Founder of Nigerian fashion brand Irawo Studio, Innovator Award

Temidola Ikomi, a 2017 graduate of the D’Amore-McKim School of Business, really missed the Northeast community, so she joined Women Who Empower.

Ikomi wanted to build new connections with like-minded women who wanted to help each other grow and own their businesses, she says, because she co-founded an African-inspired fashion brand in Nigeria, in her place.

“The people I’ve met so far on this trip have been amazing,” says Ikomi.

This year Ikomi was awarded a 2022 Innovator Award, presented by Women Who Empower, in the category of young university alumna along with a prize of $22,000. She entered the competition last year as well, but did not win.

“It shows that being an entrepreneur doesn’t mean you give up when you don’t get what you want. You just keep pushing and pushing,” says Ikomi.

Together with her mother and two sisters, she owns a Nigerian fashion brand called Irawo Studio. Irawo means “star” in Yoruba, one of the three main languages ​​spoken in the country.

They always knew they wanted to do something in the world of fashion, says Ikomi.

“Fashion has been a great way for me to express what I feel, my identity without necessarily saying anything,” she says. “We all love fashion. We all also want to embrace our Yoruba culture, [and] this is something we can do with a modern twist.”

Ikomi was born in Kano, in the northern part of Nigeria, and grew up between Lagos, Nairobi, Kenya and South Africa due to her father’s travels in corporate banking. She attended a number of international schools and was introduced to meeting people from different cultures.

In 2012, she enrolled at a college in Virginia, but didn’t feel it was diverse enough for her. She decided to transfer abroad and chose Northeastern for its diversity and co-op program.

“I believe that I grow best through challenges at times, and I felt that the co-op program would really allow me to see what it would be like to be a full-time employee before I graduate,” she says.

While at Northeastern she was an advisor and president of the Northeast African Student Organization. She graduated from the D’Amore-McKim School of Business in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and business administration.

Her first job was in corporate communications. In 2018, Ikomi moved from Boston to Brooklyn, New York, where she currently resides.

When Temidola Ikomi and her sister Ama Ikomi graduated from college in 2017, the women in her family decided it was time to start a fashion business in Nigeria.

Ama Ikomi went to New York University’s Stern School of Business and took over the accounting and finance of their new company. Temidola Ikomi focused on marketing and advertising. Their younger sister Anire Ikomi, a graduate of Parsons School of Design, helps with the brand’s public image.

The day-to-day running of the business is overseen by their mother, Abby Ikomi, who is Irawo’s creative director and lives in Lagos full-time.

Ikomi says she gets her entrepreneurial nature from her mother. In every place they lived, her mother had a business: hair, furniture, jewelry.

“I think so am I. When I’m very passionate about something, I give it my all and I want to make sure it succeeds,” says Ikomi.

Working with her family was a bit tricky the first year, she says, because they had to understand the dynamics between them.

“Because it’s family, you can be very open and honest. And sometimes that’s what you need in business,” she says.

They try to keep their focus on what is best for the business. They all participate in the creative development process, collectively thinking about brand messages or the next lookbook, says Ikomi.

At the same time, Ikomi says, they are a Nigerian family first and her mother will always have their unconditional respect. Business comes after that.

In their first year of operation, they decided to participate in one of the biggest fashion shows in Lagos called Arise to make a grand entrance in a fairly saturated market, says Ikomi. Irawo Studio also participated in the Ghana Glitz Fashion Week.

“We did all these fashion shows to help us get going [on this journey]”, says Ikomi.

She describes Irawo clothing as African-inspired womenswear that is modern and elegant, as well as very comfortable and professional. She says, Irawo clothing is for pioneers who are following their dreams in their own way. They can be mothers, students or working professional women.