By Damilola Fatunmise
Tell us more about yourself.
I grew up in Apapa, Lagos. I was that child who looked at an outfit and immediately thought about how I could improve it. In my early teens, I was already filling notebooks with rough sketches of designs I wished I could bring to life. Growing up in Nigeria in the early 2000s, I was genuinely frustrated by the quality of many of the tailors around me, and I knew I wanted to do something different. After secondary school, I told my mum I wanted to learn fashion design, and she took me to a roadside tailor where I became an apprentice. That was the moment my journey officially began. What started as a young girl with a sketchbook became 7THLEO, a premium brand rooted in Nigerian craft and built on the belief that African fashion deserves to be seen on the world stage.
How challenging was it building your brand from scratch?
It was incredibly challenging, but every obstacle taught me something. Building 7THLEO from nothing meant wearing every hat at once: designer, tailor, social media manager, marketer, customer service. There were times when resources were tight, times when clients were difficult, and times when the industry felt impossible to break into. But I never allowed the challenges to define the direction, only the speed. Every setback pushed me to be more deliberate about how I was building, and that clarity is what 7THLEO stands on today.
How did you come up with your brand name, 7THLEO?
My birthday is the 7th of August, which makes me a Leo, and if you know anything about Leos, you know we are bold, passionate, and unconventional. That is exactly what 7THLEO is. The name is deeply personal; it is me poured into a brand. Bold design, unconventional thinking, and an unapologetic celebration of who we are. Every collection carries that energy.
What’s new about your brand in recent times?
This year has been a significant one for 7THLEO. We recently underwent a rebrand in February, refreshing the brand’s identity to reflect where we are heading. We also just unveiled our newest collection called INTENT. The collection represents the modern woman who honors where she comes from yet designs where she is going, which is definitely 7THLEO’s energy.
I’m currently exhibiting at Leicester Made & Regions in the UK, and I have been invited to showcase 7THLEO’s latest collection at the Africa Fashion Week London this summer, one of the world’s largest platforms for African fashion. We are also in conversations with the international press and expanding our visibility beyond Nigeria into the UK and European markets. 7THLEO is no longer just a Lagos brand; it is becoming a global one.
How many celebrities have you worked with, and what was your experience like?
I have had the privilege of dressing some incredible people over the years, from Osas Ighodaro and Priscilla Ojo to BBN Tacha, Mariam Adeyemi Timmer, and many others across the Nigerian music, film, and creative industries. One moment I hold particularly close is dressing Moses Bliss’s wife for their wedding; being trusted to dress someone on one of the most important days of the person’s life is something I never take lightly. Every client, celebrity or not, gets the same level of dedication from me. That is the 7THLEO standard.
Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
In five years, I see 7THLEO as a fully established international premium brand with a strong presence in both Nigeria and the UK. I want our beadwork and craftsmanship to be recognized on runways and in wardrobes across the world. And honestly, I want my mum to see 7THLEO on an international runway. She’s the one who took me to that roadside tailor; she’s the one who believed in me and invested in my dream of becoming a fashion designer; she deserves to see where that decision led.
I also want to be in a position to create more jobs, invest in more artisans, and open doors for the next generation of African designers. 7THLEO has always been about more than fashion; it is about what African creativity can achieve when given the right platform.
What is your greatest fear about being a well-known brand?
My greatest fear is losing the brand’s soul in the pursuit of scale. What makes 7THLEO special is the handcrafted nature, the attention to detail, and the personal touch in every piece. As we grow, I am very protective of that. I never want 7THLEO to become unauthentic. The moment a brand loses its identity in chasing visibility, it loses everything that made people fall in love with it in the first place. Growth is the goal, but never at the cost of what 7THLEO stands for.
What would you count as your greatest achievement?
One of my proudest moments was in 2019, when I saved up my earnings to buy my first industrial sewing machine and set up a proper fashion space in one of the rooms of my father’s house in Ogun State. It might sound modest, but to me it was everything. I could have spent that money on myself, but my instinct was to put it straight back into the business. That decision set the tone for how I have operated ever since, always investing in 7THLEO’s growth first. From that one room in Ogun State, we have grown to a structured team and an international presence. That journey means everything to me. And that first machine is still in my atelier in Lagos; it started from the bottom with me.
How does working with top screen personalities make you feel?
Ha! I will leave the acting to the stars! My stage is the design table and the fitting room. What I love about working with people in film and entertainment is the creative conversation, understanding their character and energy, and what they want to communicate through their wardrobe. Fashion and performance are deeply connected. But my contribution is always behind the scenes, making sure they shine in front of the camera.
Have you ever thought of quitting?
Oh yes!! Throughout my years as a fashion designer, I have only considered quitting once, and it was one of the hardest moments of my career. In 2023, just as I was preparing to relocate to the UK to expand 7THLEO internationally, my entire team stopped working simultaneously. I had less than a week to pull together a new team. The stress and anxiety of that period were immense. But looking back, it was the best thing that could have happened. It forced me to completely restructure the business and put in place proper systems so that 7THLEO could operate effectively even in my absence. Today, we have a structured team of 10 staff with clear processes from order placement to production to delivery. That crisis built the foundation that is now carrying us forward.
What is the difference between fashion and styling?
Fashion is the creation, the design, the craft, the vision brought to life. Styling is the curation, the moodboard, taking existing pieces and assembling them to tell a story about a person. A fashion designer creates the language, a stylist speaks it. Both are art forms and require a deep understanding of aesthetics, culture, and identity. At 7THLEO, we sit in the design space, and every piece we create is an original expression of Nigerian premium craft.
How many big recognitions have you had in terms of awards?
Honestly, I wear the fact that I am still building that chapter as a badge of honor. The recognition I have received so far has come through my work itself, such as features on BellaNaija and fashion blogs across Nigeria, international exhibitions in Germany and the UK, dressing celebrated names in the Nigerian entertainment industry, and now being invited to platforms like Africa Fashion Week London and Leicester Made and Regions. Each one of those moments felt like an award to me. But formal awards? They are absolutely on the radar, and the way 7THLEO is moving right now, I do not think we will be waiting too long. Watch this space.
As a business owner, what does rebranding mean to you?
Rebranding, to me, is not about changing who you are; it is about evolving into who you are becoming. 7THLEO has rebranded multiple times since 2016, and each evolution has reflected the brand’s growth. We started in a room in my father’s house in Ogun State, moved to a dedicated workspace, then to my own apartment in Ebute Metta, where my living room was my studio, then to a bigger space in Yaba in 2022, and most recently, we underwent a full rebrand in February 2026 to reflect our international expansion. Every rebrand has been purposeful and necessary. A brand that never evolves is a brand that never grows.
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