Dec 24

Dec 24 The Ethical Fashion Initiative Pop-Up Shop Event By International Trade Centre

Ethical Fashion Initiative, a project sponsored by the Swiss Government and managed by ITC (International Trade Centre) organised a fashion pop-up shop featuring local Ghanaian fashion designers. The event held over a three day period put up on display intriguing ethnic and western fashion; the kind which makes a statement whilst walking down the streets of Osu or lounging by the poolside at Movenpick Hotel.

I passed by after work to engage with the designers to find out more on what they had to offer the fashion industry in Ghana and if there were any treasures to be found.

Designer labels such as Ameyo, MultiBella, Alinafe, Enaj Bijou, Nuna Couture, Sambalakewear were amongst the few I caught up with.

MultiBellar, is a versatile fashion brand seeking to empower the local community with innovation and creativeness. Owned by Ken Arthur, the brand focuses on blending art and design and boasts of footwear, bags, clothing and artefacts for interior decor which are all handmade. Located at Kwashieman close to Beige Capital, this upcoming fashion brand is one to look out for in Ghana.

A matching pair of African print shoes and bag

Sambalakewear , is a t-shirt redesigning fashion brand by combining African print with t-shirts to create a unique eye-popping look for its wearer. With their inspiration being driven shapes of women, leaves and lines, they have various clothing lines such as the Jerseylious t-shirts (photo below) Sambalakewear hopes to bring out something uniquely different in every wearer.

Esi Sackey,

is the CEO of Enaj Bijou, a jewellery and beads accessory company. Her passion which started all the way back from craft lessons from primary school, has been in the making of jewellery and beadwork. Fascinating brass earrings and bead charm bracelets hang daintily on the straw mat display.

Alinafe,

This is Vlisco's Fashion Fund Winner 2014 and is a women's apparel brand which focuses on making every woman sophisticated through simple and classic designs. Her designs are absolutely well cut and precisely classy!

1981

1981 is what is called the modern-african fashion brand. The product line extends from evening gowns which are on bespoke availability only, casual to evening wear and the target market is for the returnees to Ghana who still have a taste for Western and European wear but aren't satisfied with whats in the local market. 1981 can be located in East Legon and you can check out their fabulous designs on their website.

Nuna Couture, is a ready-to-wear fashion brand for men and women with an amazing African print collection. I particularly got caught on the Bold Pastel collection which is a women's collection made from South African inspired fabric. Nathaniel Nunoo, the fashion director was enthused about his new Bold Pastel collection and promised more collections in the upcoming future.

Ameyo

A fashion label by Netty Anang and Klekleli Dzidzienyo is one of the trendy women's fashion label in Ghana and it was exciting to see a few of their collections on display.

The fashion industry in Ghana is getting exciting every season (wet and dry) and more online promotions of their works must be made available for global reach. As this was the first pop-up, i believe the next one will be more patronised to see the handiwork of our local designers.