began her modelling career at a young age and came to limelight in the 2007 edition of Nigeria’s Next Super Model. She went on to win the ‘Best Model of the World 2007’ and ‘The Future Awards Young Model of the Year’ award in 2008. She is today an international super model who has made a name for herself in the fashion industry.
After taking a break from modelling to focus on her footwear line, Irin Ajo Leatherworks, Bunmi made a comeback to the runway in 2023, walking for designers like Natasha Zinko at the London Fashion Week. She was sighted at the Africa Fashion Week London recently, as she stepped out to receive an award given to her mentor and godmother, Mrs Joan Okorodudu, at the closing ceremony of the event.
She took some questions and shared insights into her latest endeavours.
Where have you been all this while?
I live in London now, and I’m just here modelling and continuing my passion for modelling. That’s what I do now.
Aside from modelling, what else are you doing?
Aside from modelling, well, I have a shoe brand called Irin Ajo, which I opened back in 2018 in Nigeria. And I’m also interning at a fashion house, a prestigious fashion house. I don’t know if you know Adebayo Jones? I’m interning at his fashion house at the moment.
So you want to be a designer also?
Honestly, yes.
What lessons have you learnt in your life?
It’s always good for you to pursue your passion. If that is what you really want to do, pursue it. Obviously, there are going to be ups and downs in every business, in every journey. There will be ups and downs, but I would say pursue it. And I would also say have a backup plan. So, when your passion fails, the backup plan should be in place so that one will keep you going.
How about your parents? How do they feel about you now, because in the past it wasn’t funny when you started as regards parental consent?
Obviously, my mum, when I initially started modelling, she wasn’t really keen for me to model. And it’s understandable. I was a law student in OAU. So, for me to leave school and do modelling full-time was a bit unconvincing to her. But my dad has always told me to pursue my passion and they’ve stuck to it. And, 18 years later, they’ve seen how far I’ve gone in the modelling industry and how I’ve still stuck to it. So, they are 100 per cent on board.
Did you finish your law education?
No. I didn’t finish the law, but I did get my BSc in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution.
What is next for you in the UK?
My next chapter would be to begin a foray into fashion designing. Right now, I’m learning with a prestigious designer called Adebayo Jones. I’m learning. Hopefully, one day, I will open my own fashion line and tie it together with my shoe brand.
What do you do to keep up your beauty?
It would be a cliché if I say it’s just good genes, but I would say healthy lifestyle, eating well, doing a bit of exercise. That’s what it’s good for. My physique is my work, so I have to make sure.
Do you have any memorable or challenging experiences from your modelling career?
Modelling is a challenging business and a career. I would say some of the challenges I’ve faced in my career were having to cope with rejection or criticism. I mean, as a model, everybody’s going to face criticism or rejection at some point.
Even the most professional model, even the most sought-out model, you still face rejection because not every client would like to use you, not every client would like your look. So, definitely, you’re going to get rejections. You get optioned and then you will get rejected, which having to cope with that, is pretty hard in the modelling industry. I would also say managing stress and anxiety that come from the job and working with other colleagues and models and, yeah, that also is a challenging experience that I’ve had in my modelling career.
I would also say managing my finances. This one is at the top of the list of challenging experiences. Having money, which is great, when the jobs are coming in and not having money, which is not so great, when you don’t have jobs coming in and you have debts and, yeah, having to manage my finances is a huge challenge in my modelling career.
Also, having to balance my job as a professional model and my personal life as Bunmi Ademokoye, I would say that’s also challenging as a model.
How would you describe your personal style and how do you think it’s evolved over time?
When I go out, I want to always incorporate elements of quiet confidence and self-assurance in how I present myself to the world.
So for my style, my personal style, I love outfits that evoke a sense of elegance, sophistication and refinement. I would always go for understated, refined luxury, especially clothing that creates a polished, refined look. That’s my personal style.
As for how it’s evolved, I would say that I know my style has evolved over time as I’m more intentional in my shopping choices. I also now tend to go for outfits and colours that suit me more, like my skin tone, you know, as opposed to just buying clothes because they’re pretty or affordable or in season. So, that is my personal style.
What advice would you give to aspiring models or entrepreneurs looking to break into the industry?
That would be to develop and hone their skills. Either take catwalk lessons or practise posing in front of your mirror or practise facial expression, how to pose, how to react, because there are some times you have to do a commercial and you need to act a scene or act surprised or feign anger or something like that. So you need to practise your facial expressions.
Even for photography, you need to have different expressions as well. So you need to practise that. And then acting as well, you need to practise acting because the entertainment industry is intertwined with the modelling industry. So, a little bit of acting is also involved; you need to practise that. I would also say, have a lovely personality.
I have seen this in my many years of modelling. I’ve seen fantastic models perish in their career because they’ve got a lousy personality. So, I would also always say, have a lovely personality.
Modelling isn’t just about looks. The thing is, there are people that look exactly like you, if not even better.
They look as tall as you, they look as beautiful as you, they’ve got amazing skin, but one thing that would set you apart is having a lovely personality. Always have a lovely personality because even your aura, it tells your energy when you go out to meet clients or you’re working with your other colleagues, that aura represents who you are. So, having a lovely personality is a plus.
I would also say have a backup plan. A lot of people always think that modelling is going to set them up for life; and while there’s a very little percentage of models that actually succeed financially, the majority of the models, well, they’re actually just struggling. And it’s even more painful when you don’t have a backup plan and modelling is just it.
So, I would always tell people, always have a backup plan. If you need to finish school, if you need to do something else, just do something. Modelling may just be a stepping stone to what you’re actually good at.
Always have a backup plan. Modelling is a cultural business, not everyone will succeed in it.
So, that is my advice for any aspiring model or entrepreneur looking to break into the industry.
