She’s the sister of Nigerian soccer legend Sunday Oliseh, but now Tessy Oliseh-Amaize is becoming something of a celebrity in her own right, making a name for herself in the US fashion scene.
As founder of the Tesslo fashion brand, and a former science student, she produces a distinctively modern take on traditional wax print ankara designs, with her vision inspired as much by mathematics as classic aesthetics.
The style is showcased in her “Africa to the World” collection, featuring designs that infuse elements of African culture in colorful ankara fabrics. Each design takes four to eight weeks to create, using carefully conceived geometric shapes to create an optical illusion of depth, and patterns she describes as “moving in a four-dimensional way.”
“I realized that in designing, the Pythagoras theorem comes to play,” said Oliseh-Amaize, referencing the formula for calculating the relationship between the sides of a triangle. “My designs are all mathematics. You need to think of shapes and even calculate shapes that do not exist.”
“Pyramids” is a knee-length dress made from one of the most common ankara fabrics and inspired by the pyramids of Giza, with prism-like shapes arranged in alternating directions.
“Mpi” is Oliseh-Amaize’s take on a varsity jacket, embellished with rows of protruding cones, a nod to the animal horns used in Nigeria’s traditional Igbo culture for weddings, chieftaincy titles and as a musical instrument.
“For Pyramids, I used geometric calculations, which is a very complex technique in fashion design,” Oliseh-Amaize said, while for Mpi, “I manipulated the fabric in geometrical dimensions to create each one of those horns. I thought that the real beauty of executing this inspiration would be more impactful if I have them all together in a cluster around the outfit.”
“Taking it to the next level”
Oliseh-Amaize’s design journey started out in the UK, at Middlesex University London, where she studied Fashion Product Management at the start of the millennium. A major break came after she returned to Nigeria and was crowned the country’s best designer at the 2006 Nigerian Fashion Show competition.
She began designing for TV shows, and eventually relocated to the US, which she said “was like starting afresh.” Unlike Nigeria, where there’s a ready demand for ankara clothing, she had to prove her creativity to an American clientele, which meant “taking it to the next level.”
Now based in Washington, DC, her eye-catching designs are increasingly in the spotlight. Last September she was invited to close the Ankara Festival Los Angeles, which celebrates African fashion, and her works were also shown at the Congressional Black Caucus and Philly Fashion Week that month.
After the Ankara Festival, she said in a statement, “Outside Africa, when people hear “African prints,” it is as if the expectation is that it’s not truly African unless it looks primitive or poorly made. I’m rebelling against that. African fashion is rich, diverse, and deserves to be seen as sophisticated and high-quality.”
It’s a stance that’s earning her celebrity supporters. Folake Olowofoyeku, star of US sitcom “Bob Hearts Abishola,” wore Tesslo’s “Hollywood” dress at the Ankara Festival, a design inspired by old-school Hollywood glamour, with sleeve cuffs shaped like mid-century lamps. Oliseh-Amaize has also received a commission by celebrity stylist J. Bolin for one of his high-profile clients.
As Oliseh-Amaize establishes her own identity, she is stepping out of the shadow of her famous brother, who played for European soccer teams including Ajax and Juventus in 1990s and 2000s, as well as playing for and managing Nigeria’s national team.
Growing up, “Everyone calling me Sunday Oliseh’s sister didn’t mean I had it easy,” she told CNN, saying that she would be overcharged when buying equipment, because people assumed she had money. “I had to work extra hard to get things,” she added.
“Fashion Professor”
Now, Oliseh-Amaize is helping younger designers through her “Fashion Professor” project. She has held 35 mentoring sessions on Instagram about everything from understanding different fabrics to knowing how to bill clients, teaching young designers to navigate the industry and to aspire beyond Nigeria.
“I looked at how I could inspire the next generation of fashion designers within and beyond Nigeria and decided to mentor them and help them avoid my own mistakes while charting their own unique paths,” she explained.
Her innovations in ankara designs come at a time when more Western designers are exploring the fabric. Oliseh-Amaize says they have the opportunity to do so because they can more easily access funding, which is not always the case for Nigerian designers.
She emphasizes that African designers should not limit their thoughts to designing or selling to only Africans, and Oliseh-Amaize would like to see a time when a Nigerian brand can sell out in international department stores like Harrods or Macy’s.
While her fashion creations are deeply rooted in Africa, Oliseh-Amaize insists that her identity as a designer goes beyond that. “I don’t want to be put in a box and labeled an African designer,” she said. “I want to be identified as a global brand designing for the global market. This is what would make me fulfilled.”
