Assessories and Clothing

Meet Anna Cole, the Ghanaian Designer Creating Musthave Assessories and Clothing

Interview || By Simeon Onoja

African clothing and accessories are increasingly gaining international attention. And entrepreneurs like Anna Cole are at the forefront of this global expansion. Through her fashion label, Pernia Couture, Cole is creating irresistible African accessories and clothing.

We caught up with this trailblazer to uncover inspiring aspects of the booming African fashion space.

What inspired you to become a fashion designer?

When I was younger, I was good at visual art and loved it. My mom was a seamstress, and she was into designing as well, so I grew up in that environment. When I was going to school, I never thought I would launch a fashion brand. All I knew was that I was studying art; and that was in my secondary school. After school, I intended to do fashion, but my dad didn’t like the idea and wanted me to study something like accounting or law. So I did Business Studies and later traveled to London.

During my time in London, I studied accounting, but along the way, faced some obvious challenges. I stayed back in London for about nine years, but when I returned to Ghana, stressed and frustrated with life abroad, I didn’t know where to start or what to do. The first option was to get into design, but then I wasn’t quite sure.

I didn’t have the courage because I was out of the country for so long, and looking at the fashion industry at that time and the fact that I didn’t study fashion, I was scared to take up the challenge.

The only courage I had going into it was through my mother, my sisters, and now ex-husband, who saw that I had potential and could do it. This really encouraged me. We came up with the name of the business and the logo, and I launched Pernia Couture in 2012.

Launching a business in Africa is no easy task. What were the steps you took before you entered the market?

I did all the necessary registration and was lucky to have a few people who believed in me and gave me their work to do. After executing it, other people knew that I could do the job, and that was when they started patronising me. I started with clothing, but I had to switch to accessories in 2015 when I launched my first accessory collection.

What was the reception for your premium home-grown brand like in Ghana?

To be honest with you, the reception at the beginning wasn’t as good as I expected because, as I noticed in Ghana, it’s so difficult for them to adapt to new things. They are used to what they like and what they know, and with my brand, I was just trying to do something different, not trying to do what was the norm. It was difficult at the start. They didn’t really receive me as I wanted, but the interesting part was that I

got a better reception internationally than in Ghana. That was hard, and that’s one of the setbacks. It took a while before local customers got on board with my brand.

What were the biggest roadblocks you faced in the fashion industry?

I faced lots of challenges. One of the major challenges to founding a business in Africa is funding. Getting a loan is always difficult, especially if you are not lucky enough to be stable financially and you don’t have any family or friends to back you up or support you in any way.

I remember how difficult it was to get started. I was in the UK, but when I came to Ghana, I had to tell my dad I was going back, and that was how I could get funding to start up; funding was a problem.

My father was not in support of the business; he didn’t agree to it, but I had to do it anyway because that was what I wanted to do. Another challenge I had was finding workers; people with the kind of skills I wanted. I love my work, I pay attention to details, and I maintain a high standard, but most of the workers I found didn’t have the kind of finishing skills I had.

Talking about getting the right talent into your business, how were you able to solve the skill deficit with your team?

What I did was I took some people and trained them myself. Most of them were not ready to work because I was a bit strict, but I paid them a little extra percentage from time to time, which was something like an incentive to make them interested.

What’s your advice for entrepreneurs in Africa?

Most of the time, we are so scared of making mistakes or having setbacks, but we sometimes don’t realize it’s all part of the process. It doesn’t matter the mistake you make; making a mistake really shows that you are progressing. You learn from the mistake, and then you become better. Another thing I would say is, when starting a business, you don’t have to use a huge sum of money because, most of the time, you don’t know if the business is going to work or not. If it flops, at least you will still have some money, which means you’ve not lost a whole lot of investment.

There are some businesses you don’t even need to start with money. You just need the idea, knowledge, and a few materials to start with, so you need to make that move. As you progress, then you can invest huge sums in the business.

Another thing is that you will need to set realistic goals that are achievable. Be consistent. Sometimes when you are in the early phase of any business, you think people don’t notice you. Maybe you have not been seeing the customers come to like you want to, or people patronising your product. You don’t need to give up, all you need to do is be consistent and stick to it. The more consistent you are, the more people will get used to you and your brand, and then you’ll get the followers that you need.

How do you deal with stress?

I love reading, listening to music, and watching movies. And that’s basically how I get over stress.