Oyindamola Honey Ogundeyi is not your ordinary entrepreneur. The Nigeria fashion guru – the proprietor of Fashpa, a pioneer e-commerce platform for African fashion.
‘Fashpa’ stands for fashion parade. For Ogundeyi, the use of technology to improve Africa as a whole is a lifetime dream that is slowly unfolding. She is the first Nigerian entrepreneur to harness the power of technology into her venture with the aim of reaching more people.
She understands that small and medium-sized fashion firms and craftspeople in Africa can be found in the marketplace. Known as one of Nigeria’s first fashion e-tailers, Ogundeyi is a shining example of how women in Africa are transforming the continent’s technology sector.
Oyindamola Honey Ogundeyi. Photo/The Guardian Nigeria
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Who is Oyindamola Honey Ogundeyi?
Ogundeyi is authentically Nigerian; she grew up in Lagos. She schooled here for her primary and secondary education before moving out to Alexandra College in Dublin, Ireland.
She later transferred to the University of Birmingham to pursue a degree in Public Policy and Management. Her career dwells in management consultancy having worked in banking, brand management and technology firms.
Ogundeyi’s employment history saw her work with multinationals such as UBA, Google, Ericsson and McKinsey. It is here that she nurtured her entrepreneurial skills.
How Did Oyindamola Honey Ogundeyi Venture Into Fashion Industry?
With a population of 213 million people, Nigeria’s e-commerce market for fashion is still underserved. This makes it an unfit match for the country’s rapidly expanding online population.
In addition, after returning to Nigeria following several years of living overseas, she found it hard securing high-end apparel.
This gap inspired Ogundeyi to use technology in a bid to create a one-stop-shop for fashion in Nigeria. Fashpa is the largest online retailer of fashion accessories and apparel in Nigeria hitherto.
Fashpa is a vertically integrated company that creates, manufactures, and sells its own range of clothes. It sells the apparel online and provides worldwide delivery. All this is thanks to Ogundeyi.
The platform operates on a simple principle of style consciousness. In comparison to other consumers around the world, Africans have the same modern and sophisticated fashion tastes and a love for fashion.
The only thing separating Africans from fashion-conscious Londoners is the distance between them. Because of this, Ogundeyi created an online fashion platform for style-conscious consumers.
They have a wide range of options and reasonable rates.
How Was the Reception for Fashpa in Nigeria?
A few years after its inception, Fashpa became a full-fledged fashion retailer. It carries a wide variety of high-end international brands including Zara and H&M.
In 2016, the e-commerce firm launched the Fit Project programme. There was a lot of positive feedback from customers making the whole journey incredible.
Fashpa customers order high-quality, well-fitting clothing reflecting both local and international fashion trends. The company’s rebranding focused more on this aspect as well as focusing on blending technology with modern design and African craftsmanship.
Although Nigeria remains Fashpa’s main market, Ogundeyi says the number of other African and international customers keeps increasing.
She says the global market appreciates the beauty and detail that goes into quality fashion regardless of its design location.
Oyindamola Honey Ogundeyi. Photo/The Guardian Nigeria
How Has Oyindamola Honey Ogundeyi Changed Nigeria’s Fashion Industry?
Tailoring is an important activity throughout Africa; local craftspeople are social agents in the development of African Fashion. Because they safeguard traditional know-how, they play such a vital role in garment production and local trends incorporated into Fashpa designs.
Therefore, the firm trains its craftsmen and artisans thereby, reducing unemployment. This is one of the ways of empowering young people and women, particularly those working in the textile manufacturing industry.
Ogundeyi’s vision is making Fashpa one of Africa’s leading online fashion retailers, servicing a global clientele. With it comes an expanded range of merchandise in more categories.
The firm has the vision to expand its technological capabilities to provide the best service possible to customers. And it pegs its hope on big data, mobile commerce, and cross-African and worldwide trade in achieving these goals.
