Iris Olayinka Osibogun

She was born on January 6, 1948 at the Mercy Hospital in Lagos, Nigeria at 4:00 a.m.In 1950, at the tender age of one year and seven months, she accompanied her parents to the United Kingdom and in 1951 she moved again with her parents to San Francisco, California in the U.S. where she started her education.She returned to Nigeria with her parents in October 1955 and attended St. Mary’s Catholic School in Lagos for two years before moving to Ibadan with her parents.In Ibadan, she attended the elite Maryhill Convent School from where she gained admission to St. Bernadine’s School, Oyo for her secondary education in 1963. In 1965, she transferred to St. Louis Girls Grammar School in Ibadan where she completed her secondary school education with flying colors.Yinka attended Ibadan Polytechnic from where she obtained a diploma in Secretarial and Business Management. She worked briefly as a confidential secretary at the High Court in Ibadan. Thereafter, she left for the UK to attend the prestigious St. Godrics College in Hampstead. It was here that her love for fashion and modeling came to the fore and this took her away in later life from her secretarial profession.Yinka was tall, pretty fashionable and had a perfect figure for modeling; hence many modeling firms in UK approached her in the late 60's. However, at that period in the UK, the color of her skin became an issue.Her parents recalled her to Nigeria and she immediately secured a job with the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in Ibadan. Yinka, as usual, proved her mettle and was promptly seconded to Rome. It was during one of her trips to Nigeria that she ran into her high school boyfriend, Dapo Adegoke. One thing led to the other and in June 1973, they got married.In August 1973 they both left Nigeria for the US where Dapo was based. In May 1974, the union was blessed with a baby boy, Adetokunbo.Yinka, Dapo and young Tokunbo returned to Nigeria in 1982. They settled in Ibadan where Yinka immediately established her fashion design outfit named NOSTALGIA. In 1985, she moved to Lagos to take care of her expandng business.Yinka was a trailblazer. It is on record that she was the first fashion designer to start and hold a regular weekly column in one of Nigeria's leading newspaper, Vanguard, for many years. The column touched on fashion, beauty and their cultural linkages. Many fashion students were trained by her and of course, she had a good number of very satisfied clientele over the years.IRIS OLAYINKA ABIODUN ADEGOKE (nee OSIBOGUN) passed to glory in her sleep on Friday, October 10, 2003 after a protracted illness.Yinka was a lady in the true sense of the word. Elegant, tall and most unassuming. Never could hurt a fly. She was caring, loving, and loved by all.Her husband, son, Tokunbo, sisters and brother and aged parents survives her.YINKA, YOU BORE YOUR CROSS WITH COURAGE, STRENGTH AND HOPE. MAY YOU FIND FAVOR WITH YOUR CREATOR.PEACE, PERFECT PEACE

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Iris Olayinka Osibogun

January 6, 1948 - October 10, 2003