Forum explores how Tech is Disrupting the $50bn African Fashion Industry

Published by Kunbi Tinuoye at May 20, 2015

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The Year of the Black Woman is kicking off its Start Up Summer Series Wednesday evening with an intimate discussion on how technology is disrupting the multi-billion dollar African fashion industry.

Tonight’s anticipated event at NYC’s Turn to Tech will begin with an overview of the African fashion landscape by Roberta Annan, founder of Frallain, a non-profit focused on expanding the global footprint of African luxury and premium brands.

Kelechi Anyadiegwu, founder of Zuvaa, a digital marketplace for African inspired fashion.

This follows a candid conversation with Kelechi Anyadiegwu , exploring how she developed Zuvaa, a digital marketplace for African inspired fashion. “Zuvaa is not just a website, it is a community where fashion lovers can meet emerging African designers,” said Anyadiegwu.

Her innovative digital platform not only sells cutting-edge African inspired fashion, but also helps designers scale operations by giving them the consumer data they need to truly understand their customers.

While Zuvaa helps with scale and market intelligence, Frallain is a platform for African and African diaspora designers to enhance their skill set and promote their brands to an international market. Frallain’s Talent Incubator Program ensures emerging designers are exposed to the global fashion industry and luxury market, while they nurture their respective skills and talents with education and experiences to cultivate their own global luxury fashion brand.

“It is essential to equip African designers with the appropriate set of skills and knowledge to enable them to become successful in an industry driven increasingly by the innovative application of creative ideas,’ said Annan.

Unbeknownst to many, the African fashion market is a $50 billion industry, flourishing on the continent and showcased in the international market by Western designers. The increasing popularity of African textiles and fabrics has seen the industry grow rapidly at 4 percent each quarter. Its global footprint has been driven by high-profile designers like Michael Kors and Roberto Cavaliia who use African patterns and afro-centric prints in their runway shows.

The Year of the Black Woman, founded by Mutale Nkonde, is a series of 365 online and in person events focused on Black females and wealth creation. Over the summer the campaign will be speaking to a number of tech entrepreneurs to provide potential founders with the information they need to make the big leap.

Mutale Nkonde founder & CEO of Nkonde & Associates and creator of Year of the Black Woman

A Zhara Dress designed by ‪Asikere Afana featured on the Zuvaa.com website

Follow Kunbi Tinuoye on Twitter@Kunbiti

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Kunbi Tinuoye

Kunbi Tinuoye is the founder and CEO of UrbanGeekz. Previously, she worked as a News Correspondent for NBC’s theGrio. Prior, she was a senior broadcast journalist for the BBC in London. Tinuoye currently sits on the SXSW Pitch Advisory Board and CES Conference Advisory Board. She is a key player in the Atlanta tech startup ecosystem and serves as a mentor for Comcast NBCUniversal’s The Farm Accelerator. Tinuoye has received several awards and accolades, including being honored with a Resolution from the Georgia Legislative.