Why I started wearing mostly Nigerian fashion brands – Chimamanda Adichie

Chimamanda, in an interview with Shade Samagbeyi, the
YouTuber, disclosed that early in her career, she downplayed her love for
style, hair, and makeup.

She said she felt pressured to hide her interests in fashion
because she wanted to be taken seriously as a writer.

“For some people, liking fashion means you’re not a serious
person. So I went through a period of pretending because I wanted to be taken
seriously as a writer,” she said.

“Part of the reason I started talking about fashion is
because many women who are into politics, who have ideas, also like fashion.
Why should we pretend?”

Chimamanda said she, however, made a conscious decision to
be publicly passionate about fashion to empower other women in similar
positions.

On why she chose to wear designs primarily from Nigerian
brands, the 47-year-old writer described this choice as a deliberate strategy
to use her platform to support and showcase local talent.

“I was also tired of pretending that I wasn’t interested in
fashion, when in fact I was. I’m interested in hair and makeup, so I thought
that if I talked about it publicly, other women like me would feel they didn’t
have to pretend,” she said.

“Choosing to wear mostly Nigerian brands, which I started
doing a number of years ago, was something I did intentionally. For me, it is a
kind of fashion nationalism.

“I’m fortunate to have this platform, and I’ve gotten to a
point where foreign designers would send me clothes. So I thought it was a
great opportunity to start wearing Nigerian brands. It’s just a subtle way of
showing up for my people.