14 minute read
COVER INTERVIEW
MENTHER
Supermodel & Supertalent
Advertisement
PICTURE: Eunice at the ceremony with Prince Charles
CHANGING THE WORLD FOR WOMEN, PEOPLE OF COLOUR AND THE ENVIRONMENT
At 15, Olumide was spotted shopping in Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, and later scouted by Select models while visiting family in London.
Born in Edinburgh, Scottish Supermodel of Nigerian heritage Eunice Olumide is a force to be reckoned with. At 33 she has built an impressive career as an international supermodel, author, producer and host, actress, curator, entrepreneur and philanthropist. Not one to shy away from difficult conversations, Eunice has lent her voice to advocate for people of colour and the environment. A passionate activist and campaigner she has worked with the Centre for Social Justice and spoken at the House of Parliament influencing the first ever inquiry into the impact of fast fashion on the environment. In November 2017 she was awarded an MBE as part of the Queens Honours for services to Broadcasting, Charity and Arts and in 2018 she obtained the prestigious title of V & A Design Champion for her incredible contribution towards Design and Production. In 2018 she released her best-selling book ‘How To Get into Fashion’ which highlights her work in preventing exploitation, sustainability and diversity in the Fashion industry and in October 2020 she contributed to the book the ‘Loud Black Girls Anthology’.
Her face is no stranger to catwalks or magazine covers, with a modelling career spanning across the UK, U.S.A, Africa, Japan, France, Italy, Holland, Spain, Germany and the UAE. In 2019 she created ‘Next Generation Regeneration’ curating exhibitions, talks and events at Tate Modern and The V & A, becoming the first ever Scottish Model to produce an onschedule BFC London Fashion Week catwalk show.
After the success of her BBC Radio show ‘Music Match’ she went on to star in and produce the UK’s first ever award winning podcast dedicated to women of colour on BBC Radio 5 Live called the ‘Sista Collective’. In November 2020 she worked with Simon Fredricks on the ground breaking documentary on the life of Stephen Lawrence and founded the ADBSF Fund primarily focused on supporting Afro-Caribbean businesses in a daunting Coivd-19 climate. She’s also blazing a trail on camera with a sell-out show at The Stand during the Edinburgh Fringe, the Apollo NYC and a five star review for her solo production Metamorph at The Traverse Theatre. Over the last few years she has secured multiple lead roles including BAFTA Award winning Trouble Sleeping and BAFTA nominate Middleman.
A woman of many talents, Eunice has toured extensively as a disc jockey at festivals and gala’s from Gotha, Websterhall, Lovebox, Glastonbury and
has opened for music legends such as Grace Jones. Her passion for the arts and humanity come together in the form of The Olumide Gallery collection. Here she has selected some of the UK’s most pioneering talent to bring distinctive and unique elements, creating an intriguing and insightful exploration of the reality of life, the street and subculture; seen through the eyes of their creators that straddle both past and present. In March 2019 Olumide Galleries produced a major public exhibition hosted by Schroder’s Investment Bank in aid of Pancreatic Cancer UK.
A bright mind set on the future and a heart of a lion, with a colourful tapestry that is her life, it’s no wonder a permanent gallery has been installed at the National Museum of Scotland on her life and work to date. It’s easy to see how Eunice is breaking barriers and creating access, she’s currently filming in London and with the global pandemic underway, we caught up with her virtually to find out her “why” in life.
BREAKING BARRIERS AND CREATING ACCESS
Interview
As a young black women in the global context we find ourselves in (post- “me too”, “black lives matter” etc.) what informs your identity and what do you hold onto that keeps you centered?
I was always brought up to work smart. That’s something my mom instilled in me from a young age. Having string parents from a Nigerian background really centered me and taught me about the differences in culture and how life can be lived. Especially when maturing as a young adult and understanding that the world is a place full of different ways of living. One of the most important things in life is to ensure that you set your own standards of success and what success means to you instead of letting others dictate that.
Your journey has created a colourful career. Where did it start for you? Is this what you envisioned for yourself?
