Bolajo is the lady with a great eye that is changing the narrative for models and modelling in Africa.
The fashion industry in Nigeria has been status quo for a while and needed someone to shake things up. Meet our Woman Crush Wednesday: Bolajo Fawehinmi.
Bolajo Fawehinmi is the CEO and director of FEW Models Management Nigeria who has been featured on Forbes.
A model herself, Bolajo entered the business of talent management with over a decade of modelling experience under her belt. She started FEW in 2014, and in the short time of less than four years, she has been able to change the narrative of model talent management in Nigeria, as well as Africa.
Unlike many model managers who focus on the money-making aspect of model management in Nigeria, Bolajo came with the motive to "celebrate the type of beauty which is not typically celebrated here in Nigeria". This is evident in the quality of models she produces who are sought after by international brands and agencies.
It doesn't hurt that she has a Management Accounting degree from Obafemi Awolowo University, to which she attributes the success of FEW as it gave her the knowledge of organised structure she needed to run her business smoothly.
In barely four years, FEW has gained major recognition in Africa and the world. It boasts of 10 active international models — four of them signed to IMG Models, the international modelling agency which also manages Gigi Hadid and other top stars. Fawehinmi has produced breakout stars such as Eniola Abioro — the first Nigerian to walk for Prada — Akele Ruth, Elizabeth Ayodele, Olamide Ogundele, Ayobami Okekunle and Daberechi Ukoha-Kalu. These models are making it big in the international world — walking for major brands on runways and featured in major brand campaigns and editorials.
She is famous for her eye for spotting talents and her ability to make world-standard models out of people who never thought they could ever be models. Because of this, FEW Models Management was able to bag a partnership with IMG Models to create FEW Next Faces’, a model scouting programme in Lagos for girls all over Africa that creates amazing opportunities and international deals.
It is clear that Bolajo Fawehinmi has rewritten the old script for which the fashion industry once lived for and that is why she is our #WCW today!