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Mimi Mola
Interview Phadria Prendergast
Shepherds MediaMeet Mimi Mola, the personal shopper and the brain behind luxury consignment store, Blac Label. Through its luxury digital store, customers are able to sell or buy products. The brand sells pre-owned products, products that are straight from the stores and exclusive pieces from bags to shoes to sneakers.
Mola first developed her knack for sales and business in year 9 when she was just 13 years old, selling cookies in school to her peers during breaks and lunches. “I could sell snow to a polar bear. I could sell Tupac's album to Biggie,” she laughed. She raised almost £15,000 from selling cookies in the playground between year 9 and year 11.
Mola comes from a very business savvy family, so her behaviour wasn’t seen as abnormal. Her mother was a jeweller who traded globally and always had some kind of business venture that she was running however, her father was a professional. Mimi picked up much of her business knowledge from being around her mother. Naturally, she just began to do what she would see her mother do.
Mola explains that she didn’t come from a particularly over privileged background. Whilst there was always finances available for essential payments and grocery shopping, her parents could never justify paying £60 for a pair of white air forces. With this, Mola’s mind began to think ‘how do I get these things without getting into trouble’. She didn’t want to be a burden to her family and although it wasn’t something she consciously thought about, she found herself finding creative ways to make money so that she could also help her family financially.
Mola was just 17 years old and in sixth form when she founded Blac Label although she didn’t know it at the time. Her sister, a renowned business woman and entrepreneur, owned a designer shoe boutique in Stratford Westfield; a store that was a neighbour to Prada, Mulberry, Armani and House of CB. The boutique gave Mimi her first real exposure to luxury brands. She would finish school and in her uniform, pop into the family business in Stratford and commute to Westfield London to collect products from a supplier. It wasn’t easy but 7 years down the line and all those lessons are still being used today. A large amount of the budding entrepreneur’s entire product knowledge stems from her time working with her sister. “I used to write up the entire stock from scratch. I’d use Excel; I would look at the shoe and I would have to go on the website and do some research. I was like ‘ok so this is the shoe, it comes in multiple colours, it comes in different types of materials, different colours and different heel lengths’ so it was just doing a lot of research.”
When the store closed down after notorious rumours surrounding her sister, the family went through an incredibly difficult time. However, refusing to relent and not allowing the rumors to bring her down, she collected all the recycled stock in the boutique and those hanging around the house - she describes it being impossible to freely move around, and kicked off Blac Label where her sister stopped.
Today Blac Label is known for making fashion accessible through its online consignment store, allowing clients to buy and resell on their platform. For VIP clients, the brand has a group of personal shoppers who search high and low for exclusive pieces. Mola has sourced pieces for Krept from the Duo Krept and Konan for the Mobo Awards, Stefflon Don, Kojo Funds, Yung Bane. Pastor Tobi Adegboyega is also amongst Mola’s list of clients and recently made Italian luxury brand Fendi, trend across numerous social media platforms with pieces she had sourced for him.
Mola, who prefers to shop for men more than women, says this is because they know what they want, and women tend to be a lot pickier. “With personal shopping, I need to know each and every one of my clients personally. For example, I need to know the little things like favourite colours and colours they don’t like. So, if I’m out and spot something I know would be great for them, I'll send it. That’s me getting to know them on a personal level. I’m all about meeting and exceeding the client’s needs. That's very important to me because I want to make them happy and show that care is always present.” Mimi believes this is what makes her the best at what she does and keeps her clients loyal.
Shepherds MediaLike every other profession and especially for those that want to be the best, passion for what you do must not be lacking Mola explains. “Don't look at something and decide 'it’s easy money, I can do that, it's going to work’. You need to have the genuine passion to do it. With personal shopping, there will be bad days and you will lose money. Are you willing to invest for years? Are you willing to stand in front of a store at 7 am to get that one trainer for your client? If you are willing to do all these things, then personally shopping is for you,” Mimi advises. “Have you done your research? When is that collection dropping? What stores will it be available in? What sizes are going to be available and what sizes are you going to get? It's all those little things,” she finishes. “I always say, you can be a personal shopper yes, but only if you are willing to stand in front of a store at 6/7am in the morning when it opens at 10 am and camp there for one item - then by all means, it's for you.”
“I could really do this all day,” she declared. “Young women ask me all the time, ‘how did you start’ and the truth is, I just started. I started an Instagram page, took one picture and got everyone to follow the page. The next thing I know, I got a sale and another sale So, I was like ok this is good, this is pretty easy money.”
“Most people think my family name helped me and although it does help with some things, it can also be challenging. Ironically, I grew up around most of my clients, so it’s funny that they’re all famous now. Kojo Funds being one we were mutually acquainted with so he did his first ever performance at my 18th birthday at the Sun Born.” Three people still on Mimi’s personal shopping wish list consist of UK rapper J Hus because not only is she a fan but she finds his style quirky. She believes he represents himself in the way he dresses. She would also like to personal shop for Fredo, also a UK rapper. “He seems fun. I like the way he mixes his colours. He’s not afraid to try colour.” Michelle Obama is also someone that the personal shopper would love to have on her client list.
Blac Label is a disruptive fashion platform. Mola wants to make fashion accessible, especially to young people who may not have the money to buy from an industry that’s clearly inspired by them and their culture. “The lust for fashion inspires crime probably as much as music. I just want to make it accessible.”