One of the things Nigerians are known for is fashion. We have lots of established and renowned fashion designers and brands within the country and in the diaspora. In this post, we’ll be discussing about one of them – the Tiffany Amber Fashion Brand,
If you’ve been interested in knowing more about this brand, you should read this post.
About Tiffany Amber Fashion Brand
The brand Tiffany Amber, was launched in 1998 which means it’s been around for more than 20 years. It’s a fashion and lifestyle brand that’s aimed at introducing the world to Africa’s fashion.
The brand was launched in Nigeria and at the time, it was one of the firsts to initiate the ready to wear market in the Nigerian fashion industry. Currently, Tiffany Amber is a globally recognized African fashion brand
Notably, Tiffany Amber still produces all their products and aesthetics in Nigeria while empowering skilled craftsmen from all over the African continent.
There’s the TAN by Tiffany, a diffusion line and the TA Living which focuses on sophistication of better living and African culture.
Tiffany Amber Fashion Brand Achievements
On several occasions, the brand has been celebrated for their achievements.
In 2009, Tiffany Amber won the Inaugural African Fashion Week (AFI) award for the designer of the year. In 2012, the brand won the Arise Magazine Fashion Week Award for the Fashion brand of the year; to name a few.
The brand has been globally recognized in top world fashion cities including Milan, London, Paris, and New York; not to mention its massive presence in cities all over Africa.
Talk about recognition; Tiffany Amber has gotten relatively positive reviews from top industry names like Vogue, CNN, Vanity Fair, Women’s Wear Daily, etc.
During the brand’s 15 years anniversary celebration, the Women Of Vision Campaign was launched. This was an innovative campaign created to empower and celebrate women.
Who Owns The Brand?
The Tiffany Amber brand was founded, and is owned by Folake Coker. She was born in Lagos state in 1974. However, she had her education in Switzerland, England, and Scotland.
After finishing her PGD in petroleum law, Folake returned to Nigeria and entered into the fashion industry. In 1996, she designed a personal collection and by 1998, she launched the Tiffany Amber brand.
When she launched her brand, she picked the name Tiffany Amber because it sounds foreign. Typically, Nigerians would buy into a foreign fashion brand more than a foreign one. Again, she wanted to keep her identity anonymous as she hadn’t made it known to her family that she wanted to be a fashion designer. It was until five years later that her parents became aware that Tiffany Amber was Folake Coker.
During the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in 2008, in New York, Folake Coker showcased her design collection. Her collection was heavily applauded and had encouraging reviews. Due to this, she was again invited to showcase her collection in the New York fashion week show.
With this, Folake Coker is the first African based fashion designer to showcase collections for two consecutive New York Fashion Week shows. The next year, 2009, she expanded her brand by introducing the Folake Folarin Couture Line and the Tiffany Amber Nigeria Diffusion Line.
To make her brand a complete lifestyle brand, Folake Coker introduced the Tiffany Amber Living in 2014. The Women of Vision campaign was born out of a partnership between her and Diamond Woman.
Folake Coker Achievements
Aside from her brand recognitions, Folake Coker has received a lot of personal accolades. In 2012, she was part of the Fashion For Development Project after being invited by the Editor of Vogue Italia, Franca Sozzani.
She made the Forbes Women Power List in 2013. Folake Coker was the first African Fashion Designer to achieve this feat. That same year, she was recognized by the Women Inspiration and Enterprise (WIE) when she received the Enterprise Award.
Tiffany Amber Fashion School
Lots of Nigerian upcoming fashion designers look up renowned designers like Folake Coker and her Tiffany Amber brand and inspiration. To return the favour, the brand has a fashion school where people can perfect their fashion designing.
The Tiffany Amber Fashion school is undoubtedly one of the best fashion schools in Nigeria. It is located at 15, Ologun Agbaje Street, Victoria Island, Lagos State.
Students who complete their training are issued a certificate which shows that they’re ready to get into the fashion business. For an upcoming designer, a certificate from a globally recognized brand like Tiffany Amber can be a career booster.
Tiffany Amber Fashion School Fees
For now, the school fees of the Tiffany Amber fashion school isn’t public. However, you can contact the school to make enquires about it before enrolling. You can reach the brand by email, phone, or on social media – Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
The Future of Nigeria Fashion Designing From Tiffany Amber
Following an interview with Vogue, Folake Coker talked about some of the challenges the brand is facing and their future plans.
For the most part, the Tiffany Amber brand was managed by just Folake Coker. After 17 years, she brought in a partner to manage the business side while she focuses on the fashion and designing.
According to Folake Coker, there isn’t really a fashion industry in Africa due to lack of culture. Over the years, the brand has tried to create a stable structure in the industry which is why they still produce all their products in Nigeria.
Tiffany Amber has more than 50 tailors in her workshop. The brand looks to employ even more designers as they are building a factory that will take up to 250 tailors.
Due to the non-existence of actual fashion schools, the brand launched their fashion school in Lagos as they intend to teach designers ho to be designers.
Bottom Line
The Tiffany Amber brand is one of the oldest established fashion brands to come out of Nigeria and Africa. Not many Nigerian fashion and luxury brands can boasts of what the brand and her founder has achieved in more than 20 years of existence.
The brand has a real presence in the global market space. If you’re a fashion designer, you can visit the fashion school in Lagos and learn more on how you can improve.