Three things fascinates Tricia Ossy; Blings, Prints, and jewelry. That is pretty obvious as you step into her cute showroom inside Murphis Plaza, on Sanusi Fafunwa in Victoria Island, Lagos.
The heavily blinged array of dresses hits you and you soon find your- self drawn to the door and then into the store to view the most beau- tifully bejeweled Ankara couture dresses. Tricia shares her love for the blings with Susan Eyo Honesty.
She started out in the world of fashion from a tender age, while helping her mother, who has a fashion shop, where she specialise in beaded blouses and dresses. So it’s not surprising to see her gravitating towards the business of fashion after finishing from school. “Let’s just say that I was born into it” said Tricia Ossy, Director and the creative mind at the upscale fashion store, Trish .O. Couture.
The tall, dark skinned designer’s passion easily hits you, her love for bling on her clothes. You can’t miss the rich adornment of her designs with swarovski stones. And for 8 years, her label Trish. O. Couture has evolved to become know for the bling statement the clothes make. “I love blings, anything shiny, that me; It Fried to come out from the regular thing you see. I noticed that not everybody loved the beading. I was doing the same too then, but I had to switch and mix it up”
No doubt, her artistic mind comes to bare on her clothes, unique in every sense, as she carefully traces each pattern on her choice fabric, Ankara, with a preference for Hollandaise. You are blown away with her ability to infuse corded laces, even mixing the colours to give her work an upscale edge. And for good reasons too. “I noticed that when you carefully look at the Ankara, it comes across as very traditional, and if I should use the corded lace alone, it would look like a party outfit, so the decision to carefully combine both thus giving birth to our line, which we now have” explained Tricia. The Trish .O. Couture collection in
cludes ready – to- wear Ankara dresses and blouses, and of course with the bling stones on them. That her designs have a celebrity following is best confirmed by the caliber of celebrity ladies who have been spotted in them, like Senator Florence Ita-Giwa.
Pricy as the blinged attires are, Tricia still enjoys great patronage. “The response to the clothes has been good. When you check out the quality of the Ankara fabrics and cord laces we use, not to mention the amount of crystal stone work that we do, all hand done, you can understand that what you are getting is quality”.
With a couple of private showings done, where her clients get to see her latest collection, Tricia still has her eyes on a bigger stage at an international level, but however with her eyes set on Africa for now. “I believe the market is in Africa and the surface has not been scratched” For this reason is Tricia planning on making her presence felt on the continent first. But it’s not been easy finding time for herself she admits, with the time consuming work she’s set out to do with her fashion label. A lover of couture fashion, you would expect Tricia to own a huge wardrobe spilling with dazzling designs, but not so she says. “It’s scanty! Because I don’t get to make for myself as I would love to. I found that when I make for myself, that’s the one my clients want to buy off me. So I end up selling it.”
The wife, mother and business woman sure has her eyes set on achieving one goal, to make her presence felt on a global scale.
