Elizabeth Isiorho is ramping up her modelling business to provide more young people international opportunities and put African beauty on the map.



COVID-19 MAY HAVE SHAKEN the very foundation of global fashion, but the one thing that has stayed is the focus on Africa as the world’s resource hub for the creative industry, with its surging youth dividend and gifted talent pool. 



Nigerian entrepreneur and former beauty queen Elizabeth Isiorho knows this only too well, as she takes her business to the next stage, now launching Future Face Africa, which she hopes will be a pan-African talent search to discover more African faces to showcase to the rest of the world. 



Her modeling agency, Beth Model Management Africa, has been at the forefront of this quest, since 2004, to provide a platform for African models abroad. 



“Models will be given a chance to win a two-year international modeling contract with a top modeling agency, offering hopefuls not just a launchpad but a career on the world stage,” she says in an interview with FORBES AFRICA over Zoom from London in May. 



Isiorho herself had her breakthrough in the industry with the international agency, Elite Model Management. But first, a look back at how it all began. Growing up, Isiorho was influenced by her mother, a veteran in the Nigerian entertainment industry and die-hard fashion lover who always told her daughter she resembled supermodel Naomi Campbell. 



Who knew then that Isiorho would become friends with Campbell several years later and follow in her role model’s footsteps? While African fashion and beauty is now celebrated abroad, this was not the case when Isiorho first started. Modelling had several negative perceptions in Africa that she needed to break. 



Born in London and relocating to the United Kingdom (UK) Isiorho studied Business and Information Technology at the London Guildhall University. With a passion for the modelling industry instilled in her from an early age, she began her career doing a few shows in London until a serendipitous encounter with a friend put her firmly on her destined path.



“A friend of mine showed me some magazines that had Miss Nigeria UK and she said I should go for it. I was extremely shy but I went for the 10-day boot camp and on the ninth day, I said ‘this is not for me, I’m not walking that stage in a bikini’ and I said to my mum ‘I am not doing it anymore’. My mum said she had bought her ticket to London to come and surprise me on stage so I should stick it out. I did and I won the competition, to my surprise,” recalls Isiorho.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image1-736x1024.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-51624" width="436" height="606" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image1-736x1024.jpeg 736w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image1-216x300.jpeg 216w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image1-768x1068.jpeg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image1-1104x1536.jpeg 1104w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image1-1472x2048.jpeg 1472w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image1-scaled.jpeg 1841w" sizes="(max-width: 436px) 100vw, 436px" /><figcaption>Photo by Adebayo Jolaoso</figcaption></figure></div>



After winning the pageant, Isiorho returned to Nigeria in 2003 to continue to build her career in the modeling industry. And that is where she noticed a glaring gap in the market. 



“Because I won Miss Nigeria UK, I was very popular when I came back to Nigeria and I said to myself ‘let me get a proper agency to manage me’. But there was none back then. I did my research and I went to companies and one company told me to just drop my CD. So, there was no modeling agency in Nigeria. I tried going to the big agencies in London that work with me today but I didn’t get far.”



Instead of giving up, she decided to set up her own agency instead and Beth Model Management Africa was born. Over the years, Isiorho has grown the brand from only 10 models to over 200 with 48 of them placed worldwide across various agencies, making Beth one of the largest modelling agencies in Africa.



Not one to give up, she used grit and tenacity to pioneer the model management model in Africa. 



“When I started, I thought it would be easy but the Nigerian market was very difficult. I am talking about 2004 when parents are thinking a certain way and parents don’t want their kids to model. I found a few faces and the issue I had was trying to convince the parents that it was not about prostitution. That was the negative stereotype because they felt they exposed their bodies etc.



“The other issue was trying to sign contracts with models when we find the right faces. People were scared to sign in Nigeria whereas in London, people were excited to sign with an agency,” says Isiorho.



Due to the lack of demand for African models at the time, Isiorho decided to start a model convention. Her thinking was simple. If the international fashion industry would not accept African models, she would bring them to Africa to see the untapped potential for themselves.



“So, I sent them emails and out of 11 agencies, nine of them replied to say they were coming and one of the agencies, which was Elite Models, said ‘we have a model search and would like you to be a part of it’.”



Founded in 1983, Elite Model Look is a prestigious international modeling contest credited with discovering supermodels such as Cindy Crawford, Gisele Bundchen, Lara Stone and Alessandra Ambrosia. This was the big break Isiorho needed for her agency. In 2007, she exclusively secured the rights to organize the Elite Model Look Nigeria/Africa contest.



“That was my biggest breakthrough because as an agency, for you to partner with one of the biggest modeling agencies in the world is a big deal and we worked together for 13 years. We discovered many stars like Mayowa Nicholas, Davidson Obennebo, Chika Emmanuella, Victor Ndigwe, Tobi Momoh, who are all on global campaigns,” says Isiorho.



