September 12, 2010

People You Should Know: The Fagbure Twins

So I recently reached 200 followers this past Tuesday! You all don’t know how happy that made me, especially since I’ve only been doing this for about 2 months. I want to give a very big thank you to all of you who have been following & commenting & just showing me love. If it wasn’t for ya’ll I’d just be talking to myself on here so I really appreciate the support. So since I reached this goal I thought to myself, girl it’s time to do something different. With that being said I am happy to present you with my very first (of hopefully many) interview! So without further ado, allow me to introduce:

The Fagbure Twins

I have always been greatly inspired by those who are able to take a vision, an abstract idea formulated from one's deepest dreams & desires, and mold it into something tangible. Something real & something great. Something that others can look upon and be not only inspired, but also be encouraged to step outside of our comfort zones and to dare to dream big. Being this way takes passion, persistence, sterling work ethic, and a strong faith in your own abilities…qualities that sometimes take years and years to acquire. However, there are some individuals who possess all of these qualities at a young age and who are able to utilize them in order to achieve the goals they set for themselves in life and to become the people they wish to be. 

I feel that Fela & Fola Fagbure exemplify this idea.
Fela & Fola are quite a dynamic duo. These entrepreneurial brothers are originally from Nigeria (like me!) but now reside and are based out of Edmonton, Alberta Canada where they are students in college. What makes these two so amazing, however, are their extra-curricular activities. While most people spend their weekends typing papers, going to parties, solving mathematical equations, playing sports, wasting the day away on facebook and/or twitter, etc., these two young men are doing all of those things PLUS managing their own company: Alex Folzi. Alex Folzi is the name of the brand that these brothers founded in January of this year and registered/branded in April. So far, Alex Folzi is a line of vintage inspired trunks that are available in a wide range of colors and in a classic brown print.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Who is “Alex Folzi” & what was the inspiration behind this brand?
We are Alex Folzi. Well Alex is the short form of Fola’s English name “Alexander” and Folzi comes from Fola as well. That was the nickname given to him back in high school. People often ask why we decided to use one person’s name for the brand. But to us it doesn’t really matter. We decided to use Alex Folzi because Fola had the first idea to start the line. The inspiration for the brand came from our “Entrepreneurship Sprit” like our mum would say. We always had a huge passion for fashion. So we decided to mix that with the little knowledge of business to start our own line.
How did you two go about starting this brand?
I remember it was last year back in December after a trip from New York we decided to start this company because we had so many designs already drawn on paper. So we figured, why don’t we make it a reality by making what we already have drawn on paper exist?

What types of people are your trunks designed for?
We designed this collection for all sorts of people and all sorts of age group as well. Our target originally was from ages of 15-25 but a month after we launched the products the numbers increased more than we expected. We had skateboarders, dapper kids, preppy ones, working class, street style, vintage collectors etc. All sorts of people and ages rushed it. We came out with unique, elegant and colorful design. That, in relation to fashion today, is on point. So it made it a wider market range for our brand and it also increased the publicity as well.
Who are your favorite designers and do you look to them for inspiration when creating your trunks?

Funny enough we didn’t get inspirations from any designer. The trunk collection was inspired by the old Northern American/European couture. We remember watching an old movie, where we saw travelers using trunks to travel by train. Then we were like “Hey why don’t we design and make something like that because, it looks cool". But we would say Karl Lagerfeld and Ralph Lauren are still our favorite designers to date.
What is the story behind the Alex Folzi logo?

There is a lot to know about the logo. Here is the definition of our logo:
• Nature loving: -the flowers on the letters “AF” (note: - the "AF" stands for Alex Folzi) stands for nature as well as the leaf on the eagle's right wing. It represents our freedom of expression and our passion for fashion.

