The 4th edition of Afri Style Lounge has officially been launched to create global visibility to African brands throughout this festive season.
This year’s edition has about 15 brands participating, which includes GTP, brands make-up, skincare, men’s wear, women’s wear, jewellery, among others, which are all African-owned brands. The event began December 15, 2022 and is expected to end January 15, 2023 at Kempinski Hotel.
Speaking in an interview, the Co-Founder of Afri Style Lounge, Chiedza Makonnen, indicated that although the programme was established in Ghana, it is time to go global to extend its products to a much larger market.
“So, we really pride ourselves on economically empowering African brands as well – not just being an incubator giving visibility, but also giving them an opportunity to make a financial impact in their business. And we make hundreds of thousands of cedis and sales for all of these brands.
“That is one of the things that we pride ourselves in. With all of those different platforms, we are not only giving them a global audience, but also giving them economic empowerment, which really impacts a lot of the brands. So that is our focus and it is really giving them a platform globally as well as economically empowering them,” she said.
With the help of a dedicated sales team of Afro Style Lounge, Ms. Makonnen said they would not have to go through any stress; rather, they will only have to provide their inventory products for it to be placed in a store platform. “We have built a customer base, especially in the dependency because they are sold out every Christmas and every New Year. It’s a great platform for them for visibility, and they have a in-built customer base,” Ms. Makonnen added.
Aside from providing visibility for existing brands, Afri Style Lounge also serves as an incubator for young and emerging brands by offering some mentoring and coaching sessions for them to grow their brands.
“It is a really great opportunity for African-owned brands to get that visibility in front of a lot of audience that they normally do not have. Our whole platform is to offer visibility to African-owned brands. And we are also an incubator for new and emerging brands. Also, not only do we give them a platform, but we mentor and coach them as well,” she added.
She added that Afri Style Lounge, as part of offering visibility to brands that are participating, will create synergy with a lot of music festivals and organise tours to help give the global attention that African brands need.
The opening ceremony featured some of the finest African-owned fashion, beauty and lifestyle products. Ms. Makonnen called on the general public to visit the lounge and have a beautiful experience within this occasion.
