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| Dimeji Alara |
Dimeji Alara, a wardrobe and fashion stylist, has worked for many fashion magazines like Elle, GQ, Genevive and Glamour. He is currently the editor of ‘Mania’. Alara is one of the foremost celebrity stylists in the country. In this interview with Sunday Sun the soft-spoken fashion buff gives us a peek into his ride on the fashion train, sharing the thrills and pains. Excerpts…
Take us back to where it all started. My fashion ride started when I was a kid. I was brought up in Paris, where I was introduced to fashion at very early age. My parents were fashionable and so I grew up under that atmosphere. It was something I constantly saw while growing up.
At what point did you take it up as a profession? Honestly the job just came to me I was working as a writer and reporter just like you. Doing the same thing you were doing and then the fashion editor where I was working then left. I was assisting her before she left. So I just stepped into her shoes.
What is the most rewarding part of this career? I think it brings me satisfaction and brings in money. Although it is quite stressful especially that of the magazine, but it is a new experience and I love it.
What does it take to be a stylist? It takes having an eye of an eagle, an eye for details. It is not about putting clothes on people because there are many stylists out there and I respect a lot of them because I think they are doing a great job. But you need to understand your client, understand what she is doing, and understand what she wants and the theme if it is a photo-shoot. If you have a brief, you have to listen well so that the end product will come up well. You know you can’t just impose what you want although I love experimenting a lot when I am doing a shoot but I listen well too.
You tend to be on top of trends so what is trendy now? Well, I don’t just guess because I look at what is happening on the runaway here and worldwide. A lot of designers are coming out and I need to study the trend and know why designers are bringing out such trends. I try to understand the economic situation and what is happening, for me to be on top of the game, I also read a lot of magazines too.
There is this story that there is a sort of ‘clique’ thing in the fashion industry, is that true? Yes, I think you are right. It is sad though because people are really insecure about themselves, what they do and how people view them, which is why I think this happens. If you look closely at it you will know that it has to do with their insecurities than anything else. It is a group of people who think that they decide what is happening in fashion.
Who in your opinion has a flawless style? There are so many out there with great styles. I think Oluchi has a great sense of style, OG also; he is a great model – very chic and simple. I think Bridget Awosika too – she has a great sense of style.
What else would you have done if you were not styling others? Well, there was a time in my life as a kid I wanted to be a farmer (laughs). There was a time I wanted to be a musician, I don’t know really. May be I would have been a farmer I think.
But you don’t have the look? Oh, really, but I did a bit of farming when I was very young.
What was your growing up like? It was fun, I had a great childhood; I experienced different things in life moving through Nigeria and France.
Are you married? No, I am not
Are you into any relationship? I don’t talk about that. I am a journalist too, you know (laughs).
What have been your major challenges? There are lots of challenges; first, I am my own greatest critic. I criticize myself a lot and I push myself really hard and at the end of the day I am able to make things happen and it takes a lot. I set really high goals for myself. Also, you have the big headache of poor power supply and the market problem. I am not really complaining because I am doing what I love.
Who have you styled? I don’t like to drop names but I have styled a few people.
How do you combine being the editor of ‘Mania’ and your styling job activities? I guess that is just my life. If I am not able to combine these, I am sure I will be able to combine anything else.
How do you see the fashion industry in the next ten years? I am hoping and I am sure we would have gone further than we are now and if the industry grows and come together and we stop doing this clique thing like you said then things will change. You know we need more talents to come in.
So you believe we still need more designers? Yes, because we can still count them. You can’t count American designers or British designers for instance. But we can count Nigerian designers, which is sad, I guess.
What common fashion mistake do people make and still think it’s cool? I think there are no rules in fashion. What might be someone’s mistake might be what someone else’s style. I just think that you should apply common sense to whatever you do.
What about the current craze for revealing dresses? I am not against nudity because I believe that how you dress and how you choose to dress is your personal choice. If you choose to expose your cleavage or your legs and it makes you happy and the people around you happy then that is great.
Do you style women only? No, I do both.
Who is your favorite designer? I really don’t do labels; I get my things made for me at affordable prices. I have someone who designs for me personally at a good price. I am not into buying very expensive designer clothes, as long as they look good. It is good to look good, of course.
How do you define style? Style is personal, style means comfort, it means freedom; you wear what you want to without seeking approval of others. You know you have to get to a point were you don’t seek other people’s approval on what you are wearing.
Who are the people you can’t live without? My family, I can’t live without my family because they have been a huge support for me when I was at the point of giving up. They are always there to tell me you can do this.
Where is your favorite shopping place? Like I said, I really don’t shop when I travel because things are pretty expensive these days. But last time I bought things from Monaco – for me that was a splurge.
Do you think the Nigerian fashion industry has improved compared to years back? In a way I would say yes. But there is still a lot of things missing. We are more into the entertainment side and the business side is zero and I think it is time we started talking about the business side. We don’t have the distribution stores for example. If you are a designer, you can’t do ready to wear.
If you do ready-to-wear which shop will you put it into? If these people have the means of distributing their clothes, things will be a lot better and it will be affordable. You know the more you make, the cheaper it is for everybody instead of just designing clothes for just one person.
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