Over the years, Isiorho has placed indigenous African beauty in global campaigns such as Victoria’s Secret and New York Fashion Week to name a few.



Her resilience has not gone unnoticed amongst her peers. “I have worked with Beth Models since the company’s inception and I’m filled with pride. The investment Elizabeth has made in the modeling industry across Africa is beyond glamorizing fashion; it’s the wider role the agency plays in changing stereotypes about working with Africans, giving African creatives a voice and ensuring African youth are empowered socio-economically,” says Omoyemi Akerele, the founder of Lagos Fashion Week.



Isiorho’s relationship with Elite continues to flourish even as she charts her own path. 



“Beth Models is a trusted collaborator of Elite Model Management, having organized Elite Model Look contest in Nigeria for over 10 years… In recent years, Beth Models expanded the search to Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda and used their experienced scouting skills to find fresh new talent with the potential for international modeling careers,” says Vick Mihaci, 



President, Elite Management Worldwide. With the cross-over of Africa’s rich talent repository, through incoming interest as well as the efforts of cultural emissaries such as Isiorho, it’s not long before the continent becomes the true face of the future.

The Model Entrepreneur Who Is Getting More African Faces On the Global Stage

It is fascinating that many entrepreneurs fail to formulate business models, while some don’t even know what a business model is.
A simple definition of a business model is a plan for the successful operation of a business, identifying revenue sources, a customer base, products, and details of financing.
A unique business model can be the distinguishing factor that will set you apart from your competition.
If your competitors have a bigger market share, are more capitalized and better capacitated,  how can a different business model push your business ahead?
Malcolm Gladwell’s book David and Goliath looks at how David avoided fighting Goliath on his own terms, with swords and spears; he rather used what he knew best, because he could not have won if he tried to play Goliath’s game.
History has shown how the mighty often end up falling – and you can be the one to take them down.
Today, Naspers is the largest company in Africa and seventh largest internet company in the world by market capitalization. More than 60% of their value comes from their 34% shareholding in Tencent Holdings in China, but they still want to dominate in media and technolgy.
If you decide to go head-to-head with this enormous company, do not try to beat them at their own game; rather compete with them using a different approach. If you look at Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon in Silicon Valley, they started by being disruptors.
I highly recommend that you learn the art and science of coming up with business models. Corporate companies, on average have at least four business models to make money.
The Founder and Group Chief Executive of Discovery Limited, Adrian Gore, is reported to have all his personal investments in the company. Some might think it’s risky to have all his eggs in one basket, but Discovery has diverse business models, such as medical aid, short-term insurance, and investments.
There are various types of business models. Telecom and electronics companies often use a model of prepaid or pay as you go.
Others, like MultiChoice and Netflix, use subscription, where you pay a continuous fee to access services or content.
Product to service is one of the most powerful models and is often used by tech companies. Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles. Airbnb, the world’s largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate. Facebook, the world’s most popular media provider, creates no content. Instagram, the most valuable photo company, sells no cameras.
Low-touch is another model used by many retail companies, such as Shoprite and Walmart. They lower their prices by decreasing services. A similar model is Freemium, which offers basic services for free, but charges for the premium version, as LinkedIn does.
An interesting one is a reverse auction, where businesses bid for the amount they are willing to be paid for their service. The seller with the lowest amount wins.. One usually used with cars, is Leasing, where you rent than sell.
The crowdsourcing model is currently popular. This is where you get a group of people to contribute content for free, while you make money from advertising revenue; YouTube has mastered this.
Africa is excluded from these pioneering models. Eighty percent of the world’s mobile money transactions take place in East Africa, while $148 million a day is transacted every day using Mpesa and 40% of Kenya’s GDP is transacted through mobile money. Africa is powerfully positioned in this area and needs to make the most out of it.
We are living in an age with unlimited access to information. As Africans we have no excuse not to be competitive on a global scale. But, there needs to be an economic revolution in our consciousness that allows us to stand tall on the world’s stage.

