We recently connected with Nneoma Kanu and have shared our conversation below.
Nneoma, appreciate you joining us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?
Everything happens in God’s timing. Although there are things that I wish occurred earlier or later in my career, I just always tell myself that there’s a reason why everything happened the way it did and that I can’t see the full picture yet to understand it. For example, I used to think that for someone that has always been into fashion, I thought I got into the game way too late. With that mindset, I was already quitting before I even started. I had to kind of realize that all the things I’ve been able to learn up to this point have made me the person that I am today and I wouldn’t take that back.
Nneoma, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I’m a first generation Nigerian American and also a California girl through and through. Growing up, I’ve always been into fashion whether it was me rummaging through my parent’s closet, watching Ugly Betty, or taking apart clothing to create something new. Around high school, when I finally learned how to drive, I would frequent the thrift stores and started my love for thrifting and thrift flips and also obsessed over the new wave of fashion bloggers. I made it a mission to teach myself how to sew to create the newest fashion trends like the Peter Pan collar, which I very much over did at the time, thinking back. I think what I love about fashion is that you can say so much with just one garment. When you walk out the house, before anyone even knows your name, they know what you’re wearing. You’ve said a lot with no words and that is so powerful.
The older I got, the more I wasn’t super sure what my path in fashion would be, but I began to realize that I would never be satisfied if I wasn’t in the game. Fast forward to post undergrad, I finally had the courage to start my own brand called NEK which has basically become my first child. It’s a space for me to just create freely, try things out, and pick my brain. NEK then led me into styling which has honestly given me a new well rounded perspective on what it means to wear a garment and all the pieces at play when creating a look.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
I always say that the most rewarding aspect of being a stylist and designer is being able to bring joy into peoples lives. I love casually scrolling through social media and randomly seeing an NEK item or something I styled, as well as getting messages from people telling me how much they love their garment. It’s like being seen and heard all over again. I always say that fashion brings me so much joy and puts a smile on my face and my goal with NEK is to allow other people the chance to experience that feeling too. I want them to feel good on the inside and the outside.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I’m so blessed to have so many amazing creatives as friends. They give me so much insight and knowledge that I do not take for granted. A friend of mine has this fire brand called Bungalo Boy and he gave me the biggest lesson that made me change my way of thinking and that is “in the creative industry, you have to be your biggest advocate, because if you won’t then who will”. You have to fully believe that what you’re making is the best thing on earth and you really have to bet on yourself. And once you bet on yourself, there’s honestly no way you can fail.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.nekthebrand.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/nekthebrand?igshid=YTQwZjQ0NmI0OA==
- Other: https://instagram.com/ohmynome?igshid=YTQwZjQ0NmI0OA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
Image Credits
NEK Campaign Images taken by https://instagram.com/