There is a building and everywhere within has coloured lights; some corners are blue and others red. So much is going on, yet, it is hard to lose focus. There is rhythm on the wall, floor, and mirror. Everywhere you look, there is an inescapable name written, Wandé Esan. It is not startling because that is why everyone is here. Wandé Esan is giving out free clothes and you want to see if it is true. It is because this is not a fashion show, it is a heist.
Scores of people flocked to Raymond Njoku, Ikoyi Street on the 24th of November. It was the second edition of the Fashion Heist by Wandé Esan. As the name suggests, there was no catch, it was simply free clothes. Over a hundred people showed up, in the words of its founder, “The turnout was crazy. It was much bigger than last year’s. I looked forward to the next.”
The heist was a revolutionary move in the industry, a cocky one. How can a brand give out free clothes in an economy as tough as Nigeria’s? What is Wandé Esan and how did they pull off one of the coolest events in our fashion history?
MEET WANDE ESAN
Wandé Esan is a quasi-eponymous label. Yewande Tolu Esan founded the brand, Wandé Esan in 2021. The brand’s name was inspired by a nickname derived from ‘Yewande’. In a Google Meet conversation with Esan, she explained, “The brand is dear to me and I wanted to name it after me so that way you cannot separate the brand from the person.”
Esan strays from the typical Gen Z creative that regurgitates the idea of separating the art from the artist. Esan demands you stop, stare, and most importantly smile. “Every idea I have stems from one thing, I am trying to put smiles on people’s faces.”
The origins of Wandé Esan can be traced back to her ideals. She relaunched the brand because she struggled to find women-centric casual brands. In 2021, Wandé Esan was ‘just a fashion brand’, it caters to everyone. After a year in the industry, she developed her unique selling point based on discussions with her female friends. Every woman she knew could not find a trustworthy and affordable brand for their quotidian life.
This ‘radicalised’ Esan– she does not think the term is extreme for a fashion brand because to her it is not a streetwear brand or womenswear brand, it is a safe space for women.
DEFINING THE NEW AGE OF WANDE ESAN
Wandé Esan has been running for approximately three years, so it easily falls victim to miscategorization. A problem that young brands often struggle with. For many, their introduction to Wandé Esan was Street Souk 2023— Africa’s largest streetwear convention. Wandé Esan exhibited a 90’s inspired collection at the convention. The collection was met with rave reviews and was highlighted as one of the standouts from the event. It felt nostalgic yet refreshing. However, since then, Wandé Esan pivoted into casual streetwear designs. This caused whiplash for anyone who had invested in hopes of having a go-to niche nostalgic brand.
For Esan, this was all part of the plan. “Slow growth, I am all about building a community. I am a designer and I love to get creative. Last year, we (Wandé Esan) delved through a retro collection. I like nostalgia, I think it is a huge brand of the female experience, we romanticise the old. We have all wondered what life would be like if we were in another generation. Would you be the judgy aunt or the fashion girl? So that collection (Street Souk 2023) was retro and although our recent collections are not retro, our campaigning style is.”
The nostalgia bit has felt oversaturated in recent times, Esan knows this but she does not lose sleep over it. “Chasing trends is inadvisable. I want to get ahead and lead it. However, I do not want my community to be stale so I pay attention to what is in need.”
A perfect example of towing the lines between on-trend but not being dependent on them is their Nepo Baby tee. The now-sold-out product references the 2022 Vulture article, The Year Of The Nepo Baby. One of the most defining articles of the 2020s, as it revealed the crack in the entertainment industry’s meritocracy. The revelation was that there might no longer be one, as several upcoming TV stars, models, indie singers, and directors have parents whose names are blue on Wikipedia.
This led to a slew of accused Nepo Babies giving statements in the press. The internet turned every “I am hurt you think I am privileged because my parents are rich” statement into a laughing stock. Esan thought the joke hit close to home, Lagos is a city of Nepo babies but the Nigerian counterparts acknowledge their privilege and poke fun at it. So Esan, brought home the perfect product, the Nepo Baby tee.
Esan took it to a more quirky notch as the tee equally references the logo of the Totally Spies. A beloved animation from the 2000s. An ode to their retro approach to fashion.
WANDE ESAN’S LATEST COLLECTION AND ITS FUTURE
Lately, Wandé Esan used a similar formula. The newest collection is an activewear line with a Turbo Girl Cycling Jersey and Tuff Girl Boxing Shorts. Its debut date was only three months after the 2024 Summer Olympics, which saw the rise of Olympics Core in fashion. So the first assumption was that Wandé Esan wanted to take a bite from the Olympics croissant.
Esan argues the egg came before the chicken in this collection. “Wandé Esan is building to be the go-to brand for any and everything women want and wear. We have a swimwear line, someday an underwear line, makeup line, phone cases, and we always were going to make an activewear line. But what better time to unveil one when the world is celebrating women in sports?”
Like Rome, the activewear line was not built in a day. Esan recalls, “We have been at it for a while, jerseys are something that often fit wrongly on women. So I wanted to make the perfect jersey, but that proved to be a challenge. I tried several different fabrics before picking the best.”
Jerseys are sensitive costumes. They require a level of breathability, functionality, and sustainability, Esan is conscious of this and plays the role of patient zero during garment production.
ADDRESSING THE SEWING MACHINE IN THE ROOM
Quality was important to her because she did have something to prove. On the 1st of May, Wandé Esan found itself at the centre of a Twitter debacle when shoppers questioned the pricing of their tank tops. A single cropped tank costs 30,000 Naira. The quality of the tanks were brought into contest and the pictures were not convincing enough.
Esan saw it. However, she would like to go on record and say, “Those pictures do not define our quality. Those pictures were bad and anyone who has ever bought a Wandé Esan piece can attest that we make quality outfits. However, those were samples, manufactured samples used to create mock-ups. Furthermore, I took the tweets into consideration. It means they like our style and our clothes but want to ensure our quality matches the pricing. So I am extra meticulous with the newer collections. For example, the Tuff Girl Boxing Shorts are hand-dyed. They feel as gorgeous as they look. My products are pretty and they last for a long time.”
Pricing is another key angle in the internet debacle and even Esan admits that is a problem. “Pricing is crazy, the economy is unstable,” she says. “I am trying not to give an insane cost because I want to be accessible to young adult women. But I do not want to sell at a loss and you can not trust the economy. So now, I stray away from fixed prices and use ranges instead.”
ABOUT THE HEIST
Esan admits that giving free clothes comes off as cocky but that was not the message. “I know it sends a message that I am able to give out clothes because we are established. But it is not that, it is about giving back to my community. A community of go-getters who have worked hard all year. So this was donations from my friends and I, many brand owners too. All clothes are quality and every hot girl has her Detty December set! That’s what it was about, having your girls’ back.”
