The governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; Ooni Of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, Chairman, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Sir Wale Adeeyo; Adebola Williams; Founder, LDA Couture, Lanre Da Silva; were among the personalities who witnessed the graduation of the first stream of trainees to power a new fashion social enterprise focused on preserving vintage Yoruba tailoring tagged the Ijinle Project yesterday, Monday, 12 November, 2018 at Terra Kulture, Lagos.

IJINLE is a focused on Entrepreneurship development and Heritage preservation. The project was built around the veteran, Mr Kabiru Durojaiye, a custodian of the age-old and fast-dying Mastercraftsmanship in Vintage Yoruba Tailoring – the traditional way of making Yoruba wears. To preserve Mr Kabiru’s skills, the state organised an entrepreneurship project, competitively selecting 15 promising young tailors to intern with Mr Kabiru over 18 weeks, learning intricate details of producing vintage traditional pieces and new products.

The event was hosted by musician, Sound Sultan and Segun ‘Laff Up’ Ogundipe, as the initiative also launched its product line: Ijinle Vintage, Ijinle Millenial and Ijinle Smart, with Big Brother Nigeria 2018 contestant, Tobi Bakre joining the runway models to showcase the innovative Ijinle vintage and smart pieces.

In keeping with the project’s goal of advocating for further adoption of indigenous fashion in public and private sector for the purpose of boosting the local economy and a Nigerian identity, the event featured Ojoma Ochai, Director of Arts West Africa, British Council who made the case for the government to evolve practical policies to expand the demand side in boosting the Nigerian Garment value chain given that Nigeria currently spend $4 billion yearly on imported clothes.

Speaking at the event, the Governor, State of Osun, commended the trainees, stating that the Ijinle project is the fruition of the inspiration and efforts of many individuals  working to improve the State of Osun economy and the country through creativity and entrepreneurship.

Trainees were placed under an 18-week  internship program with prolific vintage  master-craftsman, Mr. Kabiru Durojaye, based in Mushin, where they honed their skills in producing  vintage pieces like the  Traditional Agbada, Dasiki, Buba, Kembe, Agadasi, To’Bo and Kamu.

Upon graduation, the project and its participants will transition into a vintage garment production company based out of Osun with a business development center in Lagos. IJINLE will be producing premium Vintage and Smart Traditionals for corporate and public sector, said the project coordinator, Muinat Attunise.

Prominent Nigerians were seen placing orders for the premium Vintage pieces at the event. Muinat Atunnise announced that the  project was open for business and orders could be taken online at the project’s website www.ijinleproject.com, email [email protected] or  @ijinleproject on allsocial media handles.

Official hashtag for the project is #WearNaija #Ijinle.