2017 in Fashion: Recap of the Year

This year has been another great one for fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands

Just like each year, there have been new entrants onto the fashion scene and we have also seen an all most ‘no show’ from some of established brands. It was really exciting to see many others thrive to stay top of mind throughout the year.

One game changer for this year has been social media as it continuously play a crucial role for many fashion brands who have been able to build their brand presence online. They have created campaigns and contents that gave them a voice and made them match up to even established brands. 

Touching on major happenings in 2017, the challenges and the opportunities as we look forward to a greater and more fulfilling 2018.

Fashion Designers

There were quite some designers who have worked real hard this year to keep their brand visible and grow more reach. The likes of Sima Brew with her stunning Red Carpet Gowns, Ophelia Crossland, West African Ambassador for Swarovski, Christie Brown showcasing at Lagos Fashion and Design Week, Nadrey Laurent rebrand from Totally Ethnik, Afromod Trends showcasing in South Africa, Charlotte Prive, Atto Tetteh, Abrantie the Gentleman winning 

Designer of the Year Awards and a host of many others have had a great year as they worked at keeping their brand visibly all year through both online and offline.

This year also saw the return of DuabaSerwa with its Nsubura collection and subsequently showcasing at Glitz Africa Fashion Week 2017.

Without a doubt, the young fashion designers emerging have a lot to offer and I can’t wait to see what they add on in 2018. Designers such as Lakopue, LJ Couture, Qwame Owusu have equally had a great year as they have left quite an impressive impression on our minds.

Fashion Shows and Events

Fashion shows are known to be the biggest events on most fashion calendar anywhere. This year started off with Accra Men’s Fashion Week (AMFW) in May, Mercedes Benz Africa Fashion Festival (MBAFF) in July, Glitz Africa Fashion Week (GAFW) and Accra Fashion Week (AFWk) in October. These events have had their fair share of setbacks in terms of publicity, organization, venue and timing. Nonetheless, they managed to pull through their events successfully as we look forward a more revamped ones in 2018.

The graduate shows couldn’t be left out. Radford University, BlueCrest University, Joyce Ababio Creative College and Design, Riohs Originate and Dreams College of Creative Arts all organized their graduate shows in a grand style this year.

Other events that took place in the course of the year are Fashion Forum Quarterly Series, African Fashion Voices by African Fashion Guide, Jump on Glitz and crowning it with the Vlisco & Co launch at the Untamed Empire.

Fashion Media and Bloggers

The fashion industry couldn’t have survived without fashion media and bloggers as they brought us all we needed to know in the fashion world. From designer Lookbooks, Features, Events, Style tips etc these platforms have continued to curate and bring us daily contents. The likes of Debonair Afrik, TrendsandBlends, AuntieOboshie, Fashion Ghana, YaaSomuah, Ghana fashion marketing amongst others have been constantly on the radar throughout the year.

Hopefully 2018 will bring good fortunes in regards to more collaborations and unique contents, live coverage. Looking forward to a new year full of energy and great contents from these media platforms.

Fashion Awards

Awards are crucial for any organization in business to gain recognition for its products and services and the fashion industry couldn’t be left out of this. Winning awards allows you to distinguish your company/brand from competitors. This year, we witnessed only two (2) awards. The Glitz Style Awards and Afroma Awards.

Hopefully in the coming year, we will see Ghana Fashion Awards bounce back bigger and better or other industry awards that will recognize and reward great talent.

Challenges and next steps

The fashion industry in Ghana still struggles with many issues. First is lack of a body to regulate and support designer’s work and their creativity. No organization has been able to succeed in pulling the various stakeholders under one umbrella. With a fashion council or board, fashion designers and other creatives can begin to work effectively with support from government and other institutions and gain direction to be able to build global brands.

Also, with a fashion calendar which clearly shows which event is on which date, organizers will begin to take note when choosing dates for their event. That way, the incidence of having both GAFW and AFWk on the same weekend won’t occur again.

As we get ready to celebrate the Season and New Year, I wish all B&FT readers a wonderful season. I look forward to a greater 2018 as I bring you more exciting features, personal thoughts and news on “Fashion & More with Faith Senam”

Have a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.

(Post originally published in my column in the Business & Financial Times Newspaper on 22nd December 2017)

Faith Senam Ocloo 
Fashion Public Relations 
Fashion I Beauty I Lifestyle I Arts

Why Building Relationships are Important for your fashion brand

In business, relationships are equally important and having a mutual beneficial relationship could go a long way to help your brand especially in times when you need it most. From your direct customers or clients to vendors, employees to anyone who is either directly or indirectly connected to your business, building a good relationship with them serves as a bedrock upon which your product can flourish.

For many startups and young businesses, it is important to start building your relationship early in order to gain trust and credibility which could serve as an extra advantage for you in this competitive and saturated market. Be it through good customer service, personal engagement, proactive communication, good relationship should be established at all levels.

Be it internal or external stakeholders, their role to the growth of your business varies and as such they all play a unique role that needs to be solidly built for the benefit of your business. Same way, any dent on these relationships could adversely affect all efforts put into it.

Building relationship also means establishing good communication lines between your company and these various stakeholders or publics.

Here are 4 ways why building relationships are important to fashion brands.

Helps you achieve your goals

Every company no matter how young the business is has company goals and objectives. By building good relationship with your publics for instance your employees, you are more likely to achieve your desired goal as they are able to work hard and bring on board their best ways which becomes beneficial to your business. You must work in harmony with everyone including the community within which you operate, that way they there is goodwill which is transferred onto the work and its growth.

Helps you reach the right target

As a fashion designer, your target markets are usually those who are interested in your buying and wearing your clothes. In order to reach such people, you need to communicate effectively using the right channels to reach them. With the good relationship with editors, bloggers, journalists, marketers etc you are able to create strategic visibility for your brand using the right channels thereby reaching your targeted market.

Puts you in a strong position when customers are making buying decision

In an age where social media is king, word of mouth is key. The kind of relationship you have with your customers influence what they say about you. Good relationships, loyalty and referrals are the order of the day. Many people buy products because of what they have heard about it. With that achieved, work at building a strong relationship with them such that they become loyal to the brand and then end up referring their friends to purchase as well.  

Easier access to funding

For startups looking to attract investors and some funding for their young fashion businesses, having a good relationship with the various stakeholders opens up opportunities for growth. With clarity on the company’s vision statement and mission, investors become confident of your business and possibly will want to invest in them.

The important thing to remember is that the earlier you build good relationships with the right publics for your brand, the better your chances at positioning your brand for opportunities that will further leap the fortunes of your company.

Through a mix of effective communications, good customer service and appreciation, feedback mechanisms and proactive engagements, you’ll be well on your way to being able to accomplish more as a strong fashion brand.

Faith Senam Ocloo

Fashion Public Relations 

Fashion I Beauty I Lifestyle I Arts