By Beatrice Dede Addy
Organizers, SFD Heads
Editor, Elsie Rebecca Osei
On the 7th of November, students from SFD attended a seminar organized by Glitz Africa for their annual Glitz Africa Fashion Week.
The annual Business of Fashion seminar seeks to bring together key industry figures to share insights and current trends with fashion students, designers, influencers and enthusiasts.
The theme for this year’s BoF seminar was, “Ethical issues in the business of fashion – tackling imitation among young designers & building a distinctive brand.”
Speakers included:
- Mai Atafo – fashion designer and bespoke tailor (Nigeria)
- Ann McCreath – Fashion designer, KikoRomeo (Kenya)
- Anna Toure – Founder, founder of ANNA TOURE (a boutique PR agency specialized in fashion, beauty and lifestyle)
- Tonyi Senayah – CEO, Horseman Shoes (Ghana)
- Roberta Annan – Founder, African Fashion Foundation;
- Chiedza Makonnen – Fashion designer, Afrodesiac Worldwide
- Ejiro Amos Tafiri – Fashion designer (Nigeria)
Miss Beatrice Addy, attended the seminar with some of the students and put down some important points that would help students in their quest to start the fashion businesses. Some of these points outlined by her are:
- Have feedbacks from clients
- Designers should have quality over quantity
- Designers should have long term visions
- Designers should try to build teams and surround themselves with professionals
- Designers should have values
- They need to create experiences for their clients.
- Designers should not rush. They should grow gradually but steadily also. They should not be afraid to start small.
- Designers should prioritize customer service
- Designers should make a conscious effort to have collaborations with industry experts and colleagues. Also, they need mentors to help coach them.
- Designer’s education never ends. They should continuously seek for greater knowledge. They should allow internships and cultivate the habit of research.
- Designers should go the extra mile in understanding intellectual property and patent their designs
- It is important to learn the skill of running a fashion business, understand the target group, customer needs and wants
- Formalizing the designers business is important and never forget to pay taxes.
These important points amongst others were discussed during the seminar. The staff of SFD believe students enjoyed their time during this event and learnt a lot. Students also got the opportunity to take pictures, make new friends and have discussions with industry experts. Lets look at some pictures students took during the event.
