Why I dumped bank job for fashion designing –Gabby Ibeabuchi

Gabby Ibeabuchi

 Gabby Ibeabuchi is a frontline fashion de­signer and model. He worked in the tele­coms sector for four years, then he was into banking before he started his fashion line Twelve06. In this interview with Sunday Sun, he reflects on his life as a model and his journey into busi­ness. Excerpts:
Tell us about your­self?
My name is Gabby Ibeabuch. I’m a fashion designer. Initially, I was into modeling and then dabbled into telecommunica­tions and banking. Eventually, I settled for my passion which is fashion designing. As a model, I was a brand ambassador for so many companies including MTN and FCMB for years. I’ve done over a hundred fashion shows . I modeled for most big brands like Dakova, Mudi, Zizi Cardow, Kese Jabari, Frank Os­odi and lots of others. I was also the first Best ECOWAS Male Model in 2002. I won a contract with Mode de Paris but I didn’t pursue it because I was about starting my MBA then, which I com­pleted. After my MBA de­gree pro­gramme, I got a job in the tele­coms sector. I always wanted to work for someone I could learn from, having made a 2.1 at the university as well as in my MBA in Marketing programme. I felt I needed to contribute and also learn from the best hands. The only person that came to my mind then was Mike Ade­nuga. To cut the story short, I worked towards it and I got a job in his firm. I was in the spe­cial projects unit and we were responsible for developing the Glo brand. We traveled from one state to another to mar­ket the brand and I was there for four years. During this pe­riod, I also made clothes for my friends. As someone who is very ambitious and knowing that someday I was going to run a multinational company, I felt it was time for me to improve on what I knew and I switched to banking. I met Tony Elu­melu and somehow, I found myself in corporate banking. Then of course, I did my best in corporate banking for four years. While I was doing banking, I was also making clothes. On Saturdays, I go to the market and buy fabrics and if I couldn’t get a buy­er, I made clothes for free. At the end of the day, I just gave it a se­rious thought and I resigned to incorporate Brand 1206. When I start­ed, I knew I needed to define my market. I cre­ated a brand for those who wanted so­phistication.
Why did you dump banking for fashion de­signing?
It wasn’t easy at the be­ginning. I didn’t share my ideas with anybody when I was about to quit bank­ing. I had already got to middle level management in banking. For a young man, the pay was juicy, but I was determined and zeal­ous to make a difference. I set a timeline to quit banking within one year and I kept this to my­self. I never shared it with anybody until I was set. The day I resigned, after our Monday meeting, I just told my boss I wanted to quit and she was like “I believe something is wrong with you and when you resolve the issue you may come back, I will still hire you.” I told her that if it’s truly madness that is wor­rying me, it will never be cured. The good news is that till today, she and her husband wear just my brand.
How was business at the beginning?
At the beginning, it wasn’t easy. When I opened up and told my friends, everybody was like “Why would you do this?” I felt I made a mistake, but when I realized I had already burnt my bridge, I always told people, when you have a sec­ond option, the first one nev­er worked. I knew I couldn’t go back. Was I supposed to go back to my boss I had already told I was completely mad and would never return? I just re­solved to try and thought if it didn’t work, of course, I have my certificates. I can always do something again. Considering the image I wanted to portray, I knew I needed to set up in an area that’s conducive and since I wanted to start from Surulere, the best shot is to be on the high street and that’s Bode Thom­as. Meanwhile, because I had saved money having worked for years, I felt I needed to just start well. Friends told me, “This is risky; you can’t just start like that.” Lest I forget, while I was searching for a location, I had to go to fashion school. Even though I didn’t have the inten­tion of rolling the machine my self, I needed to understand the basics of the business. I always wanted to deliver excellence. I told my friends that in business, you don’t have to tell your cus­tomer you are sorry. It wasn’t like I shouldn’t apologize for what I didn’t get right. Every time you tell your customer sor­ry, there’s something you have done wrong. When I started, people told me my stuff was on the high side and raised a lot of discouraging questions. Initial­ly, our prices started from $150 which was between N25,000 and above for a complete outfit. Even we couldn’t cover cost but we just had to start that way. I knew we had to be consistent and that it was just a matter of time. I had to come out with something different. First and foremost, from the day our cli­ents placed an order, we gave them a date and it was usually within 48 hours and a maximum of 7 days which people are not used to. I always told them, if we deliver on the 8th day, they didn’t have to pay. I had to hire the right workers and train them. I had to guide them to en­sure that we didn’t lose money.
