Africa Fashion Collective London – Unikutelle

Unikutelle Blessing Mato established her eponymous brand in 2008. She is a Nigerian fashion designer,couturiere, and art director, native of a small town called Jengre in Plateau State but was born and raised in Kaduna State Nigeria. She bagged a first degree in International Studies at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria in 2005, during which she discovered what she calls “a burning desire for fashion and all things design”, the drive to know how to bring these ideas in her mind to life, understand the dynamics of a well-tailored garment and understand at that time why within her immediate community it was always difficult to communicate ideas with the average neighbourhood tailor/seamstress – this was puzzling as they would always describe her requests/ideas as “complicated” or “impossible to realize”, this passion drove her in the direction of pursuing her dreams.

In 2001 she started learning the intricate art of hand sewing and would always enroll as an apprentice during the holidays until she had the opportunity to move from Kaduna to Lagos for a workshop in patternmaking. She continued afterward to develop this skill through self-training for about a year started work at Xclamations by Tomi Rotimi before she officially launched the Unikutelle brand in 2010 which became rapidly known for its impeccably tailored dresses across Nigeria and serving quite a number of clients in the UK and the USA.

In 2014 She moved to Milan Italy to study a certificate in fashion design, a diploma in women’s wear fashion design, and a masters in art direction for fashion design and haute couture Istituto di moda burgo and HFFA respectively. She has interned at Milan fashion week with designers such as Stella Jean. Since her return to Nigeria, She has been involved in major Fashion, art history, and culture and Charity projects, partnerships, and collaborations with other organizations, notably mention; A tribute to the warrior queen Amina of Zaria in partnership with the fifth chukker equestrian academy and the Zaria emirates, Canceraware, the Kere Ahmed foundation, RADI. The 2020 pandemic inspired and presented an opportunity to collaborate with ISISMODELSAFRICA beyond the borders of Nigeria making facemasks for a large number of models at the UNHCR Kakuma refugee camp Kenya which was established in 1992 to host unaccompanied minors who had fled the war in Sudan and camps in Ethiopia. She has just launched her Ready To Wear line after 14 years of serving only in couture

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