Why inspirations behind my collections come from the 60s – Emmy Collins

Emmy Collins is a prominent fashion designer, well known for his sartorial taste in fashion. His London-based anti-trend brand, Emmy Collins London shut its former showroom at 43 Awolowo Rd, Ikoyi in 2007 and relocated all operations back to London. However, he returned to Nigeria in December 2023. Speaking during his style exhibition in Ikoyi, Lagos, he talks about inspirations behind his collections and how business has been for him since he relocated from London to Nigeria.

Tell us about your collection and the story behind them?

I always say that I’m stuck in the 60s. I can’t get out of the 60s. So, all my inspirations come from the 60s. Every collection is inspired by the 60s. So what I do is that I’m exploring the 60s. And for me, I don’t believe that I even have enough time on this earth to explore the 50s, the 60s. So I will be exploring it till I die.

What do you like about the 60s that is so fascinating?

What I like about the 60s is that for me, the 60s people actually cared about fashion. Whether people are going to the church or they’re going on the street, people want to dress up. People were bold. People were bold with colours, experimentation. There weren’t as many limitations as we had in the 2000s for men when it comes to colours, fabric and how they put themselves out. They weren’t afraid of people questioning their sexuality. People were just free to express themselves. So for me, that is what actually took me to the 60s. So I’ve been there ever since I was in high school. When people were wearing denim, I never wore denim. Everybody who knew me when I lived in Amsterdam knew my fashion sense. In the 2000s, I was always like this.

This form of expression that you talked about was very prevalent in the 60s. Would you define fashion as a freedom of self-expression based on what you just said?

That is actually what fashion should be; freedom of expression. Sometimes you can actually tell who someone is just by how he dresses. You can say this is someone who’s out there, someone who’s not afraid. Because if you’re not afraid, which means you’re not afraid to express yourself, whether through your voice or through your clothes. So fashion is a form of expression and should be a form of expression. But what we have is that people tend to dress according to other people, but then that person is expressing himself. Like what I’m wearing right now is a pattern. I don’t expect all my clients to be wearing this, unless this is who they are. If they come over here, we can translate this into black or into brown. And the moment I translate this into black, you find out that it’s a totally different outfit to suit that individual.

So fashion is definitely a form of expression. Is that why you call yourself the anti-trend?

I’ve never done trend. I’ve always hated trends, even in university. I can remember my first fashion show in London in Victoria. There were journalists, especially one from the London Telegraph at the time. And I can remember her because she wanted me to send my bio to her. And she actually wrote it and sent it back to me, and I saw trend. I sent the bio and I said, no, I’m not trending. She said, everybody wants you trending; I said, yeah, but I’m not everybody.

That was my first show. And she was surprised that a person who is just coming into the industry is trying to tell people that he’s anti-trend or whatever. So it was as if I was arrogant. But I wasn’t. But I insisted, and she had to take out that trend because I’m not trending. I’ve never been trending. If I say I’m trending, that means I’m lying. And I hate to lie to people.

Could you tell us about how the business has been going? I know you relocated back to Nigeria less than two years ago.

Business in Nigeria is still working. The moment I got to the airport, I switched over to the Nigerian descent. And for me, I think that is why I’m not even complaining now. If it had been today, I would be happy. We are complaining. So we never had to deal with the issues. People are living here, surviving here, and they’re my brothers and sisters. I’ll survive. So for me, I think business is good. Of course, if you start a business, you have to build it up. But the signs are good, so I’m happy.

I want to take you back to a post you made two days ago about how fashion is part of this trade between China and the U.S. Could you just talk about your thoughts on that?

So, basically, what I was actually saying is that this trade is actually an eye-opener. It’s an eye-opener. So I’m happy with my juice or coffee, watching it, and it’s all exciting; because the truth is coming out. You know, back in the days, you would say something, and they’d say, ‘oh, you’re jealous.’ So it’s out there now. So when I’m talking about it, nobody’s going to say, oh, he’s jealous. This is because it’s out there, everybody can see it. It is time for Africa to actually key into those things and see what is going on. Because there has been this doctrine, there has been this indoctrination that anything that is not West is nothing. But everything you see here now, almost all of them; we are phasing out the stuff that we came in with. At some point, everything here has to be made in Nigeria. So, I want to challenge people to bring what is made in the UK, and we place it side by side and see which one is better. So it’s not about location.

It’s never been about location. But they made it about location. I studied at London Metropolitan University. I did fashion and design. So does it mean that the moment I come into London, Lagos, everything I studied will disappear? But that’s what they are trying to make you believe, and some people actually bought into that. You see, when I came to London, Lagos, if you check the sign there, it says in the College of London, Lagos. You know, it used to be in the College of London, Lagos. But I’m in Lagos; why not put Lagos there so you’re embracing your roots?