Tega Akinola Takeover
Tega’s designs begin with pre-loved items, but not all items she uses in her craft were previously items of clothing. Tega finds resourceful ways to include even some of the most mundane items into her designs, such as Apple phone chargers. Her iconic “discarded cable heels” have caught the attention of Instagram users and fashionistas everywhere and her upcycled Nike and Patagonia mini purses make for an impeccably synced accompaniment to your favorite winter jacket or fleece.
Read below for an inside take on Tega’s creative process.
What got you into upcycling clothing and accessories?
Tega Akinola - Before I knew what the term ‘upcycling’ was, the process was a way for me to revamp my old clothes simply because I didn’t have money to buy new ones. My mum is a seamstress so she would always encourage me to do that, which I guess is what we call upcycling now. So essentially, what got me into it was my upbringing; however, witnessing the trend of people recycling waste products from a fashion perspective was what made me more interested and intentional about it.
Where did inspiration for the iconic phone cable heels come from?
So, the story goes like this: last year at the start of the first lockdown, I moved back home after being let go from an internship due to the pandemic. One day, I was cleaning out my room, and I came across this bag full of faulty cables that my family had accumulated for some reason. At first, I didn’t think much of it and was going to discard it, but then I had sudden inspiration when the USB reminded me of the ankle fastener of a heel. That was the foundation of the design, and everything else was done with a ‘go with the flow’ process.
I think your designs are so clever and have the potential to change the way creators design clothing in the future.
Thank you!
Did you expect to have this much of an impact when you first began upcycling and designing?
To be honest, there’s no way I could have predicted this outcome. It still seems surreal, because the cable heel and orange Patagonia fleece bag that started it all were just fun projects. I didn’t really have any initial intention of making them a series or releasing mini-collections for people to actually buy. So no, I didn’t expect the impact they would have at all. And it goes without saying, but I’m very grateful that it’s propelled me enough to say that I now have a career doing this, which I could only dream of back then.
What is the one thing you want people to take away from your designs?
The process. I think with upcycling, people may have the misconception that just because one is using second-hand or waste materials, then suddenly quality, time, and effort go out of the window. On the contrary actually, with upcycling and particularly with the materials I use, I’ve realized that the process of taking something already in existence and transforming it into another thing (whilst still keeping enough elements to make its origins recognizable enough to the audience) is tasking. It’s not as if you have the liberty of starting with a blank canvas like in traditional fashion design, nor are your materials in abundance, so there’s certainly a different type of creativity and thought process it demands.
Check out photos of Tega’s adorable designs below, and the infamous cable heels are available for purchase at apoc-store.com.
