*Arriving at the gate of House of Eboka situated in Sandton, Johannesburg, it is easy to notice an established Fashion house when you see one. The gate slowly opens, for my Uber taxi to drive in. Alighting, I am welcomed by the founder and head designer of House of Eboka, Fred Eboka whose achievements are not to be overlooked.
The luxury and grandeur of House of Eboka speak volumes and give you an insight into how he runs the Fashion house.
Who is Fred Eboka? Sitting down with him, his history opens up to reveal that Eboka’s fashion label has been creating bespoke couture garments for discerning women who expect nothing less than the best and who contact Eboka for elegance, style, and luxury. He also designs for men as well. House of Eboka has dressed high profile personalities, such as former First Lady Graça Machel of South Africa, current First Lady Dr Tshepo Motsepe wife of the re-elected president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa and Fred has also dressed the late pata pata singer Miriam Makeba.
Very smart-looking fashion designer, Fred Eboka is truly a master of his craft who weaves magic in each one-of-a-kind gown with exquisite attention to detail. He has been the designer of choice for many high-profile women from all over Africa and internationally, for special red-carpet events, elegant daywear, and bespoke bridal gowns alike. Immaculately tailored suits and stylish shirts celebrating African heritage make up the menswear range.
Eboka said that when a client is talking to him, he is drawing and putting down the ideas of the client, The client’s background and character determine what they would like to wear and what Eboka would design.
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In our conversation, Eboka who resides in Pretoria emphasized the importance of education to art and fashion design imploring aspiring designers to do what they love to do saying that “what makes you happy must make you money and whatever makes you money must make you happy.” He made a point that Art draws a lot from historical references and there must be an element of art in you. Having a good education or serious apprenticeship with a good Fashion designer helps to give exposure to being an established Fashion designer. He emphasized that a Fashion designer must have some basic understanding of basic art through drawing, life drawing, and understanding the Human anatomy to be an enlightened person. Fashion addresses behaviour and it is revisiting the past to design something for the future.
Fred Eboka attended Yaba College of Technology popularly known as YABATECH in Lagos, Nigeria. He left the comforts of home in Nigeria and moved to the US, where he studied fashion and textile at Philadelphia University. He later attended Temple University where he did his second degree in visual communication at the Tyler School of Art. To help fund his studies and keep his body and soul together, he worked as a taxi driver.
Over the years, Eboka has dressed the rich and famous, and to his clientele, the challenge to dress Sophia the Robot, the world’s first humanoid citizen. Sophia the Robot wore a House of Eboka suit to the Davos of Human Capital in 2019 which was held in Johannesburg.
TAYO Fatunla whose work has been featured on MSN.com via EURweb.com is an award-winning British-Nigerian Comic Artist, Editorial Cartoonist, Writer, and Illustrator and is an artist of the African diaspora. He is a graduate of the prestigious Kubert School, in New Jersey, US, and recipient of the 2018 ECBACC Pioneer Lifetime Achievement Award for his illustrated OUR ROOTS creation and series – Famous people in Black History – He participated at UNESCO’s Cartooning In Africa forum held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and the Cartooning Global Forum in Paris, France and has held a virtual OUR ROOTS cartoon workshop for SMITHSONIAN- National Museum of African Art, Washington D.C. His Fela Kuti image is prominently featured in Burna Boy’s mega-Afrobeat hit song “Ye”. – TAYO is the illustrator behind the pictorial Black history walk map on a lectern that guides the walk-in Camberwell, South East London, U.K. https://www.instagram.com/
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