“Seek for your dreams, but don’t do it naively”

Entrepreneur in luxury clothes and digital businesses, Adaora Ifeatu Soludo. She is the creator and creative director of the ethical and ecological fashion brand Aorah, which uses traditional African fabrics like akwete, aso oke, and kente to create modern designs.

She graduated from the University of Reading with a degree in Economics and Politics and has a certification in Fashion Communications from Condé Nast College of Fashion and Design. An MSc in Management was awarded to Soludo by the Imperial College Business School.

Soludo’s career in fashion design was inspired by the wide diversity of fabrics and colourful traditional attires of Nigeria, and she has gained expertise working with start-up fashion tech firms and significant luxury brands like Moschino.

IJEOMA THOMAS-ODIA discusses her desire for creating a sustainable company in this interview. She wants to grow the fashion industry and ethically and sustainably redesign traditional Nigerian fabrics.

Describe your love of fashion briefly. How did it happen?

I first became interested in the fashion sector in Nigeria when I was very young. There are many flashy textiles in Nigeria, and when people go church on Sunday, they dress to impress. I just came to adore these rich fabrics and flamboyant traditional attires as a youngster, and I later began creating my own pieces.

It’s simply a skill I acquired growing up and seeing all the great outfits and fabrics that we have pushed me to pursue it. I received an internship as a designer when I was 16 years old.