Home / In Conversation with Ms. Annie Oti- Founder African Fashion law
Ms. Annie Oti is the founder of African Fashion Law blog. As a budding fashion lawyer, her first priority is to understand the law and know how best it can be applied in order to provide beneficial legal and business solutions for creatives in the fashion industry in Nigeria and Africa at large. When she talks about creatives in the fashion industry, she not only referrs to fashion designers but every skilled individual from the textile producers, to the garment manufacturers, the models, the shoe makers, the jewellery merchants and so many other creatives in the fashion space.
In conversation with her, she gave us insights on few questions.
It simply started as a platform just to share my thoughts and interest about fashion law. Through several research I discovered the potential and opportunities surrounding the fashion industry and I told myself that like it is in Industries all over the world, the legal area is an essential aspect in every business and it is so much better when the lawyer also understands the business and the terms applied in such an industry, so i started my fashion law journey. The Vision is and has always been to provide legal and business solutions to creatives in the fashion industry. Over the years, the vision has become clearer and we aim to help provide mentorship programs, training, online classes, courses and contents to help fashion entrepreneurs know how best to protect their creativity and their brand.
I am super proud of the Nigerian Fashion Industry, the industry has evolved over the past few years. Over the years, the industry has gained support both by private companies and public organisations providing fundings, organising trainings, empowering creatives towards achieving their business goals. There are several issues affecting the Nigerian Fashion Industry but i believe that with time the industry will surpass the issues.
During the times when i have struggled with motivation to move forward with this amazing aspect of law. I simply remind myself why I started and what I hope to achieve. Personally, I have had my struggles considering the novelty of this area of law but I keep pushing considering the impact I hope to make in this space.