Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ngozika Okeke. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Ngozika, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Whenever someone asks what I do, I proudly say that Im a socially-conscious designer. That sparks the next question, which is ‘What exactly is that?”…and that’s where the explanation of my brand’s mission begins.
Ngozika Okeke Clothing proudly donates a portion of all revenue to organizations that work with survivors of sexual assault and domestic abuse. My brand mission is layered and I am very passionate about it. As a survivor myself, I remember noticing the disparities in both healthcare and legal services available to men and women that had experienced these things. At the time, being a student working towards my first business degree, I knew there had to be a way that I could combine my passion (which at that time was designing just part-time) with a viable business plan so that I could not just run a business, but one that actually had a positive impact in the community around me. With that goal in mind, I started my brand and the rest is history.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Im Ngozika Okeke, a Nigerian-American marketing consultant/adjunct professor turned fashion designer, now based in Los Angeles. Whenever Im asked to really describe my career journey I just say Im the artist that masquerades as a business person! Haha. I’ve always had a love for both fashion design and business, so much so that for a while I couldn’t figure out how to juggle them both, so I jokingly say that I keep one foot in academia and the other in the arts. I’d say so far so good.
I actually started print modeling at a very young age and ended up modeling for an amazing designer, Stephanie Thomas who took me under her wing once I decided to get serious about fashion design about halfway through undergrad. Once I started to develop my voice as a designer, it was time to decide whether or not to go to grad school for business or for fashion. As luck would have it, I applied and got accepted as a non-traditional grad student to a fashion university in Milan but was unable to attend due to basically not knowing fully how things worked at the time for financing the degree, etc..so I went on to get an MBA here in the states while still designing for my brand and working at a multicultural ad agency. It was a very interesting time indeed and turned out to be just the right series of events…but of course, I didn’t know that at the time.
Fast forward a few years and now the brand is selling in boutiques and online and is doing well enough to sustain so I took a risk and relocated to Los Angeles in 2013 to eventually go full-time with fashion design and really build the brand. Since then, Ive done just that…continued working on the brand and landed a spot on ‘Design Genius’ which is a design reality show in the Philippines. I came in 2nd place overall and had the experience of a lifetime. It was truly an experience to be up against amazing designers who actually went to school for fashion design ad then there was me-the self-taught designer from Arkansas with a business background that sort of just showed up to see how well Id do lol. Life is funny that way. Following that experience, I designed one of the most lucrative collections to date, my Spring/Summer 2017 collection. This collection was described as ‘ethereal’ and ‘delightfully feminine’ and I believe that it was then that the true voice and perspective of my brand was born. My cocktail dresses with a classic silhouette appeal to a broad base and then I have the ready-to-wear pieces that are comfy and fun. My designs depend heavily on whatever season in life Im in, where I’ve traveled last,etc. and although its a little unconventional in terms of business, I enjoy mixing things up a bit from year to year, so the perspective shifts a bit here and there. I think it’s refreshing.
What Im most proud of in terms of my brand is that I I give back. I donate a portion of all revenue to organizations that work with survivors of sexual assault ad domestic abuse, so I know that Im not only helping someone look and feel fabulous when they buy one of my pieces, but Im also helping to improve the recovery experience for someone who’s experienced something life-altering. As a survivor myself, I take my brand mission very seriously because I know firsthand the challenges that follow such events. People need to know that there is support out there and although my brand isn’t a billion-dollar brand [yet ;) ], I feel proud knowing that Im doing my part and I know that is what sets my brand a part.
Now, working on my doctorate in entrepreneurship and innovation, Im constantly seeking out new ways to be a better creative and business person. This goes back to that earlier theme of keeping one foot in both worlds…I think that’s just going to be my thing lol
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
2020….yeah 2020…..a year when everyone had to pivot and figure things out. Like many independent designers, I found myself sitting with my brand trying to figure out what to do next to sustain. There were no galas to attend, no parties, no weddings, etc…so no one was buying cocktail dresses and fancy clothing.
It was long into quarantine that the need for PPE was being broadcast everywhere, so naturally…all of the seamstresses that I knew (myself included) just started making masks and shipping them out to nursing homes, hospitals,etc so that the healthcare workers could have some sort of protection. It was something to pass the time and we were doing our part to help out, so it was a win/win.
Then it hit me! Since production was halted for just bout all clothing items I was producing, I figured I could become a brand that made masks to sell while also donating them, so I created the Mask Donation Initiative. All of the seamstresses were sewing from home so I called up all of my contracted sewists and basically formed a network of people to make the masks as the orders came in. And it worked!
I made 13 masks using original Ankara print (which is authentic African printed materials that are vibrant and beautiful) and I posted them on social media. Literally the next day I woke up to 1000 orders and counting! Somehow the mask post went viral on social media because of the donation piece and we were off! Fro the next 10 months, I was able to employ 21 people full time because we were churning out masks and donating them to hospitals at a ratio of 1:1. It was unbelievable!
Every Monday I did a blog post called “Mask Donation Mondays” where I showered which masks would be shipped out to which facilities and I kept the current mask count going just so everyone knew how many masks were being donated and just how impactful each purchase truly was!
To say that that initiative far exceeded what Id imagined would be an understatement! People were banning together to sew while keeping their bills paid, helping others, and also educating the masses on Ankara fabric and Nigerian culture. That singular event made me realize the POWER OF THE PIVOT. Had I stood firm (and stubborn) in my idea of not wanting to be a brand that produced masks, I wouldn’t have experienced the scaling of my brand. As an entrepreneur, sometimes we have to step outside of what our initial ideas are for our businesses and expand on other avenues to generate income, especially when you have employees counting on you. I became ‘the mask brand’ for a year and Im totally okay with that! Moral of the story is…pivot if you must, it could be the best thing for you and your business.
How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.
My e-commerce journey has been pretty straightforward. For the clothing brand, I started selling my designs on Etsy first around 2007. I love etsy because it basically allows you to have your own storefront on their platform so you don’t have to worry about hosting a domain, renewal fees, designing a website etc. Its like a template that you just feel in, and that’s perfect for someone that just starting out. Of course, they charge a fee per item that you sell, but its a great trade-off if you’d like to avoid the hassle of building your own website for the time being.
When I decided to build my own website in 2011, I used Squarespace. For me, it was simple and very user-friendly for those that arent experts in web design…which I absolutely am not.
I also have another business, SperCrownz (which are really large shower caps for all air types), and that business is hosted on Shopify,which I also think is a pretty user-friendly platform.
Whichever platform you use, they’ll be a bit of a learning curve but as long as you stick with it and familiarize yourself with the software, you’ll be great!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.NgozikaOkeke.com
- Instagram: @FashionDivaNgo
- Facebook: @SuperCrownz
- Other: My linktree has links to all the info listed above plus interviews, my SHEINx collaboration and a few other links. https://linktr.ee/FashionDivaNgo
Image Credits
Yoshawn Smith @sartorial.losangeles