The emergence of African fashion designers, entrepreneurs, editors and fashion magazines in the fashion industry continues to create a lot of buzz. The infusion of African culture, cutting edge designs, bold colors and new innovations is playing an important role in the branding of Africa. While it is still a developing market, is there a potential for Africa to have an African designer to command the respect and acknowledgment given to veterans of the fashion industry such as Diane Von Furstenberg, Michael Kors and Roberto Cavalli? What does it take for emerging designers to rise up to international standards and get the recognition they deserve? Topics to be discussed will include sustainability in the African fashion industry, opportunities and the presence of role models for people aspiring to enter the industry.
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Panelists:

Designer, Kua

Ruby Buah

In 2009, Ruby Buah took a bold step by leaving behind spread sheets and financial statements for metals and fabrics. Ruby went from Finance to Fashion! It all started a few years back when she worked as a Financial Analyst at Coca Cola in Atlanta, Georgia.  Ruby, seeking a creative outlet started exploring different forms of art in her spare time.

What started as a hobby in jewelry-making quickly became a profitable business.  Fastforward 3 years later, she is in New York wrapping up a degree in Jewelry Design at the prestigious Fashion Institute of Technology and parlaying her experience in finance into running her business. To no surprise, she has built on her jewelry line by adding an equally exciting handbag line.

Bringing it all full circle, her cosmopolitan chic jewelry line is reminiscent of her experiences in different parts of the world while her handbag line pays homage to her home country, Ghana.  From the humble beginnings of a kitchen table, Ruby is honored to share © Kua Designs.

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President & CEO, Cocolilly

Naana Tennachie Yankey

Designer Naana Tennachie Yankey was born in Ghana. Her formative years were spent in the United Kingdom where she attended boarding school and later ventured off to Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

While living in the US, Naana made a dramatic switch from business to fashion, to cultivate her creative spirit. Her longing to be part of the fashion world came to fruition when she apprenticed with Marc Jacobs in New York. Naana later moved to Montreal to study Fashion Design at Academy of Arts and Design in Montreal, Quebec and then worked under Eve Gravel, before starting to sow the seeds of her own line, Coccolily.

Through her diverse travels and colourful heritage, Naana`s approach to fashion is sensual, edgy and bold. Coccolily is infused by European flare, since Naana loves to work with original haute-couture fabrics from mainly Italian mills. Naana believes that a woman deserves to be draped in luxury; to have her body enhanced with special clothes. Coccolily is a daring yet playful line of couture lounge and evening wear that brings out the edge and sexuality in every woman.

President, EA

Edward Armah

Edward Armah took his first humble steps into the world of fashion about ten years ago in his homeland, Ghana. Through managing a local radio station’s fashion segment, Armah developed an intense passion for the fashion industry.

In 1998, Armah travelled to London.  He concentrated on fashion design, while he worked in a custom shop. But soon, he realized that London could not quench his escalating thirst for fashion. By 2000, Armah had made his way to the United States of America, where his appointment was as a personal shopper at Neiman Marcus, New Jersey.  By the time he left the high-end retail store in 2006, he had become a seasoned professional in the customized clothing industry.

From Neiman Marcus, Edward Armah moved on to Saks Fifth Avenue, another prestigious luxury retailer in the United States.  Later, he worked for Oxxford, where he spent time with experienced tailors in Chicago. Inspired by his eclectic mix of experiences Edward Armah was ready to embrace his own luxury men’s furnishing business.

CEO, Munaluchi Bridal Magazine

Jacqueline Nwobu

Jacqueline Nwobu is the co-founder and Editor in Chief of Munaluchi Bridal Magazine, the leading authority of bridal inspiration for women of color. Multicultural women are major contributors to the $160-billion wedding industry,however, their presence is visibly absent in most bridal publications. Munaluchi Bridal fills this void and provides the truest example that love comes in more than one shade.

Nwobu launched the first issue of Munaluchi Bridal in January 2010.  Since then, the magazine has been distributed in all 50 states and internationally in Canada, Nigeria, Ghana and the United Kingdom.

Ms. Nwobu has been featured in various media outlets discussing topics such as the many differences in cultural wedding traditions, interracial marriage, bridal fashion and Munaluchi Bridal’s “Pearls of Africa” feature which highlights the importance of raising Africa’s profile as a premier travel destination. Interview credits include WPIX NY, ABC, and NBC.

Prior to becoming Munaluchi Bridal Editor-in-Chief, Nwobu worked within the Biotech and Pharmaceutical industries at companies including Johnson and Johnson.  Nwobu is a member of the National Association of Black Female Entrepreneurs and the American Society of Magazine Editors.  She resides in New Jersey with her husband and their three children.

Co-founder, KiRette

Kibonen Nfi

In 2009 Kibonen Nfi set out on a journey to bring some more dynamism in the fashion industry in Cameroon. She set up a fashion label KiRette together her London based business partner Anrette Ngafor, where they fused modern styles with the “toghu” embroidery, a traditional garment worn by the Tikar people of the grass field region on special occasions. Since then Cameroon culture has hit magazines and the red carpet.

Born in Cameroon, Kibonen Nfi moved to America in 2005 in her pursuit for different opportunities. She worked with P&G Prestige products till she decided to follow her heart. She took some fashion related courses at the Fashion Institute of Technology New York to further develop her creative edge.

Today KiRette has graced several international runways and magazine spreads but that did not come without Kibonen studying the trends and discovering the many issues, limitations and amazing opportunities that fashion made in Cameroon and Africa as a whole has. Being a fashion and social entrepreneur, together with her friends she came up with the Cameroon Fashion Industry Common initiative group, which basically seeks to develop the different facets of the fashion industry in its depth on step at a time.

Moderator:

Founder & Fashion Director, SVELTE, LLC

Elaine Mensah

Elaine Mensah is the founder of SVELTE, LLC, a creative consulting and communications firm specializing in fashion and lifestyle branding. As creator & host of Fashion BS & SVELTE Tv, Elaine has interviewed some of the biggest names in fashion including Jason Wu, Lela Rose, Fern Mallis, and Nigel Barker.

From 2007-2010, Elaine served as Fashion Director for Fashion Fights Poverty which was named #1 Fashion & Beauty Event by Biz Bash Magazine under her tenure. Elaine has appeared in Washington Post’s Fashion Washington, Washington City Paper, Washington Times, Capitol File, and Washington Life Magazine as one of its “most influential DC residents under 40.” Elaine has also appeared as fashion expert on WUSA9, WJLA affiliate program “Let’s Talk Live,” WPGC 95.5FM, and DC area program “As We See It.”

She has Bachelor’s in Law and Society from American University and Masters in Communication, Culture and Technology from Georgetown University.