How Deola Sagoe And Her Daughters Are Building A Fashion Dynasty

The Sagoe name is respected in the Nigerian fashion industry. However, when you mention the Sagoe name, different images come to the mind of three generations of Nigerians. Older generations, especially women, will associate the name to the Sagoe gele and the matriarch of the Sagoe family, Chief Mrs. Modupe Sagoe, fondly known as Sisi Dupe.

People born from the 70s to the 90s will mention Deola Sagoe, Sisi Dupe’s former daughter-in-law. The younger generation will mention both Deola Sagoe and her daughters, Teni, Aba and Tiwa Sagoe.

Chief Mrs. Modupe Sagoe is one of Nigeria’s foremost textile merchants and has dominated the industry for over fifty years. She is more popular for the branding of the popular HOH Swiss headgear, Gele Sagoe, in her name.

However, the younger generations have taken over and popularized the Sagoe name. Ms. Deola Ade-Ojo, formerly known as Mrs. Deola Sagoe and her daughters have built a reputation around the Sagoe name in the Nigerian fashion industry and created a dynasty of fashion giants.

Deola Sagoe

Deola Sagoe was born Deola Ade-Ojo to Chief Micheal Ade-Ojo, founder of Elizade University and Elizade Motors, and his late wife, Chief Mrs. Elizabeth Wuraola Ade-Ojo. After getting her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Miami, Florida and a Master’s degree in Finance & Management from the University of Lagos State, she moved into fashion.

Her fashion journey began in 1988, when she joined her mother’s fashion business, Odua Creations. Odua Creations specialized in creating traditionally embroidered menswear. This was against her father’s wish as he wanted his first daughter to go into the family business, but Deola chose fashion and expanded the label’s repertoire to encompass more contemporary designs for the ever-developing, cosmopolitan high-brow society.

After spending some time with her mother’s label, Deola ventured out on her own to start her eponymous label in 1989. She became known for her iconic designs and attention to detail. Her pieces were Afro-centric, mixing Nigerian fabrics with Western contemporary styles and cuts. She made African designs and fabrics fit into the contemporary world without it looking like costumes.

She gained global recognition in 2000 when she won the MNET Anglo Gold African Design Award (New York). Influential US Vogue Editor and style icon, André Leon Talley nominated her for the award.

Deola is one of the most sought after designers in Africa. She also has many firsts to her name. She is the first black woman to present a collection at Alta Roma Alta Moda Fashion Week, Rome’s celebrated Fashion Week back in 2014, and the first Nigerian to have her stand-alone show at the New York Fashion Week in September 2014.

Whilst celebrating 25 years of her brand, Deola rebranded and dropped the Sagoe surname from her brand. This followed her separation from her husband, Kofi Sagoe. She is now addressed as Ms. Deola Ade-Ojo and her label, Deola. Although the business is registered as Deola Sagoe Limited, it is now known as the House of Deola.

The House of Deola features subsidiaries, including the mother label, Deola, her daughters’ fashion label, CLAN and Deola Sagoe Uniforms to cater to the uniform needs of corporate organizations.

Deola also designs bridal wear and her bridal fit boasts of an elite clientele. Some brides who have donned her bridal wear include Fatima Ganduje, Oludamilola Osinbajo, Fatima Dangote, and Oyin Adenuga.

Deola is not just a talented designer, she is an outstanding actress. She featured in the Kunle Afolayan’s 2014 movie, October 1 as Funmilayo Ransome Kuti. She also won the MultiChoice Africa Magic Viewers Choice Award for Best Costume Designer for the movie.

In 2006, she was appointed as Nigeria’s ambassador in an international campaign organized by the United Nations World Food Program. The “Catwalk the World: Fashion for Food”, raised funds to reduce the number of starving people in the world.

Teni, Aba, and Tiwa Sagoe
Following in the footsteps of their mother and grandmothers, Teni, Aba and Tiwa Sagoe are also navigating the fashion industry. The sisters launched their fashion label, CLAN, in August 2011 at the Deola Sagoe flagship store.

CLAN is for young women in their teens, twenties, and thirties. The brand is a fresh and irreverent style, for edgy, style-conscious girls and guys who like to stay ahead of the fashion curve. This is visible in their design, made for the trendy Nigerian woman with their clean and minimalist cuts. The ready-to-wear brand perfectly complements their mother’s couture line.

CLAN also houses The Marshmallow Store, a store for beauty and skincare items as well as chic bags.

Teni Sagoe, the oldest of the three sisters, is not only the Creative Director for CLAN, but she is also the Executive Director, (Operations) of the House of Deola. The twenty-nine-year-old is a graduate of the Law LLB program at the University of Exeter. According to the House of Deola website, her passion lies at the intersection of enterprise and establishment, and she brings dynamic intuitiveness and a flair to the business of branding and sustainability.

Deola’s second daughter, Aba Sagoe, is also the Executive Director (Corporate Services) of the House of Deola, along with being the Creative Director for CLAN. She is a graduate of Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Tiwa Sagoe is the Visual Director of House of Deola. Also, she is a Creative Director at CLAN and her brand, Embasan Living, a store for premium bed and bath linens.

Teni and Aba are also listed among the board of directors for the House of Deola.

Although their mother’s designs are for the more elegant Nigerian woman who is in touch with her traditional style and fuses them, CLAN’s designs are for the trendy Nigerian woman with their clean and sleek cuts.

The Sagoe family has been a major part of the Nigerian fashion industry for almost 50 years and their reign is not likely to stop soon.