Temitope Kayode-Ojo is the Creative Director of LAVISH. She is also the founder and CEO of the rising fashion retail company STYLE TERRAIN, which focuses on designer pieces from African and emerging brands.
An MBA holder from Texas A&M University, Mays Business School, Temitope has 10 years of experience in the bridal industry spanning across two continents. She has worked with clients from five continents, and LAVISH boasts notable clientele from all around the world. Temitope brings years of diverse experience, having worked as a Wealth Management Analyst at Morgan Stanley and as a consultant with Accenture and PwC. Utilizing her management skills and networking expertise, she established Lavish Bridal in 2014 in the USA and 2017 in Lagos, Nigeria—a culmination of her creativity, experience, and passion.
In 2024, Lavish Bridal rebranded to LAVISH, a full fashion house offering an occasion-ready-to-wear line, bridal styling services, a bridal e-book for brides-to-be, and mentorship and business consulting for new industry entrants. LAVISH, unveiled its second collection on November 25, 2024, and it will be available for purchase on November 29.
Temitope Kayode-Ojo continues to be a multi-passionate entrepreneur, creative, investor, and speaker.
How would you summarize your journey from Lavish Bridal to launching your RTW womenswear line in one sentence?
I would say it has been a journey from Lavish Bridal to the all-encompassing Lavish of both bridal and ready-to-wear that has been one of determination, faith, perseverance, and focus.
How have your business acumen and corporate background contributed to building a thriving fashion empire?
From gaining my MBA at the Texas A&M business school, I learned a lot about leadership and organizational structure, which are things that really helped me to build lavish. Also, my experience at Morgan Stanley USA; business principles like customer service, thinking like an owner, escalation, risk assessment, and being proactive are things I have taken and brought into building a fashion empire because fashion is a business and should be treated as such.
How would you describe your personal style, and how does it reflect your journey as a creative entrepreneur?
My personal style is minimal but with a POP! I like to keep a lot of elements very clean and devoid of extra noise, but I like to have something shocking added to it- dramatic shoes or bold earrings. And that has sort of been a key element in the pieces that we have designed and created. A lot of times, the fabrics are bold but the design is a bit more timeless and understated so it allows one thing to draw your attention rather than conflict with each other. I’m someone who likes to have an air of mystery around my fashion so we want you to look at it but not be able to immediately decipher why this thing looks this way. We want our pieces to make you think and stare which is how my personal style is as well.
What sparked your decision to rebrand Lavish Bridal into LAVISH, a full fashion house?
Lavish was not initially designed to solely be a bridal styling service, we incorporated it in 2014, and by then, I was a full-time wealth management analyst in the US. I had stopped working in 2015 to go back to school for my MBA. So, by the time we launched fully in 2017, and I was done with my MBA, I had invested all the money I had made working back into my education.
At this point, bridal styling was something I could start with zero capital but the vision for Lavish was always bigger than bridal so the spark was not really a question of “what?” But of “when?”. So, the when was determined by our clients’ needs and constant inquiries about something that they could easily put on when they had an event on short notice and didn’t have the time to go through the process of bespoke tailoring. They needed something easy but dressed up. We have a lot of casual fashion brands in Nigeria, which are great, but not a lot of occasion or evening, or resort wear, and so it was very clear that the market needed that convenience in the form of gorgeous everyday pieces, so ease, convenience, and uniqueness.
If you had to describe LAVISH’s RTW line in three words, what would they be?
Lavish RTW in three words would be Unique, Detailed, and Expressive. Because those words describe the pieces, the fabrics are exclusive and custom-made, and those three words describe the design, prints, colors, and beadings. We pay attention to detail in how they accentuate the woman’s form and how they make women feel. They are expressive because we always want women to feel something because clothes are a form of expression, so we made different pieces with different designs, shapes, colors, and patterns that emote different feelings.
Why is supporting African and emerging designers through STYLE TERRAIN so important to you?
Supporting African designers through Style Terrain is important to me because one of the things that we have established is that women are becoming busy with their careers, and they definitely need support in looking and feeling good. Accessibility is one of the big reasons why Style Terrain is connecting people all around the world so our mission is to connect them with not just African fashion but also to the people who make the pieces and the culture behind the inspiration. Like I said, they’re busy so we want a one-stop shop where they can go look at different things and make their selection. We have a lot of rising and established African designers, hence the reason for a platform where we can see everyone at a glimpse rather than going to different places. There’s also the problem of fraud, a lot of buyers who want to patronize African brands are scared of putting their card details and patronizing. So, we wanted to create a safe and reliable platform that showcases the African talent, design, culture, and social scene all in one place.
What’s the biggest difference between designing for brides and creating everyday fashion?
Our pieces are not necessarily everyday fashion but rather for the big moments where you want to look amazing, whether it’s a girls’ trip, dinner, or vacation. Most of our pieces are versatile yet show-stopping. However, I don’t think there’s a huge difference except that the pieces are ready-made whereas the bridal is more bespoke. Also, in the construction, bridal pieces usually need more construction because they require more fabric and elaborate trains, hence more structure, and the dress needs to carry its own weight as opposed to the bride carrying it.
How does LAVISH cater to the modern African woman?
She’s busy, she values convenience, she’s bold and she wants to stand out wherever she is. So, the lavish RTW brand caters to that woman. The brand understands that she doesn’t have time to chase tailors around and oftentimes may need these clothes last minute due to her schedule, so it caters to that through its convenience by shipping to over 50 countries worldwide. It also answers her boldness, whether it’s by the style of our beading, our use of fabrics, or our detailing. All of which allow the modern African woman to be bold and be set apart in our pieces.
What’s the one thing you think sets your brand apart in the fashion industry?
One thing that sets us apart is our brands’ experience in styling and working with women of all shapes and sizes. We have brought this knowledge to creating ready-to-wear, accessible garments that blend the fast-paced nature of RTW with the show-stopping details of bridal, which make our brand so renowned.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from working with clients from all over the world?
Every client is different and as a business, you have to find a way to standardize while also catering to the individuality of your client. Not to each individual but the different groups of clients; catering to what’s important to them and providing solutions that can benefit or provide for the same type of clients but at different stages in their lives and how their needs change at different times.
What advice would you give to women who want to break into the fashion industry but feel unsure about where to start?
Firstly, do your research, study the market, and find gaps. That research allows you to find those gaps that exist in the market and know where you can add value as well as pull wealth to yourself. Find what’s missing and create your own table from there, you don’t have to make clothes to be successful. Once you’ve done your research, the next step is to test it and go with God. If you believe this is what you are meant to do—that you have something valuable to add and there are people who need it, just do it, just JUMP.
