Love Iguehi! – ”Building a Fashion Brand that Represents Me!”

Love Iguehi Discount Coupon Code "SouthernSoul"

“I’m a lover. I love people, and I want people to feel love when they experience Love Iguehi,” says Iguehi James, owner of and chief designer at Love Iguehi. Iguehi explains that she has poured her h...

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Love Iguehi Discount Coupon Code "SouthernSoul"

“I’m a lover. I love people, and I want people to feel love when they experience Love Iguehi,” says Iguehi James, owner of and chief designer at Love Iguehi. Iguehi explains that she has poured her heart and soul into her brand and wants her pieces to reflect her purest self. She tries to embody love in every aspect of her life, and she hopes that her designs will do the same.

Iguehi’s company started out as a hobby, which turned into a side hustle, which turned into a full-time gig. Iguehi handpicks African Ankara prints and then uses them to design custom pieces that showcase her Oakland roots and Nigerian heritage. Iguehi explains that how you look critically affects how you feel. As such, she creates pieces that she hopes will make people excited about getting dressed in the morning, so they can begin their days with joy and confidence.

Tune into this week’s throwback episode of Southern Soul Live Stream to hear more about how Iguehi built a fashion brand that represents her most authentic self. Learn about how Iguehi went from sewing a skirt to launching a major brand, how she has been able to juggle her roles as a mom, wife and designer, and how she has stayed true to herself and her message throughout her entrepreneurial journey.

Quotes

• “What I've done is basically created a business out of what was a side hustle, which was a hobby.” (4:52-5:00)

• “What I do is create pieces, contemporary pieces, using African fabrics, in ways that will connect people back to the African continent, but also highlight the beauty of women, the beauty of men, and really make people get excited about getting dressed.” (5:59-6:20)

• “I think that there is a lot of truth to being intentional about giving your brand a voice and being intentional about how people receive what your brand is….I’m a lover, I love people. And I want people to feel love when they experience Love Iguehi.” (15:11-15:43)

• “I really suffered from imposter syndrome at the beginning. I had a really hard time calling myself a designer because at the beginning, I only made one product, and that was a skirt. And so people were like, ‘Oh, you're you're the designer?’ and I'm like, ‘Well, I make a skirt.’ And I would just leave it at that.” (18:12-18:30)

• “I do feel like there's a lot of freedom that can come with being your own boss, but there's a lot of responsibility that comes with that as well.” (27:06-27:14)

• “If you guys don't see the inequity between what is happening for us as black designers versus our white counterparts, and you don't see how this is wrong, then you're just blind to the issue at hand.” (37:20-37:31)

• “I think as parents, as aunts, as friends, we have to really hear our kids and say, ‘What resources are there that are going to help develop these interests that my kids have,’ because as long as we dismiss them, they won't see the importance of it.” (40:48-41:08)

Links

Connect with Iguehi:

• Love Iguehi Website: https://loveiguehi.com/collections/new-arrivals

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loveiguehi/

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/loveiguehi

• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/loveiguehi/_created/

About Southern Soul Thursdays - @SoulThursdays

Witty, thought-provoking, and uplifting, Southern Soul Livestream - Podshow is the program that you’ll invite friends over to watch every week, where you’ll learn about fascinating speakers and get to share in exciting experiences. Tune in each Thursday at 8 pm eastern at SoulThursdays.com to connect with guests from across the generations and to laugh with our "cast of characters," hosts who are as charming as they are talented!