OUR STORY
THE BRAND
ChicNicity is a Boston based contemporary women’s ready-to-wear clothing label.
ChicNiCity was created by a group of friends who wanted to be “Chic in their Ethnicity & in the City”. They desired clothing pieces which honored their cultural heritage, and their contemporary and progressive lifestyle.
Our vision is strongly inspired by the founders’ cultural and contemporary identity. Ethnic inspired colors & prints are fused with contemporary design elements and silhouettes to create inclusive, premium, wearable and versatile pieces.
The brand’s mission is to cater to women across the world who want to experience and portray ethnicity through fashion in a sophisticated manner.
Since the brand launched in July, 2017, it has been worn by notable fashion & social media influencers. ChicNiCity pieces are currently being sold in boutiques in the US, South America, France, Ghana & Nigeria.
BEHIND THE CHIC
Boye "Bibi" Asenuga is a Nigerian-American Founder and Creative Director of ChicNiCity, a women’s ready-to-wear clothing label based in Massachusetts.
Inspired by her dual identity, Bibi created a brand which fuses ethnic inspired prints, contemporary design elements and silhouettes. The result is an affordable brand which offers premium, wearable, versatile and culturally diverse clothing - ChicNiCity.
Prior to founding ChicNiCity in 2017, Bibi started her career as a lawyer, but soon realized her passion for fashion, and very quickly transitioned to pursue that passion.
For over 15 years, Bibi has worked with multiple international fashion brands to develop and manufacture their clothing lines which have, and are being sold in retail stores all over the world.
Bibi is a proud alumna of Fashion Institute of Technology, New York; and School of Fashion Design, Boston, where she was recently awarded “The 2020 Distinguished Alumni Award”.
She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and two kids.
BRAND STATEMENT
ChicNiCity creates ethnic inspired contemporary clothing which enables women to experience culture through fashion in a sophisticated manner.
BRAND POSITION
For women who want to experience cultural sophistication through fashion, ChicNiCity offers its customers clothing in ethnic inspired prints fused with contemporary design elements and silhouettes.
Our clothing is created to be inclusive, premium, wearable and versatile - at ChicNiCity, we are committed to providing contemporary clothing whilst honoring cultural diversity.
ETHICAL & SUSTAINABILITY APPROACH
With design operations out of Boston, Massachusetts and Nigeria; and majority of production done in India, ChicNicity is committed to implementing an ethical and sustainable approach to fashion design.
From working with women owned factories who value their workers wellbeing to garment creation in a more eco-friendly manner, we realize that sustainable and ethical fashion work in a complementary manner and we strive to make better choices to improve the social, economic, and environmental systems in which the fashion industry functions.
ETHICAL APPROACH
Our ethical approach to fashion is human-centered, we focus on social impact and worker protections at every stage of garment production.
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85% of factories we work with are women owned businesses.
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100% of factories we work with are small, family-run factories in India, where fair wages and safe working conditions are the norm. We only source and work with factories that can maintain our Code of Ethics, click here to view complete list.
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100% of our orders in Nigeria are fulfilled by "stay at home" moms, we offer part time jobs that work around their family schedules.
SUSTAINABILITY APPROACH
The ChicNiCity ideology is to analyze ways to strengthen every level of garment creation in a more eco-friendly manner to achieve environmental justice.
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Over 65% of the fabric we use in production are a combination of deadstock, cut-waste, and textiles that, although high quality, were not seen as fit to be used in industrial production. We partner with textile mills in India and select the highest quality bolts from pre-consumer textile waste from large garment factories.
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Almost 100% of the fabric we purchase is used in production. We cut the majority of our garments by hand to utilize every piece of fabric, making the most of textiles that are considered unusable by mass manufacturers.
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At ChicNiCity, through our design practices we strive to offer high quality and timeless designs. From classic silhouettes to wider seam allowances and higher SPI (stitches per inch), our practices
enhance product life expectancy, it should be used long and well through good care, repair and perhaps redesign. Our focus is on designs that last longer and less likely to be disposable.
ChicNiCity is committed to reducing our impact on the environment, and this is a work in progress. We welcome any suggestions, feedback or questions regarding our ethical and sustainability approach to fashion.
CHIC-Views
What Our Customers Are Saying
“We sold everything we bought from the last trade show. We want more.”
- Kieu Avant Concept Store, Mexico