Eunice Olumide MBE is a Nigerian who is based in Scotland as a model, fashion designer and actress. Her name, “Olumide” means “God has come” or “My Hero has come” in the Yoruba language. She is one of the first black Scottish models and was twice nominated for Model of the Year at the Scottish Fashion Awards, sponsored by Vogue.com .
Eunice was born in 1987 in Edinburgh, Lothian, Scotland, and grew up in Wester Hailes and The Calders in Edinburgh. She gained an grade A in English, Chemistry, Graphic Design and Art at school. She was first spotted shopping in Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow and was later scouted by Select models while visiting family in London. At that time, she knew nothing about the fashion industry. She took a break from modelling to go to university. Since then she has been working full-time as a broadcaster, fashion model and actress. Over the years she has been signed with Premier, KOKO, Nemesis, Mega, La Agenica, The Model Team, AMQ, Ford and IMM Düsseldorf.
She graduarted with a first-class honours degree in BA Communication and Mass Media at Glasgow Caledonian University. By the age of 21, she had acquired a postgraduate degree in Film Studies at Queen Mary University of London, and a MA in Metaphysics, after getting a scholarship to study at the University of Pennsylvania.
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She has featured on runways, fashion weeks and high-profile shoots in Japan, Paris, Milan, Barcelona, Poland, Germany, UAE, USA, Africa and the UK
She has worked with Gok Wan, Myleen Klass, Gio Pomodoro, NKWO, JJ Noki, and designers including Swarovski, Christopher Kane, Jil Sander, Henry Holland, Jacob Kimmie, Prada, Jean Paul Gaultier, Tom Ford, Alexander Wang, Jacob Birge and Vivienne Westwood. Eunice has modeled for various fashion brands including Top Shop, Mulberry, Bunmi Koko, New Look and Harris Tweed.
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Eunice has appeared in various magazines like: Dazed & Confused, London Fashion Week Daily, Dansk, Tank, I.D., Luire Magazine Japan, New York, Bahrain Confidential, WAD Magazine, Retro, InStyle, Impulse, Vogue and Capital Ace Factory magazine
Monie encouraged her to pursue her design work. Olumide came up with the idea for her Scots-African collection. She bought the material, made the clothes and returned to Scotland with her first collection.
Eunice launched her fashion line which she called e:1 ‘monie’, named after her mother who encouraged her to create her own fashion line. Her debut spring summer collection was inspired by her Afro-Scottish background and ancestry, a balance of European/British style tailoring and traditionally African fabric and patterns. She prefers to source her material from poor parts of Africa and India to give back to the local communities and also to retain a level of authenticity.
Monie encouraged her to pursue her design work. she then came up with the idea for her Scots-African collection. She bought the material, made the clothes and returned to Scotland with her first collection.
Eunice’s first role in acting was in Trouble Sleeping alongside Gary Lewis. She also starred in the BBC Two series Scots Scuil. Her debut lead role was in film Middleman. She was an uncredited extra in the films World War Z, which was filmed in Glasgow in 2011.
Eunice produced and directed a solo Metamorph through Open Art Surgery at the Traverse Theatre. She is the founder and producer of The Official Youth on the Fringe at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In 2013, she appeared with Fred MacAulay, Dane Baptiste and Michael Che. In 2016, she directed, produced and starred in a one-hour solo show at the Stand Comedy Club alongside Stephen K Amos, Katherine Ryan, Trevor Noah and played the lead role in the negatively-received Edinburgh Festival show The Chicken Trial.
She has helped fund raise for numerous charities including Children’s Hospice Association Scotland, The Well Foundation and Love Music Hate Racism. In 2011, through the Prince’s Business Youth Trust, Eunice set up a public relations company called Enigmatic Production and Promotion. She also contributes to leading broad sheet newspapers including The Herald and The Guardian and is also the editor in chief at RIZ:E Magazine.
In 2013, Eunice became an ambassador for Breakthrough Breast Cancer, alongside Kate Moss, Twiggy, Edith Bowman, Adam Carr, Michelle Heaton, Sharon Osbourne and Kelly Osbourne.
She also runs and tutors at several youth groups; in Glasgow at Hillhead High School, and in Edinburgh in Calder, Granton and another in Muirhouse called G-Code. She also runs workshops for young people throughout the United Kingdom for all ages and abilities including confidence building, music, dance and graffiti.
In May and June 2013, Eunice ran workshops across Florida at primary schools including Fern Creek. Eunice was nominated for the “Model of the Year” in the Scottish Fashion Awards, sponsored by Vogue in 2007, 2011, and 2013.
In 2013, she was awarded Best Contribution to Fashion and Media in Scotland at the Scottish Fashion Awards. In the same year, she was awarded AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards Competition.
Olumide was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to broadcasting, the arts, and charity
