Tony Iyke grew up in Nigeria. He tells his story full circle: His mother, Rose, was a celebrated designer and stylist. She often took Tony to distant lands to get the best cloth and meet other merchants, unknowingly passing on his skill set to his firstborn son. It wasn’t until she lost her battle with breast cancer in 2004 that Tony rediscovered his fascination with fashion and set off to carry on his mother’s legacy.
Iyke was an educated engineer and successful real estate professional at the time, having moved to the United States years earlier. He spent years following in his mother’s footsteps abroad. Cloth and garment makers and merchants he knew as a child remembered him. He was able to rediscover the trade just as his mother had all those years before. When he returned to his home in Portland, Oregon, he took a big leap and opened The House of Rose, named for his mother.
His concept: design unique creations to help people look and feel their best.
“I think fashion is very personal,” says Iyke. “What we wear and how we present ourselves is very important to how we are received by the people around us. We should have some control over that and be able to stand out from the masses.”
Iyke landed his first big celebrity client when Tommy Thayer, the famous KISS guitarist, met him in a warehouse and literally bought the jacket Iyke was wearing. Thayer then booked a private consultation with Iyke to design other custom pieces.
“I was taking client meetings from home at the time,” Iyke reflects. “He didn’t mind one bit, and we spent hours in my living room taking measurements and collaborating on designs.”
By now, Iyke has experienced years of success as a custom designer, primarily designing haute couture suits and dresses amongst a selection of branded handmade leather bags. But he didn’t want to stop there.
“I kept thinking, ‘how can I scale this so more people can experience personalized fashion?’”
So Iyke assembled a group of tailors, training them in his quintessential style of design and attention to detail.
“It took me a few years to find and train a network of tailors so they had the ability to scale,” says Iyke.
Now, it employs several master tailors highly trained in the art of garment creation to bring unique custom designs to life.
Last year, Iyke launched an e-commerce store, Designs by THOR (short for The House of Rose), where consumers can participate in the design process online from around the world. Its interface allows buyers to customize their suit, fabrics and measurements, among other customization tools.
Iyke is also expanding its physical footprint to accommodate in-person consultations with its tailors based in Lake Oswego, an upscale neighborhood in Portland, Oregon.
What’s next for Iyke?
“I firmly believe that fashion is deeply personal and is a tool to celebrate our individuality. We are expanding our e-commerce store to include more formal and everyday clothing options to make individual style accessible to everyone.”
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Source: gritdaily.com