10 Lessons I’ve Learned On My Fashion Journey: From Olodi Apapa to Wimbledon
Nearly six out of ten businesses never survive their first five years. Fashion brands? The odds are even harsher. Lenders turn their noses up. Half the world thinks fashion is a vanity project; the other half, the ones who know how much labour, skill, compromise and cash goes into making truly beautiful long lasting clothes are often priced out, overwhelmed, or simply distracted by trends.
Photography: Yomi Kadejo.
For me, fashion has never been “just clothes.” It has always been a language, a way of expressing how I want to be seen in the world. From my mother’s small tailor shop in Ajakaiye, Onipetesi Estate in Lagos, to my own atelier in Wimbledon, fashion has been a lifeline. A place where I can process identity, share ideas, reflect society, and give back to the communities that raised me.
Joy Osula 10th birthday, Olodi Apapa, Lagos Nigeria.
After six years in the corporate 9 - 5, from interning on entrepreneurship initiatives for the Mayor of London, to recruiting at Microsoft, and most recently working at a major UK science institute. I finally stepped out to build something that felt like mine.
These months since leaving my 9 - 5 have been the most challenging but rewarding year of my life so far and through it all, here are 10 lessons I’ve learned about business, creativity, identity and becoming.
1. Your origin shapes your eye.
My design language began long before my first studio. It began in Lagos; in movement, migration, colours, textures, the rhythm of streets and markets. Everything I create is rooted in where I come from. In 2025 I produced two collections, moved studios twice, and onboarded my first international stockist in Japan.
Creating a fashion house with soul: A world. A community. A testimony for people who dream big but start small is not for the faint hearted.
2. Identity is the greatest design tool.
The moment I stopped creating for approval and started creating from who I am, my work sharpened. My Edo heritage became the core of my visual world; reds of earthy sand, greens of leafy Surrey, ancestral geometry blended with London grit. Culture became my compass for navigating the hums of an oversaturated industry.
This year, I realised that Joy Osula World speaks in a very specific visual dialect:
Asymmetry: because life is not linear and neither is becoming. My seams shift, hems dip, necklines move with intention. I design the way growth feels: slightly off centre and always evolving.
Juxtaposition: soft against structured, raw beside refined heritage meeting futurism. I design at the intersection of worlds. That friction is my signature.
Upcycled and Reworked Elements because fabric holds memory and nothing worthy should be thrown away. I reshape what already carries story.
Luxury Streetwear Silhouettes: sculpted jackets, oversized trousers, refined everyday pieces with soul. Contemporary, global, grounded in craft.
These codes didn’t come from trend forecasting or Pinterest boards; they came from listening inward.
From building a house where heritage is not a reference it is the architecture. This is the visual language I am committed to honouring as I grow.
Movement fabrics that breathe, silhouettes that float, pieces that respond to the body. Lagos taught me rhythm, London taught me pace; my garments hold both.
Edo Ancestral motifs translated into contemporary form of fabric. I carry my people in my patterns. The Earth & Forest Colour Languages are reds of ancestral sand, greens of leafy Surrey, blacks and off whites of London grit. My palette is a map of places that raised me.
3. Every studio upgrade is an internal upgrade.
From a shared studio in Bow Arts to East London to my own amongst one of London's biggest artist community in Wimbledon, each move forced me to level up mentally. Sometimes you outgrow a space before you physically leave it. Sometimes the environment shifts before the confidence does.
4. Community multiplies creativity but alignment sustains it.
Collaboration built my world, but this year I learned that not every “let’s work” is aligned. You must choose collaborators who honour your pace, values and boundaries. Growth doesn’t come from saying yes, it comes from saying yes to the right people.
5. Saying no is an act of self respect.
This was my hardest lesson. The creative industry runs on favours, blurred lines and last minute energy. But boundaries protect your spirit, your time, your vision. The boundaries you set in your personal life spill into your creative life. Saying no is not rejection, it’s self preservation.
6. Nothing worth having is easy but every risk has a reward.
Leaving my 9 - 5 was frightening but destiny rewards movement. Risk introduced me to a version of myself I wouldn’t have met inside a corporate structure. The right risks are thoughtful, intentional risks and they open doors structure never could.
7. Fashion is art but it is also business.
This year, I learned how important it is to:
• stay on top of your numbers
• read your data and your customer behaviour
• understand which rooms to enter *and which to avoid*
• know that being in the wrong room can dilute your brand
• design globally but build locally, with real makers and suppliers
Fashion is one of the most complex art forms in the world but it is also a business. A creative house survives only when art and structure walk hand in hand.
8. Business is a spiritual practice.
People see logistics, systems, fabrics, emails. They don’t see the prayer, alignment, intuition and faith behind it all. Business is belief in motion. You plant seeds in uncertainty and trust them to grow. My best ideas come when I’m spiritually aligned, not when I’m forcing.
9. Creating from abundance feels different than creating from survival.
This year, I learned what it feels like to create from a well resourced place not from panic or scarcity. I’m private about how I fund my work but accessing capital and mentorship gave me mental clarity. Creating from rest, from abundance, from a full cup, it shows in the work and in the storytelling.
10. Loss reshapes you but it does not end you.
This year held family tension, displacement, solitude, and shifts in friendship. And still, in the middle of unravelling, my work deepened. Discomfort sharpened my vision. Cold seasons fortified my creativity. Through it all, I kept building.
I am learning that a successful business requires a leader who looks inward before speaking outward. Someone who understands that every collection is part logistics, part intuition, part prayer. Someone unafraid to learn the rooms they belong in and the ones that dilute their power. Someone willing to build for the global consumer while honouring local makers, local hands, and local stories.
Business for me is a beautiful blend of statistical, spiritual, and physical components. Yes, the numbers matter but the intuition and discipline also matters.
I am still becoming. Still building. Still listening. Still learning what it means to lead a fashion house with soul, community, heritage and impact.
And if this year has taught me anything, it’s this: When you create from truth, alignment, and courage the world eventually catches up!
Creative Direction, Styling & Makeup: Joy Osula.
Words written from the lens of a Lagos born designer rewriting her own narrative.
Photography by Yomi Kadejo.