• Fashion oriented: -The boot on the eagle’s leg expresses style.
• Photography: -The eagle is known as the bird with the sharpest eye in the sky. So we decided to portray the eye as the lenses of a camera and as we know a camera is the eye for fashion.
• Vintage: -Milan and Paris has always been known for the vintage old and beautiful structural buildings. So we decided to use that to represent vintage.
• Classy and Elegant: -The eagle is known as the leader of the sky. So we decided to use the eagle to represent classy and elegant.

• Four major cities of fashion: -London, Milan, New York, and Paris are the four major cities of fashion. So we decided to portray them as a street coming together connecting to the shield to form strength and unity.
• Strength: -The shield and the eagle are represented as strength.

How successful has your brand been thus far and what do you guys have planned for the future?

It has been going good so far. We are very impressed with the procedures we have taken so far and how much we have done as a starting up company within this short period of time. Sales have been going smoother than expected and publicity is coming up just fine. We are currently working on new designs for the apparel and accessories. By the grace of God they should be out in the market before October. We are also looking forward to the opening of our first retail store in Edmonton, Canada before the end of the year. There are so many exciting things coming up for the company before the end of the year, but due to sequential reasons we can only disclose as much as we have said above.

“God gives every bird its food, but He doesn't throw it into their nest. All the so-called "secrets of success" will not work unless you do. Start by writing out your plan, there is no time for frolic.” 
This quote is actually straight from Fela's current facebook status and I feel like it speaks volumes about why these two have been so successful in such a short amount of time. In order to be successful, you have to know what you want and to go after it with everything you've got. But how far you go in this world is essentially up to you! Life gives you so many natural tools but it is up to you to take those tools and to utilize them towards reaching your destiny. For many young people, including myself even, this is a difficult concept to grab because most of us are only living for the present and not looking ahead towards the future. We figure that all the big moves we will make in life can be delayed into our later years when we should really be viewing everyday as another opportunity to be bigger and better than the people we already are. There aren't a lot of people like Fela & Fola in the world which is why I felt the need to feature them on my blog. They took a huge leap of faith by deciding to build and own their own company but look at how far they have come! Like Jay-Z said in his song entitled So Ambitious, “I can’t base what I’m gonna be off what everybody isn’t”. And that is exactly the type of attitude Fela & Fola have. They've got that GOOD GOOD.

Oh yeah, did I mention that they are only 19 years old?
To learn more about these go-getters, check out these links:



38 comments:

  1. WOW!!! Great interview! I love seeing young people who are driven so this really makes me excited! And they are Nigerian on top of that which is great lol!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great interview Dee I really enjoyed reading this. And those 2 have a great future ahead of themselves if they are only 19 and already have their own company. I love their bags too! The colors are so beautiful. Good job again!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your blog is wow. :O

    ReplyDelete
  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Its so funny, i was at a wedding on Friday and they were grooms men and i knew the names sounded really familiar.Come across their work before and i am a fan on Face book. Their briefcases are so cool and i love their logo.I envisage a wonderful career for these young entrepreneurs.More grease to your elbow guys!

    ReplyDelete
  6. great blog u've got here. And those brief case are hot so are d twins. Wink*

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous9/12/2010

    Great interview :) very interesting :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous9/12/2010

    Great blog! And very interesting interview, I like their bags a lot and they are SMOKING HOT!!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. :O I lovee your blog, woooahh I want them!! and I love when young people do stuff, shows the youth are doing big things :D

    ReplyDelete
  10. great interview! those brothers are mosdefinitely on their way to much greater successes!

    ReplyDelete
  11. something positive to look up to. thanks for sharing this I hadn't heard of them :) how do you know them? I wish I were more like them! They have amazing drive and motivation.

    Monica xx

    ReplyDelete
  12. thanks for this great interview :)
    My blog: beautylicieuse.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. awesome! They're bags are hot!! I went to the website everything is SOLD OUT!! They have a very bright future ahead of them!

