The Vintage Colette Woman Series Photoshoot

The Vintage Colette photo shoot was inspired as a form of tribute to celebrate female entrepreneurs as every day women. We wanted to bridge the gap and allow our customers to relate well with our brand. We decided to start with entrepreneurial women from a vast range of businesses who understood what it meant to run a business within Nigeria. It took four months to prepare for this photo shoot from day one to the day of the photo shoot. Even though I had initially been advised against the idea as this was contrary to what any Nigerian designer had ventured into, I chose to go ahead because I was a woman, a designer and an entrepreneur. I knew that I could be as contrary as I wanted to be because otherwise, I would be in a constant state of collapse whenever I innovated anything.

I wanted to celebrate these women who are realistic, strong, focused and determined to excel. They motivate me and consistently keep myself and other women true to their core. Each fabric, style and color was designed for the persona and style of the female entrepreneur wearing Vintage Colette. The looks are different, but the souls are the same, as are the things and people that constantly inspire me in life. That is the true persona of the Vintage Colette woman. 

This photo shoot is a celebration of personal style that ignores the demand from the outside, a carefully followed and well researched journey, one that I hope would serve me for many more years ahead. 

- Binta Shuaibu

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The Vintage Colette Woman Series: Fantis Muhammad

Fantis Muhammad is a Garment Manufacturer and a Food & Beverage Entrepreneur.

We Work Predominantly With Female Suppliers
Santifood Co is a two year old food/beverage processing company. We recently opened our first food outlet in Wuse 2. It houses yogurts, healthy drinks and other convenient packed food. What’s great about Santifood Co is that we take what we have locally here in Nigeria and package it to fit international standards. We get a significant amount of our of our ingredients and materials from local businesses and work with all female suppliers, unless they don’t have what we need.

I also have a Garment manufacturing business. We produce high quality made on Nigeria clothing for local brands. We also have an in-house brand called NOWRIE. The idea is to provide fashion entrepreneurs the option of having production outsourced and not having to set up a unit of their own. This gives them the opportunity to have their brands without investing in equipment and staff.

If We Had Power, that would mean about 20% more money in the hands of businessesNigerian business spend a considerable amount of time and energy dealing with the lack of basic infrastructure. For example if we didn't have to worry about buying generators, exorbitant interest rates and multiple taxation, that would mean that much more to use for expansion, marketing or even to hire more qualified personnel for their businesses.If we had power, that would mean about 20% more money in the hands of businesses. That’s a lot! Can you imagine the entrepreneur landscape without all these issues?

Before government formulates policies, they should find out the real issues on ground. I also believe they should get the input of entrepreneurs before they pass certain legislation. Entrepreneurs understand the issues in their respective industries and can give better insight into providing solutions. The Nigerian government should give us basic infrastructure like power.

Whatever You Want to do in Life or Business, Just Start
To any woman trying to go into business, do your research. It is extremely important that you get your facts right; get training if you need to, and then, just do it. As cliché as it may sound, just do it. Whatever you want to do in life or business, the most important step is to start. But just remember that it has to be something you can commit long term to, because it won’t be easy and without perseverance, all business die early deaths.

The Vintage Colette Brand
I decided to do this photo shoot because I loved what Binta was trying to achieve for all female entrepreneurs. Women don’t get enough opportunities to showcase their businesses, most especially women-based businesses in the north. So this was a great opportunity for me. I love the Vintage Colette collection because they are easy to wear, light, and great for this weather –very considerate of this weather *laughs*

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