A Revolution For  Global Domination

There are few fashion events in the world solely celebrating the rich tapestry of talent in Africa. The Africa Fashion Show Geneva (AFSG), an annual event held in the beautiful Swiss city, celebrates the continent’s history and diversity, in turn helping change the way the world perceives Africa.
This year, the show, in its third edition, held in June at the Mandarin Oriental, Geneva, was a feast for the senses.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-30620" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/Etita-La-Diva_Nigeria-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Etita-La-Diva_Nigeria-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Etita-La-Diva_Nigeria-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Etita-La-Diva_Nigeria-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Etita-La-Diva_Nigeria-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Etita-La-Diva_Nigeria-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Etita-La-Diva_Nigeria.jpg 682w" sizes="(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" /> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-30619" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/by-Julius-Reuben_EXN1245-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/by-Julius-Reuben_EXN1245-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/by-Julius-Reuben_EXN1245-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/by-Julius-Reuben_EXN1245-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/by-Julius-Reuben_EXN1245-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/by-Julius-Reuben_EXN1245.jpg 682w" sizes="(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" /> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-30618" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/bodhisattva-south-africa-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/bodhisattva-south-africa-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/bodhisattva-south-africa-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/bodhisattva-south-africa-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/bodhisattva-south-africa-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/bodhisattva-south-africa-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/bodhisattva-south-africa.jpg 682w" sizes="(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />
The models sashayed the ramp in vibrant colors to the beat of African drums receiving a rapturous applause.
The night was indeed a celebration of Africa, its fashion, people, culture and cuisine.
Tayo Ayinla Omotola, Nigerian and the founder of AFSG, who has lived and worked in Geneva for over eight years for the Africa Progress Panel chaired by Kofi Annan (former United Nations’ Secretary-General), is very clear the show is to promote cultural exchange across borders and encourage a positive narrative about the continent.
“I wanted to showcase positive African stories through fashion and in doing so highlight Africa’s creativity, which contributes to its economic development but with potential to do so even more,” says Omotola, who aims to eventually create a greater awareness of the untapped potential of the African fashion industry to spur socioeconomic development on the continent.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-30617" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/Afrokulcha-South-Africa-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Afrokulcha-South-Africa-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Afrokulcha-South-Africa-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Afrokulcha-South-Africa-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Afrokulcha-South-Africa-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Afrokulcha-South-Africa-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Afrokulcha-South-Africa.jpg 682w" sizes="(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" /> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-30614" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/Pistis-Ghana1-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pistis-Ghana1-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pistis-Ghana1-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pistis-Ghana1-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pistis-Ghana1-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pistis-Ghana1-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pistis-Ghana1.jpg 682w" sizes="(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" /> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-30613" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/Pistis-Ghana-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pistis-Ghana-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pistis-Ghana-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pistis-Ghana-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pistis-Ghana-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pistis-Ghana-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pistis-Ghana.jpg 682w" sizes="(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />
South African designer Nonkululeko Magi, the founder of Afrokulcha who started her fashion business two years ago, was at the event too, to gain exposure in an international market. She showcased Africa’s current threads and trends.
“It’s time to showcase African talent. The time is now. Africa is rising,” says Magi. Cape Town designer Yumnaa Firfirey of Bodhisattva, agrees: “Fashion does have the power to transform lives. We need to unleash that potential.”
Africa’s creative industry can’t agree more.