Originally I wanted to be a teacher, and that’s something I still I want to do perhaps when I’m in my 40’s and I’ve had my children. Human beings tend to innovate from necessity and when I was growing up in a typical British council state, it was either excel and be excellent or possibly not make it at all. So I applied myself in every way that I could. I also understood that if I was going to be successful and reach my goals and targets, it was going to be important for me to stand out and be exceptional at everything I did, as well as make it easy for people to want to work with me and choose me because of the amount of experience I had. I’m all about understanding the 360 aspect of any industry. I didn’t plan on the career I have – I actually had no interest, particularly in fashion. As I grew older I was scouted a number of times and eventually decided to give it a go, which catapulted me into this world and it blew my mind! It was really important to me to also study and because I studied media and the impact of media, its ideologies and the way it has become intertwined with state that caused me to look at and understand the full impact of the industry I was working in. I also understood I was the face of advertising and capitalism and that meant my career changed in many ways as it meant it was important for me to only work with brands with ethical policies, that were fair trade, that ran co-operative initiatives so that I was sure that there was no exploitation. That influenced the other walks of life I participate in; with my art gallery for example some of the first exhibitions and shows we did were centered on sustainability. It also come through in my ethical consultation work and protecting
models from exploitation. Then working in film, production and broadcasting was also an accidental thing as people noticed I was excellent at it. I tend to do the things that I am compelled in but also have talent towards.
What was the inspiration behind your book and each of your businesses?
Most people know me as a model; I’m often referred to as Scotland’s first black super model. I recognise that being a model is an industry in which you don’t get to choose, you have to wait to be chosen. Unlike being a photographer, a booker, stylist or a director etc. you have more capacity to choose and train yourself to be excellent so you can’t be ignored or dismissed, but as a model – you can be the best but you might not necessarily be chosen as it’s more dependent on looks. My personality is naturally an entrepreneur and I believe and dedicate a lot of my time to philanthropy, a lot of that is the inspiration behind my book, which is focused on diversity and issues around that as well as sustainability, since the fashion industry is the second biggest polluter in the world. I’ve done a lot of work to create policy not only for the UK in terms of environment but also protecting models and all of this was key to the book, as well as dealing with rejection and also highlighting the different available within our industry.
What’s the importance of having clearly defined goals and how does one stay the course?
It’s essential to set clear and defined goals we can see the progress we are making as we do have the tendency to become disheartened, disenfranchised and even sometimes dislocated or alienated depending on what we’re doing. When we set goals, we’re not only creating a road map of what we’re doing, but it encourages us to think about how were going to achieve it and it also means we know when we’re making progress and stay on target.
You’ve had both career and academic success. In a world of billionaires who’ve dropped out of college, do you rate education – is it important and why?
Education is extremely important, in fact, as with computers education around the world ought to be updated so that we ensure history is recorded accurately. Especially as a consequence of colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade, there was a lot of history recorded which wasn’t accurate. I don’t think things should be changed or taken away, but additional knowledge and information should be added so that we a graduating with as much information and knowledge about the world as possible. I also think, had I not studied it would have affected the way that I live my life, how I interacted in my industry and with the things that are important to me within my career and life.
You’ve done incredible work centred on advocacy; you’re never one to shy away from strong debates or contentious points, especially when it comes to equality for women and people of colour. What drives this in you? What advice do you have for women who find themselves constantly banging against that wall?
Reality is that those who go first are rarely recognised and are rarely championed in the beginning. Going first, trail blazing, being maverick are some of the most difficult things we can do. However they do benefit all of society. Unfortunately the sacrifice that you make as an individual is that you may lose an opportunity, because you are fighting for equal rights or justice. At the same time when we look at history we see that this is the way that things are and many of the most definitive contributors have in some cases not even been recorded and in some cases their successes attributed to someone else. When you are seen as unorthodox or controversial, or when you’re doing something that challenges the mains stream way of doing things you’re always going to meet resistance, however if you don’t persevere then no change occurs. I’d like to point out that for those who go first; it’s more likely that someone else is going to reap the benefits than
you will directly. You struggle, you sorrow and suffer to toil the field and plant the seeds, and then future generations pick the fruit. That’s why it’s so important that future gens study and understand history, so that when they do pock that fruit they understand that it doesn’t just belong to them. They should use the new benefits to help people within their culture and society and that’s important particularly when it comes to Afro-Caribbean’s
In these moments when your truth or integrity is challenged, what helps you stand up?
