•The Beautiful CEO Of JADERON Aso-Oke
•How She Became The Most Sought After Aso Oke Merchant
One Lagos Aso-Oke merchant, whose brand has become so popular among the rich and mighty in Nigeria and most especially in the Lagos social scene. It is Jaderon Aso oke, which is owned by Mrs. Aderonke Oluwatoyin Fawole. Though, she has been doing Aso-Oke businesses for over 9 years, but this pretty celebrity Aso-Oke merchant has become a choice of many rich Lagos celebrities of style of late.
Mrs. Aderonke Oluwatoyin Fawole, a mother of 2, is the brain behind Jaderon Aso-Oke located at the Popular Dada Alaja Street, on Lagos Island. A quick visit to his shop, you will unveil a huge crowd of prominent celebrities who are either in the store for their chieftaincy tittle Aso-Oke, wedding Aso-Oke or regular Aso-Oke for usual use.
For Jaderon, it is not just about designing for celebrities of class, many Nigerian kings, queens have also embraced her unique.and timeless Aso-Oke designs, which come in eye-catchy colours. For over 3 years, Jaderon Aso-Oke has been styling Lagos most stylish king, Oba Saheed Ademola Elegushi, (the Onikate of Ikate-Elegushi) and his wife, Oloori Aramide Sekinat. She is the creator of the monarch’s breath-taking, royal attire. Jaderon is behind most of the elegant styles rocked by the wife of the monarch, Queen Aramide Sekinat, who is a fashion pacesetter for many other queens when it comes to fashion and style. She offers same services to other prominent Yoruba traditional rulers and high-profile people, including the new Oniru of Iruland, Oba Gbolahan Lawal and his wife, Queen Mariam; the Oba of Epe, Oba Kamoru Animashaun, Lagos Head of Service, Hakeem Muri Okunola among many others.
During the new Onirus corronation, she was the one who designed the breath-taking gold-and-wine Aso-Oke rocked by Kabiyesi and his wife. It was not a usual design of Aso-Oke that you could see in every store. This must have been what made her the choice of many rich celebrity men.
In an exclusive interview with ebony-pretty Jaderon Aso-Oke boss, she revealed that she is the 4th generation of Aso-Oke merchant in her family. “Just like every musician says that they have been singing from the womb, my story is not different. I was born into Aso-Oke. Jaderonasookeplace was started about 9 years ago, but it has been a generational business in my family. I am the 4th generation in the business. My story is a unique one. My mother sold Aso-Oke, my grandma sold it even my great grandmother. Jaderonasookeplace is the fourth generation of Aso-Oke sellers in my family. Right from when I was in my teens, I had been following my mum to shop on the Island. My Mum has her shop at the popular Dada Alaja market. My grandmother was the “Olopa Oja” till she passed onto glory. Dada Alaja market is off Oke Arin, Idumota. My grandma’s store was called Mrs. E. A. Thomas Store. So, I can say that I learnt all the rudiments of Aso-Oke in secondary school. I remember going to shop from secondary school days to assist my grandma and mum even before I set up my own. I used to get clients for my mother too”, revealing her journey in the Aso-Oke business.
Mrs. Fawole whose love for unique colours can’t be ignored, also said that her ability to combine good colours had also set her apart. In her words: “Life is colorful and the ability to see and combine colour is the essence of beauty, which God inculcated in each individual”.
Speaking on what style means to her, she said: “Style is branding. Style is sophistication. Style is jaderonasookeplace. Styling is traditional… Styling is elegance. Back in the days, Aso-Oke use to come in traditional Iro and Buba but all this are bygone now. Aso-Oke can now be infused into unique and trendy Western styles that can suit all occasions. We have come to the stage where Aso-Oke will never go out of fashion. Never. We will never forget our root”.
Why can’t Aso-Oke never go out of vogue? Well, has been for ages and it cannot be out of vogue. The fact that it now comes in all eye-catchy colours would also not make it not to go out of vogue. We are Africans and we know that Aso-Oke is our core traditional outfit which could now be sewn into styles for any occasion. That would definitely make it a lifetime choice.
Mrs. Fawole, speaking on what set her apart, I will say dedication to the work. Attention to details and quality and focus on our tradition have set us apart from others. Like I always tell people, Jaderonasookeplace is specifically unique because at every production, every opportunity given, we are always concerned about the details of our output. No bystanders”.
Does she do all Aso-Oke? We do all. We cater to all types of Aso-Oke. Just like you have different kinds of lace, that is how we also have different kinds of Aso-Oke.
How did she become the choice of the rich and mighty? Well, I will say it is God. He has brought us this far and we know he will still take us further. I do Aso-Oke for all classes of people. We also have luxury collections, so, it is not just for only high and mighty we also have Aso-Oke for all.
We didn’t let her go until she spoke about styling King Saheed Ademola Elegushi and his ever gorgeous Wife, Oloori Aramide, Oba Omogbolahan Oniru and his Oloori, Oloori Maryam and many others. “It’s been God and my brother, Hon. Shina Peller. It hasn’t been an easy journey but I want to say thank you to him. He made it happen. I remembered he called me and said Ronke, I need you to meet a person who is a boss to my friend. He is a God-sent to me. He made a lot happen. I didn’t even expert it and may God keep blessing him for me” she said.
Just like many big Aso-Oke merchants, one would have expected her to have millions or thousands of followers, what is her take on this? “Loo! that has always been the challenge when we started. People love to see millions of followers to believe that you are big. But God has been awesome. We thank him for that”.
ABIOLA ORISILE
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