Catherine Addai is a Ghanaian-Canadian fashion designer and founder of the women's clothing brand Kaela Kay. [1]
Addai has a degree in health informatics. She worked as a decision support consultant while working on her fashion line. She launched the label in 2013 while on maternity leave with her daughter Makaela. [2] [3]
Early in her journey, clothing alterations and fittings were completed in Addai's basement in Mississauga. [4] With no formal training in design, fashion, she hired seamstresses from Toronto to help her learn the trade. [2] She quit her consulting job in 2017 to work on her brand full-time. In 2019, Addai opened up her first brick-and-mortar boutique in North York. [5] The brand is named after one of her daughters. [4]
She works primarily with Ankara fabric, a West African fabric method of dying cotton material, and experienced some "cultural resistance" to her designs initially. [5] [4] Celebrities including Busy Philipps and Tracy Moore have worn her designs, exposing them to a wider audience. [6]
In 2019, Addai was one of six female Canadian entrepreneurs highlighted in a digital video series Startup and Slay. [5]
In 2018, Addai was given the People's Choice Award for Fashion Designer of the Year from ByBlacks.com. [7] Addai was also named African Fashion Industry Awards Ladies Wear Designer of the Year three separate times. [5]
Addai was born in Ghana, lived in Amsterdam until she was three and moved to Canada when she was seven. [3] Now based in Toronto, she is a wife and mother to three young children. [8]
Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends and has varied over time and place. "A fashion designer creates clothing, including dresses, suits, pants, and skirts, and accessories like shoes and handbags, for consumers. He or she can specialize in clothing, accessory, or jewelry design, or may work in more than one of these areas."
Printex Limited is a privately owned textile manufacturing company headquartered in Accra, the capital of Ghana, with over 500 employees. The company was established in 1958 as Millet Textile Corporation (MTC), producing mainly terry towels. Printex prints are a combination of art, cultural inspirations, and interpretations of Africa’s landscape, and wildlife.
Zohra Opoku is a German-born Ghanaian textile artist and photographer. She used textile patterns to inform her photographed portraits. She was born in Altdöbern, Germany, and she lives in Accra. She is known for her installations, performances, textile designs, photographs and videos.
Bojana Sentaler is a Canadian fashion designer, Founder, President and Creative Director of Sentaler since 2009. She is known for her line of luxury alpaca outerwear and accessories.
MUDI, short for Mudiaga, is a Nigerian fashion brand with branches in Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, and Senegal. The brand was launched in 1993 by Mudiaga Clement Enajemo. Enajemo was the first Nigerian designer to take his products abroad by opening stores in other countries.
Kwaku Bediako Oduro also known as Kwaku Bediako is a Ghanaian contemporary fashion designer and founder of Chocolate Clothing now Chocolate Clothes Global.
Lida Baday is a Canadian fashion designer who exported her designs to the United States. She used her own name as the brand and she was twice Toronto Designer of the Year.
Ophelia Akweley Okyere-Darko is a Ghanaian fashion designer and the Creative Director of Ophelia Crossland Designs Ltd and Ohemaa Kids. Those Who Inspire Limited named her as part of the 75 'Most Inspiring Ghanaians in the world.
Velma Owusu-Bempah is a milliner, accessories designer and fashion instructor from Ghana. She is the Creative director of her self-named fashion brand, Velma's Millinery and Accessories, and the principal of Velma's Millinery Academy.
Aisha Ayensu is a Ghanaian award-winning fashion designer who is known to have designed outfits and stage costumes for Beyonce, Genevieve Nnaji, Jackie Appiah and Sandra "Alexandrina" Don-Arthur. She is the founder and Creative Director of Christie Brown, a Ghanaian fashion house. She has been interviewed by Folu Storms and for the BBC World Service's radio programme In the Studio and was listed as one of Forbes' Most Promising Entrepreneurs in 2016.
African design encompasses many forms of expression and refers to the forms of design from the continent of Africa and the African diaspora including urban design, architectural design, interior design, product design, art, and fashion design. Africa's many diverse countries are sources of vibrant design with African design influences visible in historical and contemporary art and culture around the world. The study of African design is still limited, particularly from the viewpoint of Africans, and the opportunity to expand its current definition by exploring African visual representations and introducing contemporary design applications remains immense.
Aurora James is a Canadian creative director, activist, and fashion designer. In 2013, she founded the fashion label Brother Vellies, with the goal of promoting traditional African design practices and techniques. In 2020, James founded the 15 Percent Pledge as a non-profit organization to support Black-owned businesses. Her memoir Wildflower was released in 2023.
Hazel Rodney Blackman (1921–2014) was a Jamaican-born American fashion designer, quilter, and painter. She is best known for introducing African fabrics into American fashion in the 1960s and 1970s.
The fashion industry in Nigeria plays an important cultural role and contributes significantly to the country's economy. Clothing incorporates a variety of colours, fabrics, and embellishments. Many of the component cultures of Nigeria wear styles that are characteristic of their tribal society and customs. Nigeria produces fashionable textiles and finished garments and has designers who have achieved international recognition.
Sally Esinam Torpey is a Ghanaian fashion designer and entrepreneur. She is also the treasurer for the Greater Accra Chapter of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) and the Ambassador from Africa for the Fashion Business Association of America. She has trade missions worldwide which include the United States, United Kingdom and Japan. She is a KYEN member. She is the owner of the Sallet Fashion House Ghana; the Sallet Foundation; and the brands Oheema, The Travelers Custom Made Clothing (TCMC), and JAK Gentle Giant Collection. She is an international speaker with interests in fashion, business, women empowerment, and personal development. She has been featured in publications and magazines like the Afrikan Post, a Washington DC newspaper, Ghana web, Caribbean magazines, The CCWC and Creative Magazine of Miami. She is a case study for Growth Cap UK and others. She is the African presence at the Centre for International Trade Development at the Miami World Trade Centre,where she promotes products from the continent.
Pistis Ghana is a Ghanaian fashion brand based in Accra. It was founded by husband-and-wife duo Kabutey and Sumaiya Dzietror in 2008 after graduating from Joyce Ababio's Vogue Style School of Fashion and Design.
Archaeological evidence indicates that the use of Inuit clothing extends far back into prehistory, with significant evidence to indicate that its basic structure has changed little since. The clothing systems of all Arctic peoples are similar, and evidence in the form of tools and carved figurines indicates that these systems may have originated in Siberia as early as 22,000 BCE, and in northern Canada and Greenland as early as 2500 BCE. Pieces of garments found at archaeological sites, dated to approximately 1000 to 1600 CE, are very similar to garments from the 17th to mid-20th centuries, which confirms consistency in the construction of Inuit clothing over centuries.
Victoria Kakuktinniq is a Canadian Inuk fashion designer from Nunavut. Under her label Victoria's Arctic Fashion, Kakuktinniq hand-stitches clothing such as parkas, kamiit, and other accessories. Her work has been described as a major influence in contemporary Inuit fashion. Kakuktinniq has described her work as a means of preserving Inuit traditional skills of sewing and clothing production, which has historically been a significant aspect of Inuit culture. In particular, she advocates for handmade fur garments as sustainable fashion.
Valerie O. Lawson, is a Ghanaian makeup artist known for her work in both the bridal and commercial spaces. She is also the Ghanaian artistic director for American cosmetics company, Maybelline New York and the founder of the brand, Contours By Valerie Lawson.
Lesley Hampton is a First Nations Canadian fashion designer from Toronto.
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