Juliet Esiri At home with a master gele artist

She gazes steadfastly at the piece of fabric in her hands as she takes her time to study carefully the shape of her client’s head. Obviously, the question on her mind is what style will suit perfectly? Her eyes brighten as she gets a clue. She neatly wraps the fabric round her client’s head with one side of it overlapping the other, creating a V-shape at the front. The result is a creative masterpiece headgear otherwise called ‘gele’ in Yoruba. Some people may not know, but gele tying has become an art which smart makeup artistes like Juliet Esiri have turned into a goldmine. She has been able to create different styles from all kinds of fabrics like aso-oke, kente, jacquard, amongst others. “I can sit down to imagine different styles,” she says gleefully, using her hand to demonstrate the tying process. “Gele tying is actually a form of art. It’s not everyone that can do it. Whenever I see women at functions in Nigeria, I just shake my head. Why? Because it’s boring, it’s just one style. I miss the UK for this. UK ladies want different styles. They always want to go out in different styles.” The UK is a hot market for Esiri, where she ties the headgear from when the weekend begins on Thursday to when it ends on Sunday. At times she ties the head wrap, packages it and sends it by courier to her clients who live in different parts of the UK. Often, her clients don’t untie the gele. They would keep it carefully in the carton for use another time. “In the UK, I get a lot of appointment. In fact, my diary is filled with a lot of appointments,” she tells me.

Esiri has created a mini industry from gele tying as she has trained many others. She charges as much as $10,000 for gele, but back home in Nigeria since she opened her beauty parlour, Okin Arewa at Adeniran Ogunsanya Street, Surulere, she charges as low as $10. But for home service, she charges $50. Depending on the size of the party, Esiri ties as much as 100 pieces of gele in a day. “Most times I lose count of the number of gele I tie. I have tied up to 100 gele in a day at a party. I tie gele in the toilets, changing room,etc. There was a club anniversary in the UK, each member had two fabrics of gele. There were 48 members. I gave them different styles. If five friends are sitting down, I am known to give them different styles.” A look at the client’s face tells Esiri the style that best suits. To achieve the desired creativity, she uses pins to hold the headgear down. She has created different styles which her clients have named. “Most styles are named by clients,” she says, smiling. “My clients name my gele. Sometimes they say I want this style with two feathers from there, and I know what they want.” Esiri is not pleased with the one-style headgear that is common in Nigeria and says she is bringing in creative styles. “I am not really happy with gele tying in Nigeria. We just have the same style, the back-front style. I will bring my fine rose gele to the Nigerian market. My signature is always on my style. When you see my gele, you will know because it’s unique.” Esiri trained seven years ago as a makeup artist in the UK where she had her foundational training in makeup. After this, she travelled to the United States to do more courses. While there, she trained with the famous Segun Gele, Segun Olaleye. Today, Esiri has expanded her beauty business to include makeup artistries, services, teeth whitening and more. “It is a one-stop centre that offers something to everyone. In fact, we are introducing a section for haircut for men very soon. We also do manicure and pedicure. Everything is available in our stock. We have a bridal package where we have all the things required, things like makeup, body massage, brightening of faces on special occasion, head tie, etc.” She says she enjoys training people in the art of gele tying just as much as she loves to make her clients look stunning and unique with their headgear. “I have always had a flair for gele even before I left for the UK. I have always helped my friends to tie their gele. I have always had the passion, so going to the UK was just an instigator. I actually took gele tying to the UK.”