Augustine Mabiama poses for a photo at the Naquin Couture store in Douala, Cameroon. Photo credit: Naquin Couture
Interview with Augustine Mabiama
Founder of NAKUIN COUTURE
Hometown: Douala, Cameroon
Augustine Mabiama thought she’d ruined her future when her parents enrolled her in a vocational school. Years later, as founder of a recognized brand in Africa’s growing fashion industry, she sees the decision in a different light.
In a corner of a bustling fashion house in Cameroon’s capital, Douala, designer Augustin Mabiama is in the middle of a photo shoot, using an improvised photo studio equipped with an 18-inch light ring and a smartphone on a stand.
Showing off different outfits of different styles and colours, Mabiama checks the lighting quality of the image, and after making a small adjustment to her outfit for the next shot, she stands in front of the camera, poses for a moment, then walks around the light ring and checks the image.
Mabiama is the founder of the nationally acclaimed fashion brand Nakin Couture. The selected photos (with Mabiama herself as the model) will be edited and published on Nakin Couture’s Instagram page in the coming days.
“Social media marketing is key,” Mabiama explains. “I recently bought this photography set and an iPhone to promote my work and brand.”
Mabiama’s story of founding a Cameroonian fashion brand is also one of escape from convention.
Born and raised in Yaoundé, Cameroon’s capital, into a middle-class family, Mabiama, like other young people from his social background, was expected to pursue a traditional education consisting of sciences and humanities, followed by a job in a local company.
By the time she turned 12, Mabiama had completed primary school and was keen to enrol in secondary school.
Mabiama assumed she would follow in the footsteps of her siblings, but then she discovered her parents had made a surprising choice for her: They enrolled her in a vocational-technical high school, where she studied the garment industry.
Mabiama recalls being deeply upset by her parents’ decision, as perceptions of vocational school curricula at the time were largely negative.
“There was a widespread social stigma attached to vocational and technical education. Students there were considered to be failures – students who proved unsuited to the traditional science and humanities curriculum and who were retrained there to make up for their failures,” she points out.
“Perceptions have changed a lot today, but back then young people only dreamed of becoming highly paid corporate executives, not socially rewarding jobs like tailors or hairdressers,” Mabiama adds.
The decision deeply pained Mabiama, leaving her in tears many times and questioning whether her parents really wanted a good future for her.
Although she was reluctant, she tried to be a good student, graduated after seven years of middle school, considered her debt to her parents repaid, and looked forward to embarking on what she considered a “normal” college curriculum.
She applied to the Faculty of Economics at the University of Yaoundé. Unfortunately, the school had stopped accepting students with technical backgrounds, so she couldn’t get in. She then heard about a local program that was recruiting students and sending them to study in Italy. But passport issues caused the attempt to fall through.
Months passed and Mabiama was feeling hopeless until one day, while watching the news on TV, she learned that a new university was opening in Yaoundé, the Cheikh Anta Diop School of Arts and Crafts, which was proposing a curriculum for fashion design.
Mabiama made up her mind and took a step that would change her life.
“I said OK, I’m going to get into this industry but I’m going to do it differently and I’m going to contribute something to this industry,” she says.
Models pose in outfits by Naquin Couture. Photo credit: Naquin Couture
In 2009, Mabiama completed her degree in fashion. She immediately began working from home, designing and making clothes for her clients using an old sewing machine. Her brand, Nakuin, was born from these humble beginnings.
The initial profits were used to purchase more powerful production equipment, and she invested heavily in staging fashion shows and participating in expositions and fairs to promote her products.
As her brand gained recognition in Cameroon’s fashion scene, Mabiama realised she needed a retail store, and after moving to Douala, she opened a boutique called Naquin Couture in the upper-middle-class Bonapriso neighbourhood in southern Douala in 2014.
Thanks to a sound marketing strategy and entrepreneurial spirit, Mabiama is now recognised as one of the most iconic Cameroonian fashion designers.
But building and maintaining her brand hasn’t been without challenges.
The local garment industry is struggling to cope with a surge in second-hand clothing imports worth about $50 million, according to Cameroon’s national statistics agency, which has decimated the country’s manufacturing base and made it harder for small operators like Mabiama as skills and resources are diverted from the industry.
“There are still problems affecting the growth of the garment industry, including difficulties in finding skilled labour, quality fabrics and other raw materials in the local market, as well as a number of other issues, including lack of access to finance,” Mabiama said.
But this fashion entrepreneur believes there is a solution to every problem, and her answer is through constant learning and training to remain outstanding in challenging environments.
“I attend training in different areas that may be useful. I always take advantage of opportunities to travel, discuss and interact with people. I recently hired a specialist to train me in community management.”
Mabiama believes there is still a long way to go but is optimistic about the road ahead.
“There are challenges but also opportunities. I would like to open more boutiques and expand in the near future. Why not expand the brand not only within Cameroon but also abroad?”
/Bird Story Agency
