What is your name?
It's
HabibaH Kikky.
Tell me a bit about yourself (Biography)?
Well
umh, where do I begin from? Am Nigerian, a native of Ilorin, Kwara State. I
grew up in Sokoto but I now live in Ilorin. So sometimes am a bit Hausa-ish,
other times am such a Yoruba woman; especially with those facial expressions
and sound reactions like anh anh! and ehn ehn! Haha!*can’t watch*. If you catch
me on a good day, am pretty friendly, a people person. I think it's because I
keep an open mind, I laugh a lot and I try not to judge. My go to mantra on any
day is "Life is not hard". It's my way of rationalising when things
go just fine as well as my way of finding a solution or an alternative when
things could be better. I guess it puts a positive, calmer and simpler spin on
things. And it's so appropriate as I can be such an overthinker! I hope my
people don't hurt themselves nodding when they read my admission *rolling my
eyes*.
Educational Background.
The
typical na: Primary, Secondary, and Uni noni. My field is Business and
Management. Yea yea yea, it's no wonder I ended up here shey?
Your Business name?
H2T
Lifestyles (Head2Toe Lifestyles).
About your H2T?
H2T
is primarily into creating made-to-order pieces and collections in form of
clothes, purses, bags, shoes and accessories like brooches/corsages, earrings,
neck pieces, bangles, phones cases, belts, sashes, etc.
The pride of H2T lies in using
fabrics that form part of our identity, mostly ankara to make unique and
creatively designed products at global standards. I've come to realise from
other people's products that what differentiates H2T is, while they might have
the skill most lack the creativity to truly design and combine materials. For
me it's not enough to make generic products, common, what then differentiates
your products from those from the assembly line?
H2T is more than mere products, it's
a lifestyle. At H2T lifestyles you can express art through creative designs,
express uniqueness through customisation and express class and sophistication
with style. I co-own the business with my sister, so ultimately, at H2T
Lifestyles you know you're with family.
H2T Lifestyles... brutal creativity in style.
Source of inspiration.
My source of inspiration for going into fashion to begin with comes from how
disappointing I used to find clothes whenever they came back from the tailors.
More often than not, they screw up one thing or another! Since we were
little, my sister and I always sketched designs and took them for creation. I
know what you're thinking...that they couldn't create the designs? You're right,
but, it's worse...sometimes the clothes didn't even fit right! What the...??!!
Their excuse? "What we drew cannot be created with clothes." It was
just apparent that they lived in a world of copying styles. We had much more
creativity and talent than the tailors knew what to do with. And it was a
challenge, we really believed those styles could be created! Creativity might
come naturally, effortlessly or it can come from a conscious process,
'effortful'; skills however definitely have to be acquired. Yep, our pursuit
for skills was born.
Inspiration for our designs comes from...anything, anywhere, anytime.
Sometimes, you're just there and a style jumps at you. Might be watching TV,
reading a book, writing an email, whatever. You might see a tie and the vision of
a dress jumps at you, that's one way. The second way...I hate to go all book
worm on you but there're a creative processes. Sometimes you have to
consciously seek for creative styles. A quiet place might work for you, or be
it music, for me, a pencil and sketch book is the way I go.
Other business plans in life asides H2T?
Umh!
well, a lot! I don’t even know half of them because life begins at 40 you know?
Ok ok, top of my head I'd go, more family, more friends, more education!
Likes?
I
love chocolates, ice cream, good movies, good music, good food, good places and
make sense people *batting eyelashes*.
Have you had ever had business challenges?
Who
hasn't?? And in Nigeria? Hehe *beat up sef. Not just that one has ever o, One
dey always! We like to say our challenges on SMEs are poor support from
government and financial institutions, blah blah blah. I like to break and
bring it right down, so for me I sum up a lot of these things as "My
people and I."
On the 'I' part, my continuous challenge is time. I have so many other
commitments I find that I have to stay up all night many nights.
On the 'My People' part, people can be so ridiculous you won't believe it. Ok,
picture this, I got an order, which came to N3,000 (that’s after all the
discounts I couldn't give even myself any less), and she made a 1,000 deposit
(I didn't use to insist on full down payment). Anyway, delivery day came and
she pinged me she'd only pay 1,800 as balance, I disagreed. When she came to
pick it up, she was telling me how she can't even pay the 1,800, something
about transport to get back to her apartment ooh!*jaw drops* Imagine my
surprise! Nigerians, smh!
Worst moments and best moments in life.
Wow,
good question! I'm not even sure! I don't think it helps to dwell in worse moments.
I've had my share of disappoints and I've had very many beautiful moments. So
for me, I try to take my moments, good and bad as lessons, experience and
memories. So in the end, whatever it is I know I'll be fine InShaAllah! And I
thank God for who I am, where I am, for my family and my friends.
But let's not lie, my first H2T creations was a pretty bad ass moment, no one
even knew I could make a bag, I secretly made 2 bags (for my sister and I) with
ankara for a wedding and revealed it the morning of the event. Everyone was in
awe. It was a MAD (making a difference) moment!
Advise for those thinking of dwelling into your kind of business.
Patience,
Dedication, Perseverance, Resilience, Resourcefulness, Efficiency.
You need to be committed, and try and try and try. You need to be prepared to
be disappointed by the lack of support you'll get from some people, it might
not even be personal. It’s not embarrassing to fail, it’s an experience and a
learning process. You need to be ready to pick yourself up. Collaborations and
Networking are keys for marketing. And Ultimately, you need to surround
yourself with the people that will support and help you; for me, my family is a
great pillar of support and I thank God and I thank them. And FYI! This not a
get rich quick scheme, lol!
Contact
Information:
HabibaH Kikky of H2T
Head of Creatives, H2T Lifestyle
07063869525 (Call or Text)
28CD096D
hechkaykay@yahoo.co.uk
Initially, 235
couture started out as Billz wearz (BW), an idea that occurred sometime in
2010, out of my love for fashion and all things beautiful. I sketched my
designs and give to tailors to make for me. But I felt I'd do better
interpreting my sketches and ideas myself, so I decided to learn how to cut and
sew myself. However, I had to finish school to avoid distractions, I knew what
I wanted though. And I continued making plans in my head. I felt I needed a
more catchy name too, hence the name changed from 'Billz wearz' to '235 couture'. I
finally enrolled at Pretty creations, where I learned to cut and sew.
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