By Margarita Neplokh

Ayoola Somolu walks into her Literature of the Don Juan-era class with a head wrap fit for a queen, she sits and listens to the lecture. The Northeastern News has found its new featured fashion star of the week. With the style and elegance of Erykah Badu and the voice of Iman, the Nigerian-born communications major with a journalism minor, who likes to listen to music and watch television, encompasses the styles of Nigeria and urban Western culture, bringing Northeastern a new brand of cool.

The Northeastern News: How long have you been living in this country?

Ayoola Somolu: Since my freshman year, 1999.

The News: How does fashion influence you, from living in Nigeria and living in America for the last few years?

Somolu: Living in Nigeria, people are very fashion conscious and everybody dress[es] up, even if they are not going anywhere. Once you wear one dress to one party, forget it. Coming here [and] seeing everything more casual, I started dressing down.

The News: Do you like the whole casual aspect of dressing?

Somolu: I like dressing up, but I really like the casual thing. I don’t like to get too involved with looks, after a time it becomes superficial.

The News: You mix casual and classy, is that influenced by both your cultures?

Somolu: Yes. When I go out, I prefer to be dressed down a notch below everyone else, so I don’t look as if I tried too hard.

The News: Are those head wraps a signature for your culture?

Somolu: Actually the funny thing is, in Nigeria, I didn’t wear head wraps. We wear head wraps with our traditional clothing. We don’t mix western style clothing at all. That is something I learned over here. This is actually not they way we tie our head wraps traditionally.

The News: Is there any kind of celebrity in the media that influences your style ideals?

Somolu: Madonna is a very interesting dresser. I like India Arie’s head wraps and Erykah Badu’s head wraps.

The News: Is there a piece of clothing that you will always feel comfortable wearing anytime?

Somolu: Jeans. I used to wear Levi’s and custom-made jeans, as well as Abercrombie and Fitch.