For most African women, tying a ‘Gele’ (head tie) is a difficult ordeal, which discourages them from wearing this lovely piece and promoting our rich culture. The CEO of Opeke, Yinka Thomas-Ogboja, happens to be one of many women who used to face this ordeal prior to an event. It was either they couldn’t tie the geles themselves, or dress up took forever because of their struggles with the geles and husbands started to turn red in the face, or they weren’t ready to constantly enrich the pockets of makeup/gele artists (no offense).
Some even desired to dress traditional to church or certain functions but the headache of headgears was the beginning of abstinence. All these challenges led to the birth of Opeke translated “fine girl or “omoge”, an indigenous fashion brand aimed at promoting the African culture and beauty. Opeke launched with a signature line called “Asake”, already pleated, easy-to-tie, ready-made geles.
This creative product enables you to tie your gele in less than a minute and yes, people assume you are a pro! Gone are those days when aso-oke was synonymous with dull and unappealing colors, Opeke adds a touch of bright, colorful and fun to their pieces, with the ability to customize pieces to suit the personalities of their clients.
They make lovely gele-ebi, asake-ebi, engagement outfits for couples-to-be, gele and ipele collections for women of luxury and style. The good news is that you can pack all your geles to them to “asakerize” or buy from their collections. So you don’t have to worry anymore about not being able to tie your geles!
They will soon be launching another product line under Opeke called ‘Arewa’ and we heard from the grapevine this has to do with beads. Get in touch with them today and make difficult gele tying a thing of the past!