13 minute read
I AM ASHANTI
REDISCOVER AFRICA THROUGH US
A world-famous FLOWER COAT made by an up and coming young designer with big dreams Discover PETALS GROUP Cape Town’s hidden gem that’s gone international “I didn’t want to be part of a system that didn’t want to see the greatness of Black folks” - Jara Ezo
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PETALS Group
“Our business is about living with beauty; creating fun, laughter and happiness and sharing it with the world.” -Flower Walker
Flower Walker, the creator and tastemaker of The Petals Group, began her new commercial path in 1967 by starting a floral store on Cape Town’s Foreshore. The publishing world’s fashion experts became her regular clients and sources of inspiration.
From that point forward The Petals Group has developed into an occasion facilitator’s wonderland. When an event design necessitates the creation of custom-made artworks and décor elements from scratch, the Petals family gets together in their fully equipped workshop to conceptualize and construct them.
The Petals Group creates bespoke beauty celebrations for customers and other event planners, where trust, luxury, authenticity, and human connection are inextricably linked.
Collaboration is the life force driving the team’s ideas, whether they’re producing a handmade floral art piece or assisting with the planning of your special event.
WE ENJOY LASTING RELATIONSHIPS WITH OUR CLIENTS BUILT ON OUR HISTORY OF FULFILLING PROMISES WITH INTEGRITY AND DELIVERING EXCEPTIONAL EXPERIENCES; ON TIME, EVERY TIME
Jara Ezo
French-born Togolese artist. Follow her journey of self-discovery as she pursues her passion for music. Jara’s frustration with the system culminates in her creating her own recording studio aimed at elevating black women in the industry while also liberating them for the stereotypical entertainment roles of drug addicts, prostitutes or maids with the hope of changing the perception of black communities.
Idiscovered that the music business was hard for women, especially black women. There was no room for us. So I tried musicals. Not a lot of roles either. Then I tried cinema as an actress. I had opportunities that I turned down because, to me, it was always clichés : roles of drug addicts, prostitutes, maids and illiterate women. I didn’t want to be part of a system that didn’t want to see nor to show the beauty, intelligence and greatness of black folks. a living. I started producing my own concerts, distributing flyers, produced my first EP with my hard earned money.
For a while I struggled to stay afloat, to some extent meeting and marrying my husband was my saving grace. Raising my stepson and son has been my motivation to keep pushing if not for me then for them. The support from my family and friends helps to keep me grounded and that is why I’m determined to keep working towards my dreams and goals. My music was and is influenced by jazz, R’n’B, pop music, and afrobeat. I had a passion for new soul music when I was a young adult : Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, D’Angelo, then later my passion evolved to pop rock music : Phoenix, Gossip. For me, music is music, when it’s good it’s good. I don’t like limits and that’s why I love alternative music, it mixes different styles.
Sisterhood of the travelling coat of many flowers
Up and coming designer, Dorcas Mutombo takes us on an inspiring journey on how she created her most sought after coat using 1066 handmade fabric flowers and the attraction it has garnered from numerous publications.
In 2019 during my second year of fashion studies at Elizabeth Galloway Academy of Fashion Design, we were tasked with a project of creating a garment that was aligned with the floral theme and that was how I ended up making the coat. While looking for inspiration and how I could take this project on, the academy arranged a visit for all the students to visit Okasie in Stellenbosch for inspiration. At Okasie, I saw different types of flowers, from interesting shapes, vibrant colours and different textures. The experience left me so inspired, I knew I had to make a garment completely covered in flowers, and that is exactly what I did with the coat! I only had five working days to complete my coat, and I knew that covering a coat in handmade fabric flowers was going to take me time and require a lot of flowers. In preparation for my sewing week, I made use of Pinterest and YouTube to learn how to make the fabric flowers using the scrap material I had collected at the academy . Using my love for colours, flowers, and form, I went wild with the flower making and prepared the first batch of three hundred fabric flowers for the coat using leftover material. After making the coat and its lining, I started hand sewing each flower on the coat before attaching the lining. As I sewed, I realised that three hundred flowers could not even cover the front panel, and it was extremely time-consuming. I was confident in my creation but I wasn’t naive to know that the process was going to be harder than I had imagined and take longer than the five days we had been initially given so I decided to ask for an extension to submit my finished garment. Thankfully I was granted
the extension but this didn’t mean that my classes would be placed on hold while I continued with my project, this meant I had to attend classes during the day and work on the coat in the evenings. I was unable to do everything on my own, I was lucky enough to enlist the help of my family to make the flowers. I fondly remember my dad, Joseph, my sisters, Ruth and Teresa cutting the scraps of fabrics into petals. While everyone else SOME DAYS WERE was on cutting duty my brothers, Mi chael and Moses, and my youngest LONELY; I BURNT sister, Goretti, burnt every fabric petal
MY FINGERS, to avoid any fraying from occurring and
PRICKED MY to also give it form. My mother, Char-
FINGERS A lotte, was responsible for placing all the
MILLION TIMES WITH THE petals together for me to turn them into flowers.
