HOUSE 38.

HOUSE 38.

The young women Damola and Simi-26 and 24 years of age respectively-were very warm and welcoming as I stepped into their sheltered shop. Its a warmly decorated space. Their designs line the wall ready for the keen hands of an interested buyer. We all sat down together comfortably and the conversation flowed easily. Both sister clearly got along so it comes as no suprise that this true bond of family is reflected in their synchronised designs

Here is the ineterview which explores the brand’s vision and the young detremined women Damola and Simi.

Thank you so much for letting me do this interview. I just have a few questions about your fashion brand House 38.

Could you please introduce yourselves?

I’m Damola Araoye and our brand is called House 38. Its a very new fashion brand. Its a womens wear brand. We do a lot of day and evening wear. Our brand is made up of two disticnt parts-which are the prim by house 38 which is our day wear so blouses, maxi dresses and then we have the heavily beaded dresses and aso-oke, tie dye dresses; those are the evening wear called the luxe bit of our brand.

Hi I’m Simi Araoye. I co-designed the brand. We basically came up with the concept of what we want and pick fabrics to support those concepts.

How did House 38 start?

D: Okay, we’ve both always had a keen interest in fashion. I actually thought I was going to be more of a dashion buyer than a designer. Funmi also has a lot of interest in fashion. She actually has a Masters in International Fashion Retailing. So we’ve both been consumers but then one day we were both bored and talking on Skype and then the idea to start a clothing brand came up as a joke really and I was like yeah lets do it and Funmi said what are we going to call it? We thought of something we both had in common and we decided on House 38 eventually. House 38 is the where we grew up. Its basically where it all started. Its where Simi was ripping up my mum’s wrappers lol and where I was making clothes for my dolls.

Its where we developed the interest in fashion and read fashion magazines from a young age. 

As we got older, I woudl sew up clothes for my friends and sell it to them for like $40. It was going alright; my mum was always bringing me fabric anytime she came to visit us in the States. She would bring me fabric like ankara and I started cutting fabric and selling my designs nothing too serious though. It wasn’t like a business it was more like a hobby for me and that’s how it started lol.

S: I went to school in San Diego which doesn’t have a really big African community. But I still managed somehow to wear African clothes all the time lol. At my last spring formal in senior year, I ended up cutting this nice Senegalese print from my mum to make a dress.

Fir us, we never thought we never thought we would end up in the business of designing clothes. It was always for fun.

Have you always been interested in African fashion?

D: At that time, I used ankara because it was very nique. There weren’t a lot of poeple in America wearing or sewing ankara. It was very different and it was the vibrant colours that drew my attention. I wanted to wear unique clothes. I was tired of going to Forever 21 everytime to buy my clothes. I had no formal sewing lessons so I’d sew something simple but because of the print, whenever I wore it out, people would be like ‘Oh my god, I love your dress can you make me one like that?’ It was more of the print than what I actually made. We’re not restricting ourselves to African fashion. We love it obviously, as Africans, its our heritage so our clothes are naturally inspired by Africa. But we do a lot of other designs as well.

S: A lot of the clothes we design are really abotu answering the question ‘What woudl we wear?’. Especially because we are women who are into fashion, we tend to self edit our designs. We ask ourselves ‘If we’re going to wear this, how are we going to wear it?’ A lot of the structure, cutting, beading has to be something that is very modern, classy and not too crazy. We design are clothes to be wearable 2/3 years from now. We are very much into investment pieces. Its about building a wardrobe that would last.

What is the age range for your designs?

S: It starts from women in their 20s.

D: I think we’re predominantly in the 20s, 30s and bits of 40s. We have clients in that age range. Ofcourse, we have some teenagers come in as well who we’re happy to serve. Our clothes can be worn to work and at night you can change your shoes, put on some make-up, drop your hair and you’re ready to go!

How would you define the style of House 38?

S: Lol, I call it utilitarian with a bit of creativity. I’m the utilitarian half. If I see a shirt that I like because of the cutting, for example, I would buy it in 7 different colours because its useful. I like wearing colours but I don’t like spending too much time getting dressed.

And the creative part I think comes from my sister. She’s more adventurous with fashion than I am. If I design something, she adds her creativity to it and when she designs a funky outfit, I make it functional. So its a utilitarian, creative and stylish brand.

Is your collaboration easier as sisters?
D: It makes it a lot easier as sisters. When we started, she was in New York and I was here. There was a lot of sketching and skype sessions. As soon as she came, it all got easier. For example, if I’m in the mood of sketching a dress and I’m stuck and like I don’t know what to do she would immediately step in. Its always good to have a second opinon about the designs. Its also easeir to have someone to share the burden with. Our designs are better when we work together.

S: I know no matter how harsh I am about my sister’s designs, the truth is easier to swallow because we’re siblings.

What inspires the designs?

D: We’re inspired by the everyday woman; the average Lagosian looking for clothes that she can pick up and wear immediately. We’re inspired by the people we’re trying to dress-the cosmopolitan, upwardly mobile stylish woman.

S: You have to realise that for us, our first taste of womanly fashion was our mother. And my mum used to be so busy. She always looks stylish when I look through her pictures. But her clothes had to be functional also. She couldn’t afford to have anything too frilly or dramatic because she was busy. When we make our dresses, you have to be able to work in them. The fabric has to be able to stand the test of time. Everything has to be functional, classic but still make you look good.

D: We’re heavily inspired by Fela’s wives. Our beading and love of colour and vibrant prints developed from watching them. Its amazing how stylish they were.

S: Just watching Audrey Hepburn as a character running or lounging was a massive inspiration because everything she wore could be worn today and still look good. I rent classic movies on iTunes all the time and I just sit down and watch the clothes and the way they move. My designs reflect my interest in classics.

Do you have any other outlets?

D: No, this is our first one. We’re going to be launching our website soon so people would be able to shop online from all over the world but this is it for now.

Why Lagos?

D: There’s the opportunity for it here. There’s a gap in the market. I’m not saying nobody does it but there’s a gap for affordable and everyday clothes. A lot of people do evening and party wear but there aren’t that many people that are doing day wear-easy blouses that can be worn to a barbeque, pool party and so on. 

S: We’ve tried to have a price point where people would be able to afford our clothes. At every price point, you should be able to get one item from us. That’s important to us.

D: We cater to every pocket. We do bridesmaids’ dresses and brides’ second dresses. We’re planning to launch our own bridal line in the near future.

Have you got any words of advice for young entrepreneurs?

D: I’m very fresh and new to this so I’m learning a lot as I go. The key point, I would say is, patience and perseverance. It takes a while. Its not easy to break into the market but once you do you will reap the rewards. Stay true to your brand and just keep doing what you do best and eventually, you’ll get the recognition that you deserve.

S: At this stage in my life, I can still afford to take risks. I have my parents as my shelter and I don’t have too many responsibilities. What Im trying to say is, when you’re young, its okay to take risks.

D: Starting your own business is not always the answer. Its a lot of work; I work around the clock-instead of a 9/5, its more like a 12/12 lol.

As I listened to the genuine words that flowed between Damola and Simi it was very clear that House 38 has a bright future.

House 38

Ground Floor 289B Akin Olugbade

Off Adeola Odeku. V.I. Lagos.

Tolu Falode.