Encomium
SWEET looking Bisi Rahman has come a long way in the modelling industry, shuttling between South Africa and London, strutting on the runway and raking in cool money from her craft. For sometime now she was off the scene, but the Kwara born delectable model, in an interview with ENCOMIUM Weekly on Friday, October 7, 2011, opened up on what has kept her busy and her exploits on the runway in South Africa and London.
What’s been happening to Bisi Rahman lately?
I have been in South Africa doing my own thing. I have been working, the modelling stuff.
What about this gist that you are now into fashion?
Bisi Rahman has been in the industry for a while. Right now, I have my own clothing line, it’s called IWA. It means attitude in Yoruba. Basically, I am just trying to do my own stuff because, aside modelling, I want to be able to do something else. Like having my own clothing line. It’s about smart casuals, fez caps, T-shirts and other wears for ladies. Just any wear anybody can put on, on a casual day.
Why the sudden interest in fashion?
It’s just because I don’t want to leave the industry. I don’t want to leave modelling and entertainment. I love the entertainment world. I love models, I love good clothes, I love nice outfits. So, I am just trying to do something people can love. I just have this passion for the entertainment stuff, modelling, fashion, lifestyle.
Will it be right to say you don’t get modelling jobs anymore like before, that’s why you decided to try your hands in fashion?
No, that’s not true. I have seen many billboards with faces of models. I am sure there are jobs here in Nigeria for models. Of course, there are jobs in South Africa. Everyday models go for casting, they get jobs. We are actually doing well in South Africa, so there’s job in South Africa where I am based. It’s just like I have paid my dues in modelling and I want to do something else aside it. It’s not as if there are no jobs, there are jobs. I just want to do new things and express myself.
Can you tell us some of the jobs you have done in the last couple of years?
Loads of jobs that I can’t even remember. You remember the GTBank advert, I have done Deuol and a lot of fashion shows, Guinness advert.
In recent times we noticed you and Warebi Martha are no longer seen together, what could have happened?
You don’t live in South Africa, do you?
Warebi and I are doing things together in South Africa. We are friends, we are not fighting. She is doing her own thing when it comes to work. We just get along when it comes to hanging around. We hang around together. By December, everybody is coming back home maybe by then you will get to see all of us because that’s when all the models will be coming back home.
Will you say modelling has been good to you?
Like I said, I think I have paid my dues. I thank God, He is just blessing me somehow. I got my car here, I have been saving all the way since I was modelling. I just think it’s’ God’s blessing and I think many more are coming. I am still going to buy more cars.
Do you have your fashion outfit here in Lagos?
Yeah, I am thinking of having it here in Lagos. I don’t have a proper boutique yet but with time, I will have. I had a small show about lWA sometime ago with some models. I am thinking of having a big store where everybody will come and pick up my stuff. I am thinking of having shoes as well as other things like bags.
Looking back to when you started, if you had not participated in Miss Malaika then maybe you would have become something else?
I have been modelling since 2000 and Miss Malaika was in 2003. So, whether I won Miss Malaika or not, I would still have been in the industry because I have done a lot since 2000 to 2003. I was like a super model. I was modelling with Dakova. So, I was already exposed to modelling. I would still have travelled to South Africa, London, America and anywhere it’s happening. Miss Malaika was just for a year and after I handed over, they couldn’t produce another person. So, it wasn’t Miss Malaika that pushed me to where I am today. It wasn’t about the car given to me that time. It was just about the way I carried myself, I respected myself very well.
You have reached the level where many aspiring models can also come out from your own tutelage, do you have something like this?
Yes, we have a lot of girls who want to become models. Myself and my partner, we are trying to put together a modelling school called Catwalk Collective. It’s a place where we will train models, though not an agency. We have great modelling agencies like Beth Modelling. Ours is just to train people who want to become models. We call professional make-up artistes, who will make them up. Basically, we teach them modelling and coach them on how to behave on the runway.
You still maintain your shape. How did you achieve that?
Right now, I am going to the gym though I have not been there for sometime now. I think my shape has always been like this. I was born like that. I just drink a lot of water, nothing serious.
The impression is that you got married secretly and went off the scene?
No, I am not married. Bisi Rahman is still very much single. I am not married, I have been away, I have been in London and South Africa.
So, what are you waiting for, you are of that age bracket?
Yes, I am just in a serious relationship and when you are in a serious relationship people will expect you to get married anyway. So, it’s a good thing.
What’s your day like?
Right now I am focusing on IWA. I try to do my own stuff here in Nigeria and London. When I wake up in the morning, I just think about new designs, new jobs.
What’s on your priority list now?
Get married by the grace of God soon and continue doing my own designs and build my own business and all those stuff.
What about your immediate family?
My mum died long ago. I still have my dad. My siblings are around. I have a brother abroad, my sister is here in Nigeria, married and enjoying life,
– FOLUSO SAMUEL
*This story was first published in ENCOMIUM Weekly on Tuesday, October 11, 2015
