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I've had the privilege of knowing Mercy Ogole for almost 15 years. Since our high school days I've watched her blossom and come into her own as a successful fashion designer and entrepreneur. It is a pleasure to share her work and story with you.
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Mercy Ogole - Photography © 2011 Vojteck Chaprek | www.voyteck.co.uk
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Mercy is a 28 year old British fashion designer living in one of the most prominent fashion capitals in the world, cosmopolitan London. She was raised as the second to the last of ten sisters, who she describes as very individual, confident and mostly inspiring women. With their unique mixtures of style and characters she sees herself as an amalgamation of the ‘ten Eagles’ – as she refers to them since her surname translated in English means ‘eagle’. “An accountant, a therapist, a journalist, a beautician to name a few and though we resemble each other we are so different”. On top of it all she attributes a lot of what she does and who she is in Africa and the significance of the Ugandan culture she was raised in. “Africa is gloriously rich in people, nature, colour, art, music, fashion, food, culture, and minerals. I’m so proud to call it my foundation. I have the best mood board to work with”.
You can easily misjudge her though, she certainly appears to belong to a fashion profession but spending time with her you realize that she has much more substance than the frivolity that we often associate with the fashion industry. She is a movie fiend who loves to draw in her spare time whilst currently learning French, she’s considering studying philosophy and dabbles in photography. She continues on what seems like a weird mix of aspirations, hobbies and conquests that many wonder what time she gets to do them all and how wrong she makes you feel for stereotyping.
Mercy has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics, something she is very thankful for since she believes it’s given her a solid foundation to running a successful fashion business. She feels her background in economics gives her a pragmatic perspective that not many creative people are fortunate to have.
Outside of Merci Me she works with young people in her local youth centre where she teaches and helps budding designers develop skills in fashion. ‘I encourage and support young people to start up their own businesses and gain financial independence, I want to give young people the confidence and growth that I got through financial empowerment and independence of using my skills’.
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| Article appears in Stylezine's February 2012 issue 'Happily Ever After' |
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| Article appears in Stylezine's February 2012 issue 'Happily Ever After' |
Fashion Label Merci Me started in Mercy’s bedroom at the tender age of sixteen, where she could be found customizing clothing into something she wanted since she was unwilling to settle for mainstream fashion. She was anything but your average teenager and so was her style. She began to learn and experiment and hasn’t stopped since. Even though very young at the time, as she began to embrace her unique style that soon grew infectious her clothing label was birthed and 11 years later is a fashion and jewelry designer with a classy women’s ready to wear collection.
Mercy draws inspiration from anything…anywhere. It could be from the most surprising and completely unrelated thing to the most common connection. She’s come to realize that fashion is in everything and everything is some kind of fashion. In its entirety, it’s an art by its own right. She fell in love with the idea that you could make something amazing from a piece of cloth. She says “Like origami, where the possibilities are endless….to think that you could transform your own shape and visuals made her fall in love with the idea of becoming a designer. It’s completely empowering and self-assuring to know you have a talent that comes from your mind, heart and hands.”
Mercy likes to think her style is different, classic and an ever evolving one, where originality and exclusivity are her main gearing factors. She hates the idea of a trend or season and embraces unconventional approaches to design. She’s says “I feel in order to make timeless clothing you can’t be influenced by mainstream fashion. So I endeavor to make pieces that demand creative credibility and are just simply beautiful.”
She has an “old soul” when it comes to fashion and prescribes to a time when the idea of style in fashion shows where intimate presentations, everyday was an opportunity to dress up, it was theatrical, it spoke, and it was always beautiful.. That’s what I would like to bring to Merci Me.
Merci occasionally branches out into fine art and other areas of design. In fact, she eventually hopes to design shoes and furniture and anything else she can put her hands to. She says “Creativity can be translated in so many ways; it would be wasteful to confine yourself to one outlet when the possibilities are endless”.
For more information visit her online:
