FEATURE Meet Temi
FEATURE Meet Temi Otedola, The Nigerian Actress Exploring New Creative Frontiers Ameena Daayo & Nelson C. J. Temi Otedola is an early riser. The 26-year-old Nigerian style plate, fashion influencer, YouTuber, and, most recently, actor, typically begins her day at 6 AM. If she’s in London, she’ll take a walk around her neighborhood. When in Lagos, her second home, she goes for a spin class at Victoria Island, an upper-class area in the city, to boost her energy. Her days often unfold by following this kind of established pattern. “I’m super, super, super routined,” she admits during a recent Zoom interview from her home in London. There’s breakfast, then meetings with her team; lunch also happens at a very specific time. Afternoons are typically devoted to content creation and reviewing brand contracts. Since her latest venture into acting—starring in the Netflix Original Citation and 2022 crime-drama, The Man For The Job—there are now scripts to consider, auditions, and Zoom meetings with directors to attend. “I feel calm when I’m on top of everything,” says Otedola, her voice chirpy and bright, accented with the cosmopolitan nature of someone who calls different parts of the world home. Otedola has just returned from a holiday trip with her fiancé, Afrobeats artist Mr Eazi, in Spain. She landed in the UK over a week ago, where she intends to spend the rest of the year before flying back to Nigeria in early 2023. After logging off from work completely during her vacation, it’s safe to say Otedola’s got more than a few things to juggle at the moment. In the landscape of Nigerian 16 www.glamsquadmagazine.com
FEATURE influencers, Otedola has managed to fashion an individualistic and tightly curated but, ultimately, wholesome brand for herself. While her celebrity DJ sister, DJ Cuppy, is more outgoing and experimental with her sense of style, Otedola assumes a more private front, revealing only details of her life she feels contribute to her effortlessly glam and curated image. The daughter of billionaire businessman Femi Otedola, Temi began her foray into the fashion industry as a fashion blogger—when blogs were still very much a thing and Instagram was just taking off. At the time, Otedola—who has always loved fashion and cites her mother as her biggest style inspiration, particularly for her ability to consistently purchase the most perfect garment, no matter where she went— couldn’t find African fashion bloggers to follow. It only made sense for her to fill those shoes. “I was seeing all these fashion weeks around the world. And I was like, Why is there no African representation at these fashion weeks? So I [thought] it’d be amazing to take up that space,” she says. When blogs began to die down and fans flocked to Instagram—where a short caption alongside a carousel of pictures would do just fine, and reached even more people—Otedola found the transition seamless. Still, her goal remained the same: to continue to take up space as one of Africa’s foremost fashion voices. Over the years, Otedola has fostered and maintained a deep connection with indigenous fashion brands, from designers Lisa Folawiyo and Andrea Iyamah to the www.glamsquadmagazine.com 17
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