“October 2018, that’s the month I started putting my work out. My friends wanted me to make their outfits for December. And they kept echoing  ‘DETTY this December’. Suddenly, they started calling me DETTY. I guess I just embraced the name, from making DETTY December clothes I became DETTY” Aremo Eniola, the creative director and founder of DETTY, a tie-dye and bleach clothing brand, explains how he co-opted the brand name Detty from the term Detty December.

 Detty December is a Nigerian lingo popularised by Afrobeat artist Mr Eazi.  In 2016, Mr Eazi released a track titled “Detty Yasef”. The song amassed popularity across Ghana and Nigeria. The following year, in 2017, Mr Eazi headlined his "Detty Rave" concert in December, which was hashtagged Detty December, and he defined Detty as "having fun and chopping life."

Aremo takes his brand name quite seriously and bounds himself to making clothes that are lively and fun to wear. His urban and Afrocentric designs on denim, leather, and other materials keep his head afloat in the textile industry. From revamping both old and new clothes to making his own staple DETTY pieces, his Adire (a Yoruba term for tie-dye) designs are picturesque, paying homage to his sophisticated skill as a tie-dye and bleaching artist.

“When I started people would send designs to me to recreate and most of these designs I hadn’t even attempted before, but I always found a way around it–through trial and error—and I’ve enjoyed my journey so far.” Aremo speaks about his favourite experience on his DETTY journey.For someone who started his brand from the little knowledge he garnered off being an A1 dyeing and bleaching student in secondary school, it’s monumental that he has built a solid fashion brand off immense self-confidence and adaptability to challenges. 

Tie-dye may have its origins in Yoruba land (one of the majority tribes in Nigeria), however, it has lost popularity in Nigeria over the years with more “modern” clothing infiltrating the market. Even when you see Adire clothing it’s a product of fast fashion made with little to no goal of sustainability. Brands like Orange Culture and Dye Lab have been at the forefront of the re-emergence of tie dye designs in the Nigerian market, so it is still surprising that anybody will go into the business well aware of the limited demand and its time-consuming nature. Aremo attributes his taste for uniqueness as the major propeller to building DETTY, notwithstanding the odds 

“I just wanted to do something out of the ordinary and something that wasn’t the regular norm. I got influencers and artistes to wear them and just like that I started expanding bit by bit” he says.

Sadly, the influencer marketing strategy did not bring as much sales as desired , but it created awareness and built a significant aura around his brand. He admits that selling his pieces with his face as the brand and using his friends in the entertainment industry as ambassadors were better methods to generate substantial sales for DETTY.

Entrepreneurs, creatives, and growing brand owners have the homogenous story of starting off in a one-man team and Aremo is no exception. He draws his pools of talent to sustain his brand; from designing to photography to writing and most importantly styling. Being a jack of all trades bolstered his brand. 

A perusal through the brand’s catalogue leaves one in awe and wildly curious of where Aremo draws inspiration from. His long list includes: Asap Rocky, Skepta, Pharrell Williams, Nigo, Joey Badass, and Wizkid. From the American rapper Asap rocky to the Nigerian Afrobeat super star Wizkid, almost all parties listed are well known for their immense influence in the music and fashion world. It’s also no coincidence that when asked to mention his dream collaboration Wizkid is right there as the first celebrity.  

Aremo concludes his interview with a wise word for people looking forward to starting fashion brands. “⁠An advice I’ll give is to be very open to trying new things and don’t box yourself in”.

At the mention of African fashion, one thinks of maximalism: vibrant wax prints, striking motifs, and a blend of complementary colors. It is almost worrisome that most GenZ and Millennial Nigerians are leaning more toward minimalism. Houses are only being painted in white, wardrobes are curated to speak “elegance”, and interior designers are settling for mundanity. Nigerians are forgetting what African elegance truly means.  This calls for a dire need to highlight fashion brands like DETTY that are committed to keeping our culture alive in the most “Gen Z” way,  while simultaneously rebelling against minimalism.

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