HEAD OF STATE
TAOFEEK ABIJAKO
Identity is born of culture – so when the shape of your life takes you through multiple cultural contexts, that identity fractures, multiplies, then grows. Such is the experience of Taofeek Abijako, 22, who despite his tender age is articulating his identity through clothing in a manner with which many others can identify.
His label is called Head of State, and through it he explores a state of being that is simultaneously both African and African-American, but which also resonates beyond that experience to be relevant to anyone whose life has been lived between different shores. The shores between which Abijako’s identity has oscillated to become formed are those of Nigeria and the US. Until he was 10, he lived in Lagos, where he says he shared a room with 15 family members. Taofeek’s father, Nureni, himself a designer of traditional garments, tried first to build the context for a better life by making his way to Europe, a journey that was aborted on the shores of Libya. Back in Lagos he struck it lucky, winning a US immigration lottery, and a few years after, in 2010, Taofeek moved to Albany, New York, with his mother Shakirat.
(Continues)
EMERGENCY ROOM
ERIC RITTER
Son of a Lebanese mother and a French father (who exited the scene early), Eric Ritter was born and raised in Beirut. Thus, he says, he always felt more affinity to his mother’s homeland. Yet when he graduated from ESMOD Beirut he decided to pursue a fashion career in his father’s. “I thought, ‘You know what, I have a French passport. So I might as well go to Paris, the city of fashion, and try to make it there.’” Paris, however, proved unfulfilling, so Ritter returned to Beirut to work for a bridal designer, still unfulfilled but at least at home.
Then came the germination of what would become Emergency Room Beirut, when in 2015 Ritter was invited to participate in a vocational training programme in the city of Tripoli, 85 kilometres north of his hometown. This involved teaching clothes-making skills and refining techniques that were already in place among local artisans and fabric specialists. “I realised that we have so much to offer, and there is so much to do,” said Ritter. Two years later, partly inspired by his own initials and partly inspired by the sense of urgency he wanted to impart in his alternative practice, he established ERB. “The premise is to be sustainable, focusing on upcycled materials, on one side. And on the other is that we produce only in Lebanon, through independent artisans who set their own price for the work they do. Allowing them to control the value of the work is especially important when you consider that the country is going through an economical crisis.”
(Continues)
STORY MFG
KATY & SAEED AL-RUBEYI
“Even though it’s niche, it’s a global niche,” says co-founder Saeed Al- Rubeyi of Story MFG. Al-Rubeyi is on a WhatsApp call accompanied by his wife and co-founder Katy; alongside them their newborn baby and Party, the family dog. The story of Story MFG reflects that of the Al-Rubeyis. Until recently they were enthusiastically peripatetic, travelling between here and there, on the lookout. Now they are settled (in Brighton, England, where the first Story MFG store is soon to open), and planning ahead for a label of whose product Saeed says: “Sometimes it looks like it’s made by gnomes.”
Back in 2013 Katy was a trend forecaster and Saeed was “making editorial” when their shared interests in craft, veganism and clothing inspired them to create a brand. At first they leant towards ethical denim, until Katy’s chance fabric fair meeting with an Indian mill owner who told them about a social enterprise partnership connecting small community-based manufacturers changed everything. “Two weeks later we jumped on a plane to India.”
(Continues)
