Seguntuyi Onakoya only completed his MSc in Advertising and Marketing in 2024, but he’s already making a splash in the world of fashion with his brand HOUSEOFTUYI. Earlier this year he returned to campus as a volunteer, offering advice and internships to students, and talking about an exciting year of progress. In this interview he tells us about his connection with the University of Hull, why diversity and inclusivity drives his design and how being a Yorkshire and Hull based designer is important to him.

To find out more about Tuyi and his work, you can find him on social media @houseoftuyi

What attracted you to come and study at the University of Hull?

Firstly, the connection was there as my dad studied at the University of Hull, so you could say that was the first draw. Afterwards, it would be the fact that the University aligns well with the kind of motive and desire for a more inclusive culture and environment, and this is what my clothing brand also represents.

What was your experience like as a student?

It was one of the best experiences I have had as a student, and it was just the joy of seeing so many cultures and backgrounds learning and growing in the same building, sharing experiences, being in groups, teams and executing projects, seeing the level of brilliance from various cultures. The environment was just perfect! 

I was involved in a lot of activities, and I enjoyed every bit of it. I was the course rep for the Advertising and Marketing Masters students, I was also the Black, Asian, Minority and Ethnicity representative for student union (HUSU) and this was one group that connected me to a lot of cultures, helping them settle well at the University. My role as the BAME rep gave me a different learning experience, one that I even implement in my business, all thanks to the opportunity I was afforded by the University.

Can you tell us about your business, House of Tuyi? What was your inspiration, and what is the aim of the company?

HOUSEOFTUYI is my clothing brand. My inspiration in starting the brand was just based on how I view the world, what I think the world would look like if there was more acceptance of culture and diversity and how people from various backgrounds would thrive off that acceptance and inclusion. It’s a reflection of my fashion sense, way of life and what I intend to do to infuse and implement inclusivity and diversity to make it a wholesome brand and this is the reason I love my work. 

The brand is aiming to dig deep and make more clothes from different cultures, representing more people from different backgrounds. We want to get to a point where people can shop with us by culture and country. We’re doing research into how people want to be represented and translating that into clothing design. 

We also want to be recognized as the Yorkshire brand, promoting Yorkshire culture in the Arts industry. Through our work, we want to bring people back to seeing Yorkshire as an area of talent and get them to see that culture is well represented here. 

You have a strong connection with the city and the University, and that has been reflected in work you’ve done across the city in the last year. How has your involvement in events across Hull helped shape your recent success?

Our amazing journey with some high-profile art organizations started with the first ever pop up sales we had as an international brand in Hull. We sold out our pop-up summer show in Hull, and made it into several magazines. It was exciting as we started getting calls and opportunities to do projects with other organizations. 

The Wilberforce Institute was one of our first big projects when we were invited to participate in an event by a group called Sound of Our Skin. They were doing their first festival promoting racial equality, celebrating diversity and amplifying marginalized voices in Black History Month in October. I had a rare opportunity to represent black music and its relationship with fashion in a project called Echoes of Our Heritage: How Fashion in Black Music Time Travels.

We made outfits for the Black Music Mannequins that are still on display in the Wilberforce House Museum with the brand’s name and I as a curator for the brand, showing how fashion is represented in the Arts, with black music as a case study.

One of the highest privileges I have had this year was the opportunity given to me by the University of Hull to speak to the new Advertising and Marketing students about my journey and the success of my sold-out summer pop up sale in Hull. It was indeed a great honor, and I was glad to give tips to the students. I also gave internships to two students to give them work experience doing some marketing for HOUSEOFTUYI. 

My work with Ferens Art Gallery is still ongoing, but we did a preview of the event we would be doing, mainly in Jan 25, 2025. Ferens asked my brand to be a part of their ongoing project called Seen & Unseen. This is a project where they bring out various unseen and underrated artists that paint and draw, exhibiting their work in the art gallery for 3 months. What HOUSEOFTUYI worked on in the preview and is working on for the full runway next year is turning these paintings and drawings into clothing. 

My biggest dream is to make the University’s hoodies. I want to showcase my designs and represent inclusivity and diversity in the designs, which is important to the University.