Upon the long awaited Accra Fashion Week 2016 event, our team is determined to set standards beyond the concept of just bringing to you a fashion show. Accra Fashion Week is set to have a great impact or at least plant the seed that can alternate the whole fashion world in Ghana from our Batiks to the boutiques. So what do we mean from Batik 2 Boutique? Read On
BATIK; THE BEGINNING
The popularity of African fashion has exceeded expectations, with fashion platforms such as FashionGHANA.com with over 1million followers that has helped turn the concept of African fashion into worldwide trends. The phenomenon of African fashion has swept many fashionista and bloggers off their feet unexpectedly, and more and more African creatives are benefiting and being able to make a living off this, from tailors, to shoes and bag makers.
However, as beautiful as print fabrics are, most of our local fabric manufacturing companies have shut down and continue to shut down, due to the influx of foriegn print goods coming into Ghana, of which the government has had very little impact on. Over 80 tonnes of Chinese prints are imported into Accra every month.
The few local batik producers are pushed out of the market and barely staying alive with one on one clientele. The uniqueness and fabulous look of tye and dye fabrics, kente, Batakari, and even that of the the Malian Bogolan cloth has even been replicated by various foreign print companies.
It is no mystery that using the imported prints compared to our local batiks is a much cheaper option for designers, tailors and other creatives, however it has a negative impact on our society over all, through loss of jobs and the closing down of businesses.
The year our aim is to ensure that we encourage all participants to support the movement to returning African fashion back to the concept of utilizing made in Ghana/Africa fabrics, be it Kente, tye and dye or else. We aim to encourage designer to understand that their craft and talent and creation of beauty is of no purpose if it can not help impact the very society they live in for the better, and that they have a moral duty to apply their God given talent to help society see the appeal in our very own creations.
THE BOUTIQUE; THE CONCLUSION
Decades of fashion shows have come to past, decades of designers have come and gone, yet almost no Ghanaian can recall a boutique close to them that stock clothes from Ghanaians nor African designers. We have witnessed many designers seek success abroad. Going to London, USA, Paris to participate in fashion shows with they proudly brag about, only to return to Ghana where their only outlet is their phone, or their own shop. It doesn’t make sense that our designers work twice as hard and are still very well neglected.
This is the norm in Ghana, but really is very abnormal to have our shops filled with American goods, Dubai goods, China goods, India goods and everything but African goods. Our craftsmen and women who have grown up with us and understand the people of Ghana better than any creative in any country. Yet they continue to struggle to be seen in the boutiques. A small town in Ghana could hold upto 50 shops, all of which host not one of any local designer labels.
Over the past two and a half year, our team (FashionGHANA.com) has spent days collecting data of boutiques across the nation. With over 300 and counting promising to participate in this years Accra Fashion Week. This might sound like a lucrative number, but it is only a small step in the direction we aim to take Ghana Fashion. Our team will also be working with production companies to ensure that our designers can meet the needs of buyers.
Our boutiques are the key to our creatives producing in bulk. Not only would their ability to be stocked by our shops allow them to produce in very cost effective amounts, but it will also be a window to new clients who might not have considered purchasing their clothes but only discovered them in the shops.
FROM BATIK 2 BOUTIQUE
The above is what makes the theme ‘From Batik 2 Boutique’ resonate with the purpose of Accra Fashion Week.
And last but not least our beautiful fashion shoppers who like to dress the best. Our aim would be to make sure that your attendance of Accra Fashion Week will do nothing but expose to you the best and latest outfits and fashion brand names you should focus every cedi on. By late 2017 the name Accra will be recognised just as much as any other fashion capital such as Paris, Milan, New York or London.
The concept of ‘From Batik 2 Boutique’ is geared at the purpose of beginning the vehicle for really establishing a fashion industry in Ghana, or for Africa for that matter. The utilizing of our local fabrics and the will to ensure our designer products end up in our local business is the key for big business and employment in the fashion sector of Ghana.
Accra Fashion Week will kick of the process in creating a rise in jobs from manufacturing, distribution, pr, promotion, fashion education, modelling, batik and local fabric production, advertising, photography and much more. The inaugural edition of Accra Fashion Week is set to be the trend setter for how fashion shows in Africa will be executed.
The concept of ‘From Batik 2 Boutique’ aims to push our esteems fashion brands with mainstream press until the day we see them in the boutiques and on the bilboards across our nation. So we encourage each and every one to come and see the fabulous hidden talents of Ghanaians and other participating international talent that will swarm Accra this October at Ghana International Trade Fair Centre.
