(12 Dec 2021) ACCRA FASHION WEEK SHOWCASES THE LATEST CLOTHING TRENDS BY WEST AFRICAN DESIGNERS During its fifth edition, Accra Fashion Week gathered West African designers for a weekend of runway shows after last year's hiatus amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. Since its introduction, the Accra Fashion Week has been a meeting point for designers all over Africa, not only to show their new creations but to also create business opportunities, according to Nana A. Tamakloe, managing director of the event. "Accra Fashion Week, we wanted to bring the business to it, so you go on the website, you can read about the designers, you can buy their clothes, you can get their P.R contacts, you can get their sales contacts, and you can even interact with their online store.  So we wanted to take it off just from entertainment to a more business aspect," said Tamakloe. As the runways get busy, the newest local and West African trends are being shown, and with the huge platform of the internet, most of these designers know their designs may be shown anywhere in the world. Yvonne Tawiah, creator of the Yvonne Ex fashion brand explained her process. "We are Africans, so Ghanian fashion is basically African but what I do is I mix European with African so you can wear it anywhere, anytime and you can fit it into any occasion and any society." Some of these designers have also started operations outside the borders of Ghana.  Yvonne Ex creations can be already found in Maryland in the United States, and some others have also started exporting abroad to appeal bigger audiences. Abimbola Bashiru from Ewaroyal Style said, "I even have some of my clients in the US.  Some of them have the African stores, which I provide like what I'm wearing now, and some already made, we call it auto-gele - they are already made.  So I sell to them in bulk, so you can see, so it's not only in Ghana that they are embracing aso oke.  Outside too, like in the US, they are embracing it." Virgil Abloh, a prominent U.S. fashion designer of Ghanian origin who was artistic director of Louis Vuitton menswear, died on 28th November, and some see him as the role model to follow in the fashion industry. "His role at Lous Vuitton was a job.  His role with Off-White was entrepreneurship.  And it shows you that, you know, a lot of people here are stuck with, 'Oh I'm African.  They will not embrace me out there.  Oh I'm black, they are racists.'  He is showing you that it's not like that.  Everyone has their culture, everyone has their lifestyle and if you understand marketing and you work that way, you can do it," said Tamakloe. Accra Fashion Week is a four-day event in which key elements of the industry in West Africa gather together to discuss the business of fashion and to showcase their designs. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/5903d9aed9774165902195dca48927d5

• published: 17 Dec 2021
• views: 301