Fashion Designers at Fashion Connect Africa’s (FCA) fashion week have called on the youth to invest in the school of fashion to empower African creativity and promote African fashion globally to progress in the near future.
Speakers at the event revealed that it is necessary for Ghanaians to support the fashion industry in Africa through patronising African designs to keep the industry running and rise to compete on the world market.
Creative Education Consultant, Yvonne Ntiamoah, indicated that the education system in Africa is “colonial” and does not give much attention to the creative industry.
“The creative sector has been built on a scale set on locational courses and for us to be competing on the global level, we need professional education. We need the creative sector to be looked upon and also be academic to be able to afford the qualification the creative sector needs to be complete. So I think the education sector need to be reviewed and to be looked at,” she said.
The CEO and the Creative Director of Clatural, Clara Pinkra-Sam, encouraged the youth to take advantage of every little opportunity that comes their way and explore without fear. Citing an instance, she said: “I take advantage of opportunity, I’m not scared to try new things and I embrace failure as part of life. So with that boldness, I am just inclined to doing things and having it at the back of my mind that, yes, I can do it also, just by looking at the people who are already ahead of me.”
According to researcher for ‘OR’ Foundation, Kwesi Oteng, the disconnect between the formal and informal sectors continue to remain a challenge to the progress of the industry so far as sustainability of the industry is concerned.
He called on designers to take advantage of their knowledge in technology and make use of recycling fabrics to give out a unique design which, in a way, will bring advancement in the fashion industry.
The two-day event, organised by Fashion Connect Africa, on its second day, gave way for the various fashion designers to display their works to the public and connect with future investors for the success of the industry.
