INTERVIEW: Why I launched a roundtable for Nigerian fashion, by Gbemi Olateru-Olagbegi

22 Mar 2026, 15:03 by Pelumi Bolawa · TheCable Lifestyle

Nigerian fashion is having a global moment — but the hands that stitch the seams, the struggles that shape the brands, and the quiet victories behind the runways rarely get their due. Gbemi Olateru-Olagbegi is changing that. With over two decades in the media industry, the TV personality and fashion entrepreneur knows the industry from both sides of the spotlight. Her new YouTube series The Fashion Roundtable is where aesthetics meets accountability, and where the people behind the fabric finally get to tell their stories. In this interview with TheCable Lifestyle, Gbemi unpacks her journey from host to entrepreneur, the pressing challenges facing models and designers, and why the future of fashion demands deeper conversations.

TheCable Lifestyle: What’s the inspiration behind The Fashion Roundtable you recently launched?

Gbemi: So, I have always been a fashion enthusiast. I have a women’s footwear brand which has been in existence for about 11 years. But I have always loved fashion. I have always been the person who would sit up way before social media existed and watch red carpet broadcasts of international award shows.

Yet, last year, I decided to create a fashion series on social media called Women’s Fashion Series, where I would literally go to a brand’s store, try on a few pieces, and that sort of thing. My audience really, really liked it. In fact, when I first started, I just thought I was creating content. And they all started looking for an outfit or an event. The next thing, they kept asking for more.

People started to send me clothes and pay as well, because they saw the traction it was getting and wanted that attention for their brand. I did this until I realised I had worked with over 50 fashion brands. I realised that I would have a conversation with the founder or the people behind the scenes of the brand, and they would tell me information I did not know.

There are no actual fashion-based talk shows. No show is zeroing in on the fashion industry in Nigeria, which I think is getting a lot of attention right now internationally. There are a lot of international eyes on the fashion industry in Nigeria, and this was a good moment to tell their stories. So it is not just focused on fashion designers. It is focused on people, basically, in the ecosystem.

TheCable Lifestyle: What do you think are the major challenges for creatives in the fashion industry?

Gbemi: Based on my conversations with them, I would say there are different things. But to summarise, for the founders, it is funding. Also, for some people who are not necessarily founders, it is training. Where do you train to become a stylist?

For models, there are different things. On one hand, it is: how do you get into the industry? Okay, you have gotten into the industry. How do you expand and get international acclaim?

We have had situations where models have done very well. They do a model search. They pick a few models that have potential, and then they want to enter them into modelling competitions abroad. And you know how the Nigerian passport is not as respected. Let us even bring it down to infrastructure in Nigeria.

There are so many peculiar instances of different levels of challenges that they are all facing. Apart from the challenges, it is also interesting to hear the triumphs and their wins. I spoke with a brand owner who, at some point, had sold, I think, 25,000 or 35,000 outfits in a year. By the time I was talking to her about it, it was like, oh, we have surpassed that. They had gone on to 250,000. But nobody knows. So, it is a closer look at the fashion industry beyond aesthetics.

TheCable Lifestyle: What was it like when you began your creative journey?

Gbemi: The reason behind the footwear brand even started in the first place is that it was difficult for women who were bigger than a size 41 to find their shoe size. If you think about the early 2010s or early 2000s, if a woman who wears size 44, for example, has to find maybe a red pair of shoes or a purple pair of shoes, it was very difficult, basically.

So, being in that category of women — I wear a size 43, for example — and you are looking for shoes, as a woman who wears over size 41, your options are limited. I noticed this, and I first of all started out selling different shoes that I would buy when I would travel, and then I started to create my own shoes. Right now, we have shoes up to size 47. When these shoes were created, lots of women were very excited and very happy because they finally had somewhere they could buy shoes of their own size that were nice and did not resemble men’s shoes.

I have also been in the media space since 2005. And so I thought about it with my over 20 years of experience as a media personality who has done radio, TV, and digital, and someone who has also been a fashion entrepreneur for the past 10 years. It only made sense to marry the two interests and create this platform, where, as an entrepreneur, I know the pain points, and I am also willing to hear more.

TheCable Lifestyle: What should a young creative think first when going into the fashion industry?

Gbemi: Beyond funding, as a young person, I think it is important to work with someone who has some industry experience. Learn the business part of it.

For funding, it is quite difficult to find institutions that will give you loans if you do not have some sort of track record. Again, this is why it is important to maybe learn, intern, or work with someone in the field that you are interested in. As Nigerians, even if you have all the knowledge and everything, there are also unique problems that we face.

TheCable Lifestyle: What is your opinion about the recycling or reuse of clothes?

Gbemi: I hope you know that many of the so-called fabrics, except maybe your Aso-Òkè and the things that are woven — maybe woven fabric, for example — Ankara is not made in Africa. A lot of lace fabrics that we use for Owambe are not made here. They are made in other countries and imported. So that is one interesting aspect.

Funny that you mentioned this because one of the guests that we booked for the show is a woman who prints, or should I say helps people create their own fabric. So back in the day, if you wanted exclusivity — whether it was that you were a fashion entrepreneur or you just needed a particular fabric for a special celebration — you would probably go outside the country to order it or get it printed. Now, she has bought the fabric, she has bought the machines and all the things that you need to print and create her own fabric from scratch. So that is one person I am looking forward to speaking with on the show.

We need to be educated on the fact that some of the things that we call African may not necessarily be African per se, but we just have them at home.

TheCable Lifestyle: On recycling and upcycled materials?

Gbemi: That would be an interesting topic to actually tackle, because there is an African culture. A lot of people are interested in Okrika clothing. It is a topic that is controversial, in that some people believe that it is part of sustainability.

I feel the younger generations are starting to experience it. I remember, less than 10 years ago, when social media first came, there were a lot of people who set themselves up to re-work, as we say, and it is because you posted it online. Nowadays, no one cares. Wear your outfit, wear your blouse, wear your shirt, wear whatever it is, in so many different ways.

I also like that a lot of young Nigerians are now using fabric that used to belong to their parents and restyling it in their own way, especially Gen Z. We saw a lot of content on TikTok. So I am looking forward to tackling this topic during The Fashion Roundtable, because it is very, very important. So thank you for bringing it up.

TheCable Lifestyle: If you were to speak to policymakers on the fashion industry, what would you tell them?

Gbemi: I am a Nigerian. To increase the fashion industry’s contribution to GDP, for example, according to my research — which was reported in some newspapers — the fashion industry in Nigeria is already making up almost $6 billion.

It sounds like a lot, but when I think of the shifts in the fashion industry, for example, how bad it was, what we were doing, how come, what ways are we using, what do we need to do, how do we educate more fashion entrepreneurs to make wiser financial decisions? There are so many.

It is great to be a creator, but on the other hand, as you are creating, you are also in business, and you have to learn the business part of it. So what do we need to do? What policies do we need to put in place? What do we need to advise? What can the government do to help? You have a population that is thinking of food first, because if you are as fashionable, colourful, and flamboyant as Nigeria is, you are also going to need food. So those are all things that I would ask.

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