FAB BY NAME, FAB BY NATURE

FAB IN THE FAB HOUSE!

Hello FAB people,

This is my first blog - yaaaay!!! Now that really does not sound like me, but I really do feel like letting out a shout every now and again. 

Five minutes ago I received a mail on Facebook from a lady I do not even know saying she felt I was really proud and short-tempered just from studying me, and my mind immediately went defensive... Me! Proud?However, my heart stopped me as it said to me, "Yes, you are short-tempered!" 

I must admit the littlest things can tick me off, but then I am growing to manage quite a lot in my short life span. I usually expect from others what I give, and my wife, Mrs FAB, has made me realise that it will never happen, so she advises me to just keep loving people even when they are incapable of loving me back. This indeed is a sound Christian doctrine and my heart believes it totally! So watch my temper dissipate with each encounter I come across not because I have the strength but because I have requested for God’s grace. 

However, pride is not something that I can say I possess and could ever even if I tried! "Why?" you may ask. It is quite simple. I realise that everything I could own and everything I could ever achieve is because God has permitted me to have or realise it. I live by this principle and it keeps me in check. If you happen to be creative, think about the authentic creator and the works of His hands and you will be humbled knowing that He only revealed a little of Himself to you! If you are extremely smart, He probably just endowed you with a little of His wisdom!

About 4 years ago, I got the revelation as hidden in my name for 29 years. I was born Familusi Akin Babajide, I was FAB! Immediately I advised every publication writing about me to refer to me as such because with the name came a vision that was indeed bigger than me. I still recall the first day I got a full page write-up in ThisDay Style as FAB! I recall smiling the next week when someone stopped me and asked "Are you FAB?"  

The vision I have is one that only God could have given! FAB Magazine might have been born barely a year ago, but you must realise that everything is first revealed in the spiritual before you ever see it in the physical! FAB Magazine had been settled a long time ago and I thank God that, even though it is fast catching on and being distributed worldwide, becoming a by-word for quality, it remains only the beginning for me. Watch this space and any other platform you could find me on and see me boast not in what I am or becoming but in whom I know...I call Him the I AM THAT I AM!

**Right now I am in Colombo, Sri-Lanka where I am hard at work (forget that the picture makes it look like I am at play) and will bring you my Asian stories next week!

FAB AT WORK?

CARVING HIS NAME IN AFRICAN FASHION: PUBLISHER FAMILUSI AKIN BABAJIDE

Name: Familusi Akin Babajide

Age: 33 (almost!)

Born and bred in: Lagos Island/Lagos, Nigeria

Role at FAB/title: Publisher

FAB part of your job: Watching a dream grow!

Least liked but still FAB part of your job: I love it all: The pains, the joys, the travails, the grind... All makes it FAB!

Aspirations/goals: To go down in history as one who spearheaded a movement to take African Fashion and Lifestyle to the world. To continually birth fashion brands for every generation from hence. To effectively utilise 360 degree media in painting Africa as truly beautiful and rid the continent of the negative perceptions its been donned in. To ensure that Africans themselves realise their worth as a people, till most are absolutely confident in their abilities. These may look pretty vague but those who know me personally know what i am about.

Inspirations: The word of God as found in the Bible.

Hero/Heroine: Jesus Christ!

FAB motto/saying: "I can do ALL THINGS through Christ who strengthens me"

Best piece of advice you can offer: Life is a test, a trust, a temporary assignment, ensure you give it your best and die empty delivering all you were entrusted with. Leave your mark!

Your kind of music: All types of good music...I do not discriminate!

Your kind of book: Inspirational books generally...Biographies of great men and women! I also love any literature on fashion!

Dream destination: The Caribbean

Your style in a nutshell: Clean, crisp, sharp and detailed!

Kryptonite: A new project! A bigger challenge than the last!

Pet Peeve: People who give excuses for failure, I tend to really despise!

Your USP: I am a go-getter. My drive is unequalled. I hate to sit around for something to happen, I always strive to make it happen!

Log on to my blog if you like: to be inspired!

Familusi Akin Babajide, aka FAB, is the man behind the vision that is FAB. Former record label executive, award winning designer, stylist, image consultant and now publisher, there is no end to Fab’s talents.

Anything Fab gets his hand on from his design label Exclamations Couture founded in 2001 to the subsidiaries from Ties Etcetera, clothing and accessories retail label, and The Looks Company, the styling and image consulting brand, all grouped under the umbrella of FAB Group, including FAB Magazine stem from Fab’s desire to revolutionise African fashion industry and make it as lucrative and self-sufficient as the music industry Fab is all too familiar with as one of the founding members of what has come to me known as afro-hiphop whilst managing Trybesmen who set out to do for Nigerian music over a decade ago what Fab has set out to do for Nigerian fashion in the shape of FAB Group.

A man who has devoted the best part of the last decade to fashion and style, despite a background in sciences from the University of Lagos, Fab can still be found attending to his Exclamation clients hands on, to achieve the best look they can get. He prides himself on bringing his clientele Saville Row quality suits straight from Nigeria with specific attention to what he calls 3Fs – fabric, fit and finish.

While fiercely proud of FAB Magazine, when he is not working with the team to produce the magazine, Fab is busy thinking of new ways to dominate the world of African fashion.