Motunrayo Agusto is the founder of contemporary fashion brand MO AGUSTO.
The young Lagos-based womenswear brand is both made-to-measure and has a ready-to-wear line.
Motunrayo’s designs reflect her interest in an exploration of garment construction, all the way from textile design and manufacturing to the production of an entire collection of garments.
After studying Economics at the University of Nottingham, she has developed her fashion knowledge and technical skill at Central Saint Martins, London College of Fashion and Aston & Hayes. Her studies there focused on fashion design, garment construction, pattern making, fashion marketing and image consulting. She is currently the managing and creative director of MO AGUSTO.
I had always been interested in fashion but had never truly considered garment-making before then.
I had always been interested in fashion but had never truly considered garment-making before then. After this realisation, I began doing fashion courses in 2014 ranging from pattern making and couture bridal wear to marketing and so on at the London College of Fashion and Central Saint Martins and started MO AGUSTO soon after.
In an interview with Bella Naija, she talks about her favourite part of being a designer.”It is the conception of a new collection. I love being in my studio experimenting and coming up with individual pieces, deciding on a colour scheme and the various colour combinations.”
About running a fashion business in Nigeria; Motunrayo says; “I have found running a business in Nigeria to be extremely stressful.” She says everything is hard when running a business in Nigeria but points human capital to be the hardest.
To unwind and relax, Epe Resort or Le Meridien in Uyo is her spot to de-stress.
There she will perhaps indulge in her guilty pleasures which include; candy, chocolate and staying up all night on YouTube and Netflix while stalking fashion on Instagram or Pinterest.
Her most memorable fashion moment was when she made her runway debut. “I was extremely shy when I came out in front of everyone. I spent all of five seconds before running away and completely missed my amazing fiancé (then boyfriend) who was standing by to give me a bouquet of flowers.”
What she thinks about the inclusion of plus size in Fashion…
As long as they can afford to, every brand should offer something for all sizes.
“It’s great but it is one of those moments where I’m reluctant to celebrate a subset of people for doing the right thing. As long as they can afford to, every brand should offer something for all sizes.”
“As a creative, things usually need to come naturally to me in order for me to excel at them. I don’t design with size in mind. So producing a large range of sizes, definitely; but an entire collection dedicated to just plus size, we’ll just have to see. Anything is possible.”
