Eunice Olumide’s Hidden Past

Eunice Olumide MBE was a double force in the opposing industries for years. She was known for defeating the ceiling of Moorla and landing ways from Gucci, but she knocked out of the spotlight alongside the largest hip shop stars in the world.

A Turning Point

The 37-year-old supermodel, activist, and star Wars actress brings her hidden past to light in her directorial debut, which tells the countless history of British hip-hop. Olumide sat down to share why she decided to open up. "In 2023 I presented a TV show and at the same time I released this EP," she says. "A journalist realized that I was in my voice. It blew me away." She takes a break: "I asked him not to lead the story [about my double life] And just to lead a story about the EP that luckily he finally did."

The Decision to Open Up

It is the type of media that fear most celebrities, but it was a turning point for Olumide. "Social media was and is getting bigger," she says, "and that’s why I was only very aware that this would come out. Either I talk about it myself, or I let someone else talk about it who may not do justice." Secret Lives was her answer. A documentary that follows the overlooked pioneers of the British hip shop, and their own decision to stay anonymous in the scene, also as their name in fashion rose.

Early Beginnings

At the age of only 15, Olumide was discovered by a scout of a local modeling agency when shopping in Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow. At this age, she also published her first single. With 17 toured and rapped with legends like Mos Def, Damian Marley, Lauryn Hill, and Wu Tang. "What I learned early […] From large record labels that wanted to sign me, it was not possible for me as a woman to keep my creative control And My intellectual property," she says.

Representing Herself

This way of representing herself was through sexualization that she did not believe that she was relevant for her music. It was a jarring parallel, in a world modeling offered her money for her image, and in many ways hip hop called for the same. "I deliberately separated it," she says. "I didn’t want someone to say: ‘She is only successful in music because she is a model.’" And so her solution was to include and complete. "I was always like, chic, with hood, sunglasses – looked as unattractive as possible," she laughs.

Mainstream Success

Despite the pushback, her musical colleagues respected it. "People respected me because I had a call for my music and nothing else," she says. She likes to remember how Busta once introduced her as "my little sister, how she is a G". But Olumide’s decision to stay anonymous did not mean that she was not a mainstream success. In 2010 she performed at one of the world’s largest music festivals. "At Glastonbury as a hip-hop band, she was only unknown," she says.

Preserving History

The journey behind her film Secret Life goes deeper than recognition. It is about preserving a story on the other hand, being forgotten. "There are documentaries that hip hop began in 2002 just because Google goes back so far," she says. "My thing was about creating an archive of history – British history – that is important to all of us." The film touches briefly about its history, including a moment in which old employees react to learning by working in fashion.

Fashion and Art

One of the few who did not have to be told was the late British designer Vivienne Westwood. "She had the ability to read people," she says, "so I didn’t have to articulate." She attributes Westwood as a related spirit – someone who fought against the same contradictions between art and commercial success when she navigated as a climate activist in the fashion industry. Fashion had her contradictions, but it was a career that also gave her indispensable tools. "I got a lot out of fashion – it is one of the few industries in the world in which women are paid more," she points out.

Self-Representation

She also gave her self-confidence to present herself in a way that she now authorizes. "I don’t think I can now present myself as the obvious hypersexual woman if I hadn’t worked in fashion." But playing these different characters for landing ways, cover shootings, and campaigns did not seep into their lives outside of work. "I don’t have the feeling that I present myself as different characters. I have the feeling that I am only I and I only do art," she says.

Using Fashion to Communicate

Fashion can be used to communicate with the world. "I saw how many women use fashion subversive – to send a message without words." The use of fashion and pictures for sending subversive news is widespread in the music industry. "I think our nature is diverse as humans," she says. "It depends on the intention. If it is a woman who takes her sexuality back in a way that enables her for her, that’s her right. If it is done for attention or marketing, it is something else. But I am always more interested in the ‘why’ than the picture itself."

Legacy

After years of commercial forms, Olumide’s legacy can be less about living a double life, and more with fully structuring a new lane. "I see nothing really than separated," she says. "I see life as a continuous cycle and a circle."