and becoming a shining light in the fashion industry

Growing up with a dream to pursue a unique career path which is not so popular and mainstream, can be an arduous journey for any young person especially in a country like Nigeria. This was exactly the case for Bimpe Onakoya. Hers was that of becoming a makeup stylist, something that many in this day and age see do not see as fit to be seen as a profession but rather something you do on the sides. According to her: “People used to ask me, ‘Apart from makeup, what else do you do?’ And I would respond, ‘Makeup!’. Then, they’d ask me if it pays the bills”.

She has successfully turned what many snuff at into a career and has gone on to make it to the global stage as an authority in the makeup and fashion world.

Bimpe has over sixteen years of experience as a makeup artist and runs a studio that offers various types of makeup packages such as bridal makeup, campaign makeup, fashion makeup and photo shoots.

While it’s a regular thing to see various British and French nationals keying at the major fashion festivals, it’s a completely different scenario for their African counterparts and other people of colour. This is because in the long years of fashion shows, there has been no person of colour with a marked strong showing in these fashion stages.

In 2014, Bimpe became the first Black African Makeup Artist to work backstage with models alongside other world class Makeup Artists and Fashion Designers at the New York Fashion week of that year.

In 2013, she signed on to be an artistic director with Maybelline when L’Oreal expanded into Africa. Then by 2014, she got the opportunity to work backstage at the New York Fashion Week for the first time.

Behind the scenes, she has worked with popular models like Jourdan Dunn and Alek Wek, as well as numerous brands, like Jason Wu and DKNY.

She has created looks for Laquan Smith, a New York based luxury women’s wear fashion designer who has dressed the likes of pop stars Eyince, Rihanna, Kim Kardashian, Serena Williams and many other notable fashion conscious female celebrities.

On the home front, she has been the Key Artist for two of the biggest fashion Weeks in Nigeria, the Lagos Fashion Week and Arise Fashion Week.

Bimpe’s rise to fame and prominence in the global makeup and fashion industry is one that shows that with tenacity and clarity of purpose, just about anything can be achieved.

If you faint not, but stay consistent on a journey, standing out with excellence and total commitment, all things good will sooner than later come your way.

By blending Nigerian and modern cultures, she created a brand that withstood the test of time. “I try to fuse African cultural style with a modern approach to design,” she says. “I love the dynamism of creating modernity out of something steeped in history. I think it’s what gives my collection such a cultural mix.” business made her an iconic designer in her field both within and outside Nigeria and earned her several awards and recognition.

The Nigerian-born and raised designer is the first child of her parents, chief Micheal Ade-Ojo, the founder of Elizade Group.

After completing her secondary education, she attended the University of Florida, where she graduated with a degree in business administration. It was during this period she discovered her fancy for the fashion space. Despite this discovery, she furthered her education at the University of Lagos when she returned to Nigeria. There, she obtained her master’s degree in Finance. She worked in the company and her mother’s fashion workshop at her father’s insistence.

While working with her mother, she harnessed her skills, and in 1988, she established the House of Deola. Since what she knows how to do best is fashion, the mother of three said, “I didn’t choose fashion, it chose me...I feel I produce more intelligent clothing as a result.”

Though Deola Ade-Ojo came into the limelight in 1998 during the MNET Face of Africa, her career became pronounced when she won the MNET Anglo Gold African Design Award in 2000 after being nominated by U.S. Vogue Editor Andre Leon Tally.

The following year, she was ranked 37 on the African Almanac scale of 100 most influential Africans globally. In 2004, she set the pace for the African fashion industry by becoming the first black woman to present African-infused clothing to the Alta Roma Alta Moda Fashion week in Rome.

In 2007, she received the Platinum Quality Award for her superior clothing at the 10th International Star Awards in Paris. The following year, she received the International Quality Award in the diamond category of Excellence and Business prestige at the Quality Summit in New York.

Her brand was seen as a Super Brand and received the Super Brand’s Certificate of Excellence in Fashion Design and Label category in 2010. She was also part of the October 1 movie, directed by Kunle Afolayan. Sagoe created the costumes used for the story written by Tunde Babalola. This earned her the Multichoice - Africa Magic Viewer’s Choice Award for Best Costume Designer.

Her fashion sense, combined with her exceptional entrepreneurial skill, has seen her nurture the business to what it is today. Deola’s decision to join her mother’s fashion Girded with business knowledge, her father asked her to join the family business. Sagoe was against the idea and opted to work in her mother’s traditional embroidery business. Also, her designs have been used by Oprah Winfrey, Will Smith, top American models Lydia Hearst and Alek Wek, and several African first ladies and famous personalities.