    Check out my blog, also!

    redlipstck.blogspot.com --thanks

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thank you for all the comments! These two are going to go so far, the possibilities for them are endless!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Alicia9/12/2010

    Very nice! I really like the quote you gave in the end. Yound entrepreneurs are always such a great inspiration I cannot believe they are just 19! I though for sure they were 22 or 23 so that makes it even more impressive :) Great commentary you gave to, you really have a knack for writing missy!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Alicia9/12/2010

    *Young lol

    ReplyDelete
  17. congratulations on your fast blog success!

    great interview btw :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous9/12/2010

    Congratulations on your 200 followers! That is truly amazing!
    I love this post and you write beautifully!

    XX

    ReplyDelete
  19. Wow! You've got quite a pretty gig going on here. Nice blog girl! I like young people that are focused and those two asides being hot!!, are focused. Congrats on the 200 followers thingy. Thanks for sharing and for dropping by. Following you now.
    Take care.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Wow! You've got quite a pretty gig going on here. Nice blog girl! I like young people that are focused and those two asides being hot!!, are focused. Congrats on the 200 followers thingy. Thanks for sharing and for dropping by. Following you now.
    Take care.

    ReplyDelete
  21. You have come a long way in such a short time. Congrats on the 200! Great interview.

    www.fashionablyblack.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  22. darla..congratulation on ur 200th follower..i read ur blog n i luv it soo much..cn get some inspiration from ur blog too..btw,i jst follow ur blog to stay update wit ya..kip it up d gud works ya..xoxo!

    ReplyDelete
  23. congratulation on 200+ followers and I LUST AFTER THOSE TRUNKS.

    I want a house full of them in different colours...


    xx Ingrid
    http://www.theshowmanship.com/

    ReplyDelete
  24. just... amazing!!!!!!!

    http://julia-louise.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  25. Thank you guys so much! I appreciate all the well wishes and I'm glad that ya'll liked the interview! I have plenty more where that came from :)

    ReplyDelete
  26. iLove!!! Naija boys doing it big!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Very cool! I'm 19 so it's nice to see people my age doing what the love. I'm excited for them, hope they continue to excel.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous9/13/2010

    Awesome interview!!!! Love those trunks, love the twinz smokin hott!!!! GREEAT BLOG

    ReplyDelete
  29. @Ms.O, exactly what I'm saying lol! I love to see my fellow Nigerians doing their thang, it is so inspiring :)

    @Elisa, yeah I'm 19 too girl! And I agree with you, I love seeing people our age follow their passion! My passion right now is my blog so I'm so glad I decided to make it, this has been such a fun 2 months for me lol :)

    @Anonymous, thank you so much! And you definitely aren't the only one who thinks they are hot lol, I think I've read that quite a few times in these comments :P

    Thank you once again to everyone who read the interview, it means a lot to me!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Thanks for visiting my blog! You have such a nice blog!

    ReplyDelete
  31. thank you thank you for reading my blog and commenting, i really love yoour blog, its super awesome...wow!! these twins are talented and hot :) and the coloured trunks...i want me one of those!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Wow, the quote above really inspired me and Dami great interview. Keep it coming girl.=)

    ReplyDelete
  33. thanks for sharing this! I'll definately be checking out their company shortly :)
    xxx

    ReplyDelete
  34. Wonderful job on your interview. Keep it up!!

    ReplyDelete
  35. Anonymous9/18/2010

    WOW those trunks are so cool. I love the look of your blog, very cool layout.

    Christina
    Blackberry Sherbet
    x

    ReplyDelete
  36. Thank you so much guys, the twins and I really appreciate the feedback!!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  37. Thank you for sharing about these young men. So very proud of them. Just shared with my Warrior Princesses, and they are happy for them too. A very well thought out interview.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Wow ! Nigerians go harder & harder on the fashion/design scene, huh ! Fagbulous xD

    ReplyDelete

TWITTER ///// FACEBOOK ///// BLOGLOVIN'

Copyright © 2010-2015 That GOOD GOOD Blog. All Rights Reserved.