The 2022 coveted Vlisco Fashion Fund has announced Rukaya Halidu, Austin Nortey and Deladem Midekor as finalists of the contest which has over the years supported emerging designers and tailors to launch their fashion careers in Ghana.
They were selected out of the 15 shortlisted candidates from the original 400 applications received between 1st to 31st May, 2022.
The Vlisco Fashion Fund started in 2013, and has so far invested more than €40,000 toward Ghanaian designer brands including Sheby Bena, Turquoise Hautecouture, Jerey Mensah, among others.
The Brand Activations Manager, Deborah Sowah, said the Vlisco brand is passionate about style, fashion, authenticity and elegance. Through the Vlisco Fashion Fund, she observed that the “brand is continually unearthing the passion, creativity, talent and ambition of emerging fashion designers as part of our ESG commitments”.
She explained that due to the three-day ‘Entrepreneurship Seminar’ which was held before the call for entries in April, this year’s submissions were competitive and well-defined.
“The brand further informed the media that the crowning of the Fashion Fund winner, who will receive €5000 investment for their business and a one-week Master Couture Training in the Netherlands, will take place in August,” she stated.
In the coming weeks, the three finalists will proceed to produce a collection each from chosen Vlisco fabrics in the bid to emerge as the overall winner. The second and third winners will receive €3,000 and €2,000, respectively.
This year’s Vlisco Fashion Fund jury includes Eugenia Tachie-Menson, 2014 Vlisco Brand Ambassador, and Founder of Young Educators Foundation – organizers of the Scripps Spelling Bee.
Others were Sumaiya Dzietror; Co-owner and Creative Director of renowned Ghanaian Fashion House, Pistis Ghana; and Faith Ocloo, PR Expert and Founder of Women in PR and E’ April, a PR agency focused on supporting SMEs in the fashion, beauty and lifestyle industry.