The-Closet_India

An African Summer In The Alps

If you’ve been living under a rock be sure to emerge and catch up because Africa is in vogue.
As far back as 2009, the world’s top designers couldn’t help making inspired references to what was once called the Dark Continent. The likes of Marc Jacobs and John Galliano have paid homage to Africa’s intricate beauty. Well renowned international designer Vivienne Westwood, exhibited her interest in Africa through her Ethical Fashion Africa Collection. Other Labels bitten by the Africa bug have been Burberry, Gwen Stefani’s LAMB and Tommy Hilfiger.
Arise Magazine’s African Icons show at last month’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week New York featured designs by Gavin Rajah, Ozwald Boateng, Folake Folarin (Tiffany Amber), Tsemaye Binitie and Amaka Osakwe (Maki Oh).
At the Arise Magazine Fashion Week in Lagos, Boateng was handed the Lifetime Achievement award and labels KLuK CGDT and Maki Oh won best designer.
It’s gone beyond Africans inspiring international designers, to African designers sharing their own history and creativity.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-1304" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/A-Deola-Sagoe-creation-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" />
Nigerian Designer, Lisa Folawiyo, studied law at the University of Nigeria and followed her dream when she started Jewel by Lisa from home in 2005. She redefined the way one could wear Ankara—a colorful wax resist dyed fabric—and makes handcrafted clothes that take an average of 120 hours, using custom made prints.
Nigerian fashion is moving away from the local markets with their rows of fabric stalls and corner tailors.
Folawiyo has exhibited in Johannesburg, London, Paris and New York. To increase her appeal and market, Folawiyo launched a diffusion line, The J Label, in 2011. The pieces emulate the luxury core of her designs but are a more practical and accessible option. The new label offers anything from trousers and handbags to dresses. While the main label ranges from $350-$11,500, the diffusion line ranges from $150-$350.
In South Africa, and further afield, the name Gavin Rajah is synonymous with style, opulence and glamor. He is a true example of an African designer turned international sensation. Rajah’s fashion is inspiring, his shows are mesmerizing and it’s no wonder he’s dressed people like Beyonce, Nelson Mandela, Tom Cruise, Naomi Campbell among others. As if this were not enough, Rajah has even delved into jewelry design.
Taking fashion beyond just designs, Rajah wrote a paper titled “Creating an Identity in Design: South Africa the future of fashion?”, which reached as far as Milan. A founder of the Cape Town Fashion Week, Rajah, is serious about the industry and its sustainability in the country. He’s made a point of employing and mentoring young designers in his Cape Town studio and sits on the Cape Town Fashion Council board.
From UNICEF Ambassador to design extraordinaire, Rajah sees no limit for his brand.
The most stylish first lady of the United States, since Jackie Kennedy Onassis, is a big fan of Nigerian Duro Olowu. Michelle Obama has worn the designer’s garments on many occasions. Quitting law was the best thing Olowu could have done for the fashion world. The courtroom’s loss has evidently been the runway’s gain. Olowu’s love for art goes beyond fashion and makes for interesting collections; all that creativity makes it hard to imagine him wanting to succeed in any profession but this one. His career was catapulted when he won the New Designer of the Year award at the 2005 British Fashion Awards. Now his clothes can be found online and in stores in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
“My job is not about dictating to women what they should wear, it’s about presenting them with beautiful options,” Olowu once told The Independent in London.
Deola Sagoe is a talented and beautiful mother of three, whose clothes have been modeled by supermodels Naomi Campbell and Alek Wek. Her daughters have fashion in their blood as they have launched their own fashion label CLAN. Sagoe went to college in the United States and has a Master’s in finance and management. She will showcase her new range at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Africa being held in Johannesburg at the end of this month.
Describing the Deola Sagoe woman, the designer says: “She is colorful—she uses color to mirror her mood. She is vital—energetic—not the shy, retiring, type, but she also knows the appropriate time to hold her peace.”
The final feather on the African cap is Tiffany Amber’s Folake Folarin-Coker, another Nigerian who did not study fashion and escaped the legal world. Folarin-Coker has a degree in Petroleum law and spent her childhood in Europe. The label launched in 1998 but she made history when she became the first African-based designer to showcase at New York Fashion Week for two consecutive seasons, in 2008 and 2009.
Tiffany Amber has an online shop as well as three stores in Lagos. The brand had grown by adding two more lines and winning Arise Magazine’s Fashion Brand of the Year award for the Autumn/Winter 2011 collection.
With designers such as these, it’s no surprise African designers are taking the industry by storm and inspiring plenty. This is just the beginning as there are many budding designers.
Nina Baksmaty’s Koshie O label is gorgeous. The Ghanaian designer established a workshop in Ghana and her work has attracted the likes of Franca Sozzanni and Roberto Cavalli on their visit to West Africa. She has also brought in American singers Mỳa and Michele Williams for one of her campaigns.
Osakwe’s Maki Oh line is definitely on the right track. Her age has not hindered her will to take on the world fashion. Although she grew up in London, the Nigerian designer returned to her country of birth to start her fashion line. Her inclusion in the New York Fashion Week will only solidify her place as a young designer to watch. She brings her age and fun to her designs and shows that sometime the “now generation” is a little old school. Osakwe uses adire, which is a process of indigo dying cloth using natural indigo leaves as opposed to industrial dye. This is commonly done by Yoruba women in southwestern Nigeria. She says it takes a day to hand paint five meters of fabric and another day to dye and de-wax it.
Osakwe says her latest collection is inspired by secrets and people’s inability to keep them. This imagery is brought forward by the eyes in her prints.
Loza Maléombho is Arise Magazine Fashion Week’s Emerging Designer of the Year. She designs in the United States and manufactures the clothes at her workshop in Côte d’Ivoire. This talented designer’s work can be traced as far back as her early teens, when she made dresses for the women in her family. Her Afro-Modern designs make use of batik prints, wax fabrics and Kente cloth. She’s all about showing the world what she has to offer and helping out the Côte d’Ivorian woman in the process.
The other fresh talent to keep an eye out for is Mimi Plange. Her Boudoir D’Huitres label has been around since 2007. Fashion guru André Leon Talley took an interest in and mentored her for her New York fashion Week presentation. As if this was not enough of a fashion nod, she created a capsule shoe collection with Manolo Blahnik—a dream for any woman in the world.
Africa is bringing more than just oil, gold and war to the table. The future of fashion is here.

Tag: Models

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

The Model Entrepreneur Who Is Getting More African Faces On the Global Stage

A Revolution For Global Domination

An African Summer In The Alps

Africa In Vogue