A few decades ago, when people talked about getting basic undergarments, you knew that you had to have black, white and nude. But the concept of nude was relative as a number of people with brown skin tones were unable to find a color that matched. Just like beauty brands have begun to conquer what nude means across the color spectrum, this same movement has taken place in footwear as well as lingerie. We remember a few years ago when we first heard about Nubian Skin - a line that began as lingerie that included shades that matched brown skintones and was represented by models that also reflect the consumer who buys the line. After fangirling from afar, we caught up with Nubian Skin's founder, Ade Hassan about the process behind launching this line, how she grew the assortment, being honored by His Royal Highness Prince William with the Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire and how she takes time for herself while growing her business. ATHLEISURE MAG: Prior to creating Nubian Skin, can you tell us about your background? ADE HASSAN: My background isn’t actually in fashion at all. I was working in finance, which had been my career and when I had taken a break from finance, I did consulting for a year. However, while I was consulting in 2011, I had the idea for Nubian Skin and that was the first spark. I didn’t actively start working on the company until May 2013. When I came up with the idea I knew I needed to change jobs and save money, so I went back into finance and it was in the midst of this, that I actively registered the company and really started on getting it from an idea to an actual business. AM: What led you to create Nubian Skin? AH: I came up with the idea in 2011, and I had told a friend about the idea. Later that year, she sent me a birthday card that
said, 'it's time to start living the life you've always imagined,’ I immediately registered the business. AM: What were the initial items in Nubian Skin, how has that changed to the current assortment, and what are new items that you can share with us that will be available this spring? AH: We started out with our hosiery, essential and lace collections, and we have since added more sizes, a curve hosiery collection, our Africa-inspired collection, Moroccan Nights, a collection of nude shoes including heels and flats, we also did a collaboration with another designer, d.bleu.dazzled, and more recently, we launched our Naked Collection, a new range of intimates in nude tones! We have some exciting things in the pipeline, soon we will be launching our fuller-bust bras, and after that, we have a few exciting ideas up our sleeves, so watch this space! AM: In addition to having an online presence, what boutiques is the brand available in? AH: Our products are available at a range of boutiques, including Nubian Hueman in DC, BraTenders in Manhattan, Suzette Hosiery in Yonkers and Busted Bra Shop in Detroit. We also have stockists in the UK, Nigeria, Portugal and the French Caribbean. Check out the stockists page on our website for the full list! AM: What celebrities have worn the brand and who would you like to see wear it? AH: Beyoncé and her dancers wore it for the Formation Tour! We’ve also seen it on Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae and Taraji P Henson in Hidden Figures, Jourdan Dunn, Leomie Anderson & Jackie Aina to name a few. We’d absolutely love to see Rihanna in Nubian Skin! AM: In addition to having a necessary range of lingerie, we love the models
