For Tobi Naiwo, the founder and creative director of Nine, Lagos is more than a home. “Lagos has influenced my approach consciously and subconsciously,” he says. Consciously, because streetwear is still in its early stages here, it requires a strong foundation to grow.

Subconsciously, because the city’s energy, pace, and everyday culture seeps in without asking. “You naturally learn from the things you see in proximity,” he adds.

Entrepreneurship wasn’t foreign to him growing up, but it wore a different face, more “traditional” than creative. “There were very few examples of creative entrepreneurship, mostly businessmen,” Tobi recalls. “So I had to imagine the possibility for myself.”

The spark for Nine came from both necessity and curiosity. While taking a web development class, Tobi learnt Photoshop.

What started as playful experiments and designing clothes for fun quickly turned into something more serious when he couldn’t find pieces he wanted to wear at a fair price. “If I did, they were overpriced,” he says. “So I decided to make my own. All my friends liked it and wanted one, and here we are.”

Since then, Nine’s growth has been constant, almost dizzying. “I can’t pick one defining moment. It all feels like a blur because you barely have time to digest anything. “It’s always one thing after another,” Tobi says. “I’m just thrilled to be able to bring things from my head to life.”

If the brand’s ethos could be distilled into three words, it would be TURN DA SIX, a mantra that feels both defiant and unifying. For Nine, skateboarding remains a recurring visual and cultural anchor, an identity marker that speaks to a global subculture while staying rooted in local energy.

When someone buys into Nine, Tobi wants them to feel something more than fashion. “I hope they feel seen,” he says.

The products aren’t just clothes; they are touchpoints in a larger conversation about identity, belonging, and movement within the African Culture.

Creative or strategic blocks don’t worry him. “I just walk away and live life. You can’t rush greatness.” That same grounded patience infused Nine’s Culture Class campaign shoot, which he describes simply: “All of it came through. It was very insightful.”

Looking ahead, Tobi’s vision is as open as the horizon. “The sky is the beginning,” he says. And if Nine’s trajectory so far is anything to go by, it’s a sky with no limits.