Yeni Kuti tells Ademola Olonilua about her fashion taste and why she had to shut down her fashion house years ago
What about your love for beads?
First I think beads are very beautiful and they are also African. I think there is no better way to exhibit my passion for Africa than through beads that are beautiful. That is my belief and feelings. You can get gold in Africa too but there is just something about beads that you cannot get with gold. Gold is one colour. Even if I could afford a lot of gold, I would not wear it all the time. This is a country where too many people are suffering; why should I flaunt wealth if I have it? What is the point of wearing million naira worth of jewellery when so many people are hungry?
It is believed that you have never relaxed your hair before. Is that true?
I don’t relax it, I soften it. My hair can be very hard. I have pure African hair, so I soften it by texturising it. I soften it once or twice in a year.
This is an era where people spend a lot of money on weaves like Brazilian, Peruvian and other types of hair. Do you use such attachments on your hair?
Never. I believe in what God gave me. I am satisfied with what I have been given even though sometimes you think you don’t have enough hip or wish you were taller. When I was very skinny, I wanted to be bigger behind but I didn’t do anything about it because you just have to be satisfied. What about people that don’t have hands, arms or were born crippled? People who are blind or who cannot talk; what would they say? If God gave me everything, why would I now decide to put fake hair on my head? Besides, it is so oyinboish; we black people have turned to caricatures of the western world. We now follow their own concept of beauty.
So you don’t believe in body alteration to look good?
No, unless something happens to someone along the way; maybe the person is burnt by fire or something really tragic happen to you. I am just satisfied with what God gave me. Many people would not agree with me but everybody is entitled to their own opinion.
Have you ever cut your hair?
Yes I have. My mother was always cutting our hair. The last time she cut my hair was when I was 16 years old. I would say she trimmed it for us not that she shaved off everything.
You are part of a television talk show now. How did you become a part of it?
My friend, Carol King, and I had always talked about having a talk show together. I had always wanted to have this kind of talk show and one day, I got a phone call from the producer of the show and he wanted me to be a part of it. Before I accepted to be a part of it, I asked if I would be allowed to say my views the way I see them because I am not partisan and I do not belong to any political party. They agreed and from the day they presented the idea to me, it took us like six months before we began the programme. I am really enjoying it. I get to voice my views and I am really enjoying it.
You look so youthful with a glowing skin. How have you been able to keep yourself to look this way?
I don’t agree that I look youthful and radiant. I look at myself in the mirror and I tell myself that I am ageing. One of the secrets that make me look good is that I am happy. Be happy and no matter what, try to laugh. I don’t watch any horror movie. My partner likes movies that make your adrenaline pump. But whenever we go to the cinema, I play games on my phone because the only movie I watch is comedy. I try my best to be happy because there are so many reasons not to be happy in this country. For example, there is no power supply. By the time you start thinking of things like this, it tells on your body. My hair is grey and that is why I wear scarves a lot. I don’t want to dye my hair and I am hoping that when I think I am old enough, I would remove it and everybody would be surprised that my hair is so grey. I am still a bit too shy to show my grey hair. I just try to laugh, sleep early when I can and when my work permits. I have also cut down on my drinking because I have to wake up early. The programme makes me wake up as early as 4am. To get eight hours of sleep, it means I have to sleep at 9pm and there is no way I can sleep at 9pm. There are so many things to be done; so on a good day, I try not to be awake beyond 10:30pm. During the day, if I do not have much to do, I go home to sleep for some hours before going back to work.
So your greying hair is responsible for wearing scarves?
I have always been tying scarves. I have tied scarves for about 18 years now. I started tying scarves when I was 33. Anytime I travel and go to a shop, I look out for scarves to match my outfit. I have always tied scarves. When I was still a dancer, fellow dancers used to laugh at me. If I had an outfit without a scarf, I would convert my trousers to one. Luckily for me, as my hair started getting grey about ten years ago, the transition was very easy to continue to wear the scarf. Now the scarf has become a necessity. I have a mascara in my bag so when I don’t want to tie a scarf, I would make the front black and leave the rest grey.
How many scarves would you say you own?
I don’t know. I have scarves in all colours. When I mean all colours, I mean if I have red, I have all shades of red; if it’s green, I have all shades of green. I have various colours of purple but there is one particular shade of purple I don’t have and I still haven’t found it to buy. I have a lot of scarves. I like them because they are not expensive to buy. It is not an expensive fashion accessory.
You have a peculiar fashion sense. How would you describe your style?
I don’t know how to describe my style. I have no description for it. I think people would have to describe it for me. I don’t think my style is different from someone else. I love to match my clothes from a very young age. I don’t know if I was born like that or if I just imbibed it because my father was like that. I used to watch my father when he was dressing. When he chose his clothes, everything must match. I don’t know if that affected me but from a young age, I loved to match my clothes. It is something I inherited from my father because he always matched his clothes.
Would you say your father influenced your fashion style?
Possibly; It is either that or I inherited it from him. It might be an inherent thing and the better I am financially the easier it is to express myself through my fashion. I know when I was about 18, I had a lovely dress and I was a nursery school teacher. I did it as a holiday job and one of the parents liked me and gave me a pair of beautiful brown shoes which I can never forget. Those shoes matched my dress and I always loved to wear both of them together. Even that early in life, I loved to match my clothes. I don’t know if I was born like that or because I watched my father while I grew; I don’t know.
Ladies nowadays reveal a lot of cleavage and wear skimpy clothes when going out. What is your opinion on this trend?
I also like to dress sexy. It is just that the older you get, the more conservative you become. I don’t mind wearing a short skirt sometimes. It depends on where you are going. If I am going to a public function, I cannot wear such but I if I am going out with my partner, I could wear such sexy dresses. There was a time I bought a dress and I was showing my cleavage; it was an award show and what I did was to cover myself up with a scarf. I was quite shy.
Do you plan owning a clothing outfit?
I used to have a fashion house a long time ago when I was still young. Now I don’t see myself doing so.
What happened to the fashion house?
I got pregnant and the inspiration was not coming like it was before I got pregnant. I became very dull; my mind became very dull. I think my baby was taking all my creative juice. At that time, I used to love to design the clothes but now, I just design for myself because I love clothes. But owning a fashion outfit, no.
Is your child showing signs of going into the entertainment industry?
She is more of a scientist but she can draw very well. She is a good artist and I just wish she would pursue that more. She is really talented. She studied computer science and is more into doing what she believes would fetch her more money. She doesn’t believe art would fetch her money. I have told her that she is Fela’s granddaughter and she can make money from her paintings. I have been to art galleries where prices of painting shocked me.
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