How do you cope with your tailors?
I had to pay them more than what the industry was paying and secondly I had to tie what­ever thing they do to additional benefit. Once I give you an outfit to do, you should do it within 48 hours. If they deliver within 48 hours and everything comes out well, I pay them additional 30 percent. I motivated them and they were all looking forward to working. In fact, some tailors asked me if they could work at night because they wanted to make more money and with that I was able to service my customers and satisfy them. We didn’t have much of the issues that would warrant us to say sorry.
So what’s your suc­cess story?
You know what business is, once one person is satisfied, he tells another person. Today, I can tell you we have sena­tors and upwardly mobile men as customers. When you do a good job, it will speak for itself. I can’t remember placing an ad­vert anywhere till date and we can’t even satiate demand now even though there’s room for improvement. We relocated from where we were to a more comfortable place at Adelabu . When I started, I needed visi­bility, right now we have part of that playing for us, all we need­ed was an environment where people will come in and feel relaxed.
Who talked you into fashion designing?
Naturally, I’m a very creative person. I always like to blend things together to get some­thing different. I have always been like that from childhood. The passion started growing when I became a model. In the course of wearing different clothes for different designers and all that, I started developing love for fashion designing. At a time, I saw the need to improve on what I was used to . That was how the passion blossomed.
As a banker, did you get a loan to start your business?
Remember I said I worked in telecoms for four years and banking for four years. I always knew I would be a business man, so I started saving from day one. Even before I started working, I was a model. When I say modeling, I mean I was a top model. I actually made a lot of money then. I was the first face of Guilder Ultimate Search. So far, I have not approached any bank. The business has got to a point where we need to extend helping hands to other people. I’m working on opening a branch at Lekki since most of my clients are coming from there. I also have a lot of customers from Abuja at the moment and I wouldn’t mind opening a shop there too.
What’s your vision for this business?
From the beginning I carved a niche for myself. I set up this business for people who un­derstand what service is and of course you cannot give what you don’t have. I have already worked on myself, I have done research to be able to have these quality things that people desire. I want a fashion busi­ness where somebody can walk in and choose from over a 100 variety of clothing and take home immediately. Currently, we have in store over 150 out­fits. I’m also looking forward to a day when somebody can walk into my shop and I take his measurement and within 24 hours they have exactly what they want. I’m also looking for­ward to a business that will be a model for the young generation, for the fashion industry where someone will wake up and say this is how we want things to be done. I want to move around countries in Africa and see somebody wearing my brand or maybe I see a local who has actually tried to ape what I have done. I look forward to a brand that will live beyond the creator. In Nigeria, when the owner of a brand goes, the brand goes with him. I look forward to leaving a legacy for somebody to carry on someday. Maybe my chil­dren. I am looking forward to a brand which most Africa pres­idents will be proud to wear, a brand an average youth will be able to reckon with always and say this is how we want to go. I’m just looking forward to a brand that will just live and stand the test of time.
What inspires your designs?
My environment. I’m nat­urally a creative person. I al­ways look forward to recreat­ing things. Every time I watch TV, I move around the streets and I’m always seeing things that motivate me to want to improve on what I’m seeing or bringing it out in a different way. For instance, in my place, we have outfits that are just exclusive, because I have a lot to do in my mind, I don’t even have time to replicate clothes. Ninety percent of clothes we have in the showroom  are just exclusive.