CLOTHING GENIUS, THE MEN’S WAY
Nigerians are incredibly gifted. From arts to sciences and hitech, you may not count ten in the world without your finger stopping at a Nigerian. The wealth of creativity we showcase sometimes makes me think perhaps God bless us so much with gifts so we could be busy developing and deploying them for individual good instead of hanging our hope on failed governments.
One of the creative Nigerians I discovered in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, is Akaninyene Usenekong. Our paths crossed two years ago. I’d watched his very quiet approach to life and business, and I score him excellent for his inventiveness. Akaninyene is the CEO of ThreadWox Stitches, a clothing design firm in the heart of Uyo. He devotes his productive hours, in making choice designs for men, and sometimes women. His product are suites, traditional designs and special outfits, as each occasion and mood detects. Very quiet and devoted, Akaninyene and his team are extremely good and creative, churning out fitted senators, safaris, agbadas and other tropical African wears and suites for men of a select segment – elite – because of cost of fabric and design inputs that goes beyond the minimum wager in our clime. His clientele cuts across top public office holders, heads of organizations and the clergymen.
Yours sincerely was compelled to pick up a conversation with Akaninyene, whose firm started work over a decade ago and now fully prepared to dominate the men’s wears world. ThreadWox brand, he relishes, is a product of vision out of his many talents. As an avid follower of his mentor, Rev. Ntia Ntia, Akaninyene tells how a counsel from his pastor helped him focus on clothing, against other talents and skills he posseses such as music and painting.
He recollects how Ntia I. Ntia counselled was that those who are multi-gifted and talented, should never try to utilize all the endowments at the same time but focus on one and rule over it, esle you will be desipating energy and resources for what does not count. Today, he’s glad he jettisoned music and painting murals, as demands for his brand of wears have occupied a great portion of his time.
He has this piece of advice for young people. “All of us have some level of gifts which God has embedded in us, we should sit down, discusses it, polish it and use it. You will face challenges but with prayers and hard work, you will overcome them.” He further advised starters not to rush for popularity but work behind to expand capacity and resources before showcasing your products to the public, stressing, “In the fashion industry, you have to first fortify your workforce, raise a good team that can deliver, as no customer wants any disappointment with his clothes.” Looking for where you can get your next designs try ThreadWox.
