LIONESS WEEKENDER COVER STORY
* Cover photograph courtesy of Truedismedia
Hazel Aggrey-Orleans is the founder and creative director of EKI, a luxury women’s fashion brand based in London designing ready to wear and bespoke pieces. Lionesses of Africa chatted to Hazel this month to learn more about this unique luxury brand that is winning fans from around the world with its celebration of silk and African heritage.
Tell us about your brand, EKI.
At EKI, our elegant designs are inspired by our unique prints and each print tells an African story on silk. Our signature soft silks and chiffons take you on a visually stunning journey through African nature, culture and history.
What inspired you to start your company?
I remember speaking to a friend who very passionately talked about her role in the film industry and I recall being a little saddened that I couldn't express the same level of passion about my role in the financial industry (marketing), but I took it upon myself to brainstorm ideas that same evening. I have always had a love for culture and colour, and soon after giving birth to my first child and being on maternity leave, I decided to explore this passion and started working with existing fabric travelling to India and Ghana with my baby to explore the existing silk fabrics. I have always had an attraction to the soft luxurious silk fabrics. I created scarves with these textiles and pushed it for a year. It was not until my second maternity leave that I realized in order to enter this very competitive fashion industry, I had to have something unique and that is when I looked to the existing fabrics on the African continent and noticed that we mainly had cottons. I then made it my mission to reinvent and inject a bit of my African journey into designing silk prints.
Why should anyone use your service or product?
People buy into our brand because of the prints. They are distinctive and very soft, gliding on the body. They are not for the faint hearted as we do mix and match colours. Our prints are for those brave enough to stand out in the crowd, as the name Eki itself means Centre of Attraction.
Tell us a little about your team
Betty is our in-house stylist - a trained Orthodontic with a remarkable sense of style and she is responsible for directing our photoshoots. Yvonne - trained in law at Harvard and then branched out to luxury brand management. She assists me with any brand decision-making. Anastasia – a principal consultant in strategic marketing. She is my go to on business development and overall strategy. This is our core team. Besides that we work with interns who are immensely valuable in helping us contribute towards our marketing and social media.
“The team we have, have a passion for the brand. They are great ambassadors and understand the Eki story."
Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And, do you come from an entrepreneurial background?
My mom has always believed in the 9-5 work structure, played it safe and has been happy to work for others. My dad on the other hand was more of a risk taker and entrepreneur, always interested in seizing the opportunity to set up a business of his own. I guess I take after him, as I have always had that urge to create a business of my own. I do, however, appreciate the time working in the corporate world as it taught me work ethics. Having come from a marketing industry within the finance sector, I had no experience in the fashion world. Whereas others are taught all the guidelines in fashion school, I came with an open canvas and just followed my instincts and made decisions along the way. I was also very naive in business and made many mistakes. At first I was very hard on myself but over time you accept that it is a must to make mistakes, otherwise you are not growing. When you start a company you do not have the funds to get a team onboard and so I had to teach myself all the different areas of the business. Being an entrepreneur is without doubt one of the hardest roles to take on as you are your own boss and it can be a lonely journey as you do not have the structure of an establishment to support you. I always tell myself though, if being an entrepreneur were easy, every one would do it.
What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?
In this very unsettling period of Covid-19, every business has to re-strategize their model, to stand a chance of surviving. Being a sustainable brand is already part of our DNA but this alone will not suffice. We are utilizing this time to develop the EKI brand and re-launch our brand in collaboration with someone else. In addition, we will still have the EKI collection line – keeping it condensed, creative and ensuring we are still commercially competitive.
Find out more
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