Being Nigerian and Scottish, I have respect for my Africanness, as Nigerians we are very proud of who we are and we don’t feel we need to hide who we are. For me growing up in the west, particularly in a time when there were so few people of colour and where racism was a serious issue both physically and psychologically – flight wasn’t an option, you had to stand your ground and that has always stayed with me. Also watching my mother work several jobs and not taking anything from the state was inspirational and all of that comes together to help me remain steady in my truth.
How can women and POC create a seat at the table, especially in unchallenged or largely still untransformed industries?
It’s important for women and people of colour to learn to work together and stick together, that is essential. Also understanding that culture and cultural artefacts have equity, so ensuring that we create and protect cultural equality, but physical equity and assets as well, and build together. Ultimately the world we live in is largely capitalist and its essential for us to compete and the easiest way to do that and to compete is to work together as a team.
How do you decide which fights are worth having? The galvanise support for your cause?
When I’m really passionate about something, I will do my best to support that cause or issue. On one had I do believe that one person can ‘change the world’ and we’ve seen that with; Martin Luther, Malcolm X, Ghandi, Nelson Mandela and so forth. I did take it upon myself to try save the world and that’s caused me a lot of pain and suffering and its only with maturity that I’ve realised that if its Gods mission for me to make certain changes on the plant then that will happen. If you look at many of the people who’ve contributed significantly to world peace, to protecting rights of every single human being – it sort of happened to them – that was a pivotal moment for me and my career.
For the youth of today to create an inclusive future we can all be proud of, what areas or spaces do you think should be top of the list for barriers that need to be broken and where access still needs to be created?
We’re all created to live on this earth with our own mind and thoughts, separate to our parents and there seems to be a lot of pressure to do things in a particular type of way – a very conservative and western type of way. For me, life is about staying true to your culture and who you are and not changing that or conforming in order to make other people feel more comfortable, as ultimately you’re weakening yourself to appease people who might not necessary have that same regard for you. It’s important for youth to study history and their parents – we can often think our parents don’t know much – but when we look at recent protests, if we had looked at previous battles we would’ve learned a more structured, chronological way of organising to ensure we had policy and clear demands for the efforts that were made before they were made. It’s important that we have more intergenerational conversations in order for us to learn the best direction to move in.
What does breaking barriers and creating access look like for you in a post-pandemic “new normal”?
It’s really important to look at your locality, look at what’s around you and where you work and your direct environment and what you can do to create change there. The reality is that if we all do a little everyday then that has the effect that
can help all of us to be more successful and make our lives and those around us more positive. Breaking barriers is all about organisation and having a clear focus around what is the issue you’re trying to address and the resolution you want to bring about before going out and acting on it. Mobilisation is important, but organisation is fundamental to that.
What is your experience with mentors – have you had any, what has been the value of those engagements?
I actually got my first mentor this past month who’s in media, film and television, and it’s amazing. I wish I’d had somebody and some advice like that earlier in my career. I think it would have made a huge difference with my ascend into the industry. I’d really recommend it – it’s very valuable.
Are there any projects or causes you’re currently involved in that you’d like to create awareness around or that people can support.
There’s few organisations I’d like to highlight that people can support. I work with a number of different organisations from Children’s Hospice Scotland, who look after terminally ill children; to Zero Waste, who are all about promoting a circular economy, recycling and sustainability. I work with Best Beginnings who look after children who might be suffering, the Well Foundation who supply clean water, P2P which is a Nigerian charity that offer education facilitates to children in Nigeria who have no home and no support. As well as Columbus Hospice who look after more elderly and infirm individuals. I’m an ambassador for Graduate Fashion Week who supports young people who’ve come out of university to get into fashion design.
