Banks should reduce interest rates to make it easier for us to apply for loans without regret -Ntiene Essien of NEN Fashion House

  Ms. NTIENE ESSIEN, an indigene of Akwa Ibom State, is a graduate of Genetics and Biotechnology of the University of Calabar and owner of NEN Fashion House based in Lagos Nigeria. She talks about her business and other issues in this interview with ISAAC NGUMAH. Excerpt:

 Tell us about your Fashion House

My fashion outfit is based in Lagos and we are into making of female ready to wear dresses of both Ankara and English fabrics, bespoke tailoring (made to fit dresses), bridal wears, children wears for parties, casual and corporate wears. We are also into office wears, casual wears, etc for our beautiful women making comfortable in their dresses and giving them that classy look they have ever desired.

While my Email: is nenfashionhouse@gmail.com; my WhatsApp contact is: 07065765879

Have you showcased in the African Fashion Week?

I have not but I attended.  My experience was when I went there, I didn’t showcase,  I  was not opportune to showcase my brand.  I just went there to find out what other fashion brands are able to meet up; and able to grow their brand.  I checked their products to see how they make their dresses so that I would learn more things from them and then grow my own.

What are your challenges in the industry?

My challenge in the fashion industry is meeting my target because of lack of funds to push my work out. Another one is digital marketing. I have not been able to push it out like the way I want. Lack of finances is another challenge.

Can you tell us about your customers’ relationship experiences?

My relationship with customers sometimes they are rosy, sometimes they are not. When they are rosy is when they relate well. We try to relate to them not to get things messed up since they are not pleased with it, we welcome them, we try to understand their own fashion sense so that we can please them and make them have a nice outfit from our brands.

How long have you been in the fashion industry?

Since 2019.

Where do you source for fabrics?

I source for fabrics from Tejuoshuo market, Yaba and also Oshodi market and Lagos market but I mostly go to Yaba market because they have Luxury fabrics that you can use to sew beautiful and elegant styles for clients.

What inspired me to go into fashion?

After my NYSC and searching for jobs and wasn’t coming forth, I decided to learn a skill which I chose fashion.  Though I said to myself that after graduating from the university I was going to have a business while working which would be a fashion boutique where I would be importing beautiful wears to sell but I ended up sewing and it has been an interesting one so far to have my own brand.

What is your passion for the fashion industry?

My passion for the fashion industry is to be creative in making elegant and beautiful dresses for our clients for any event.

Can you tell us about your business growth?

My business growth has not been steady like that; it comes up and down. Sometimes it goes up, sometimes it goes down. You know our fashion industry, there is season for it but I like to try my best to balance it so that it doesn’t affect us financially when it is not our season. So, from the beginning, it wasn’t rosy, we are just pushing, trying to get more customers even if we are having much growth but just to get more customers and be able to grow our brands; but it has been good from beginning, if I look back from now, the growth has really improved but we hope to grow more.

Tell us about your business prospect

I’m would like to expand my business to have stores a lot in different places even outside the country because I have some few old sellers I want them to expand

Can you tell us about your business expansion?

When I started, I was working from home until I got a store, during the COVID-19.  It was not that easy we have to close down the store and we got a smaller place where we are now; but we need to go higher than that.

What can the government do to support the fashion industry?

What the government can do is to support the industry with finance and then to be able to train people. Government can make fashion compulsory as a course in schools like secondary schools and universities as a skill that should be done so that if someone is out of school, he or she can have something to do in the fashion industry to expand for skills acquisition, Then, government should financially support us because it is not easy running a small business in Nigeria this time.

What are the challenges in getting loans from the bank to start a fashion outfit and what can the government do to solve some the challenges?

It is not easy getting equipment .They tell you to bring some certain things.  You must have certain criteria which are not easy for us. Paying back the interest rates is not friendly at all.  I think the bank should be able to reduce the interest rate to make it easier for us to be able to apply for loans without regret, while we got the loans because sometimes we get the loans by the time you are even putting it into the business with the economy of Nigeria that is not really friendly for us, we entrepreneurs it can get to a situation that you cannot payback.

Can you tell us about your brand?

NEN Fashion House is a brand that makes beautiful and elegant wears that makes you stand out in any occasion you go to.  We make it simple yet classic.

We do bespoke tailoring; Ready to wear, bridals and children wears basically for females. We are into wholesale for people who are have fashion stores for made in Nigeria wears

What were you doing before you ventured into the fashion business?

I wasn’t doing anything; I just came out of school and then went into fashion.

Do you have testimonies in the fashion industry?

People have been making good comments on how good we are in producing ready to wear, bridal wears. Through it, it has referred us to international clients who have seen us on our social media pages and then they refer us to other online.  That is how we track them on WhatsApp and get them connected.

Can you tell us about your new business innovations?

My new business innovations is to have a garments factory whereby we will be able to produce more fashion wears for other fashion houses who cannot work ordering and also for other customers who want to do wholesale even if they don’t know how to sew.

What is your focus in the fashion industry?

My focus is how to become better and go higher and meeting up with other top brands to make our brands well known in Nigeria and in the Diaspora.

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