This minute, gaiety and joy pervades the heart of Chief Clothier of Aristocrat Clothing, Kayode Alfred. Reason? The fashion brand he started a few years ago on Sunday July 28 won The Prestige Excellence Award as the Innovative and Outstanding Designer of the Year 2019.
As the celebrity journalist cum fashion designer walked to the podium, it was easy to find in his face traces of validation for his painstaking efforts to grow a clothing brand known exclusively for consistent excellence in an industry overflowing with mediocrity.
As half-baked fashion designers with more interest in making money than creating a legacy flood the market, to keep one’s head above the parapet becomes a daunting task. Yet Aristocrat Clothing not only remains a paragon of exquisite and artistic designs, the brand continues to find new ways to stay ahead of the trend and satiate the expanding taste of its faithful clientele.
It is rare for a journalist to venture into the world of fashion making, it is rarer for the venture to succeed. But Kayode Alfred of Aristocrat Clothing is like a world-class footballer capable of doing everything with both his left and right foot. He is equally adept uncovering secrets as he is at the loom weaving majestic attire that make his upscale customers drool with happiness.
Without the millions in marketing warchests other industry players boast of, the company has nonetheless managed to carve its own niche in the fashion scene. Discerning connoisseurs of clothing taste across the South West know where to go for the best modern imaginations of traditional apparels. Politicians, Businessmen and those who bestride the halls of high society count themselves among the satisfied clients of Aristocrat Clothing. They are always coming back for more.
And so as the Kayode Alfred collected the richly-deserved award from the hands of Babajide Kolade Otitiloju, the Managing Director of TV Continental in Lagos, the overwhelming applause of the attendees at the event which took place at the LCCI conference and Exhibition Centre, Alausa, Ikeja was evidence enough of the high esteem with which he is placed in these parts.