NUMEROUS Those evenings were full of fun and NIEEDLES I HAD, filled with laughter from the jokes we AND ALSO FOUND shared while we worked (until they MYSELF SLEEPING too got tired of the never-ending cut-
ON THE FLOOR ting and burning hahaha). It wasn’t all sunshine and roses (no pun intended), I remember one evening being so tired and crying when Moses couldn’t help me, this was honestly one of the most difficult things I have had to create! I spent two months hand sewing flowers day and night; at least I listened to music or some podcast. Some days were lonely; I burnt my fingers, pricked myself a million times with the many needles I had, and also found myself sleeping on the floor. There is even a picture of me sleeping on the coat in class from being so tired. I remember crying from frustration, wondering why I chose to do something so difficult and time-consuming but the admiration from my peers and family was enough to keep me going.
// VUYISILE ZONDI FOUNDER OF CORIUM SKINCARE
Founded in South Africa, with purely natural ingredients at the core of everything they produce. Corium is a skincare range inspired by traditional African, Himalayan, and Ayurvedic beauty practices..
www.coriumskincare.com
HAIRITAGE
Jo Ferrage and Catia J Pinto, the founders of HAIRITAGE, were no longer willing to compromise on their hair care shopping experiences and decided to open a hair and beauty company that gave its clients the power, knowledge, and beauty journey they deserved, allowing them to take pride in their versatile coils, curls, and waves!
“Ethnic women (and now men) spend over a billion pounds yearly on hair products. We consume most of the products but lack in representation and adequate knowledge.” - Hairitage
Hello ladies, always a pleasure getting the opportunity to chat with young and upcoming entrepreneurs. Please tell us a little about yourselves and your background.
Jo: Thank you so much for this opportunity. Both Catia and I come from different professional backgrounds; I come from a beauty and fashion PR Marketing background. I gave up a secure job to follow and pursue this dream to help individuals like me learn and cater to their natural tress.
Catia: I’m the other half of HAIRITAGE, and also Jo’s cousin. I come from a financial background and was incredibly annoyed at how women of colour were shopping for their haircare products and the disconnect they would experience with the ‘typical’ sales advisors. Alongside HAIRITAGE, I have a beautiful toddler and am still in my full-time job. What would you do differently if you had a chance to start your career all over again?
Jo: Nothing, I believe we had to go through all the challenges (and still are) in order to understand and appreciate the work we are putting in and learning.
Catia: I wholeheartedly agree.
The name of your brand is absolutely genius; how did that come about?
Jo: We were playing around with the idea of the wording resonating with our roots, representing who we are, and we thought of heritage; it was actually Catia’s partner who came up with the play on word: HAIRITAGE.
Catia: HAIRITAGE captures what we’re about but also our individual journeys, knowing our history and understanding where we come from. Being that we are a small family busiHAIRITAGE was founded on frustration from the lack of proper representation within the hair care industry. Tell us more about this.
Jo: Where do we even start? The industry has been dominated by Asian men for years, especially those who sell black hair care products. Both Catia and I wanted to change the narrative and for black women not to compromise their shopping hair journey.
Catia: Exactly what Jo said. The beauty industry has only now slightly opened its eyes to representation, especially with Coily (afro) hair. Everything we do, we try to show inclusivity from all different aspects of textured hair. We’re celebrating and owning it back and encouraging our consumers and those around us to do the same.
Sapo body sponge founder
Dorien Toku
You wear many career hats and all impressive in their own right, but who is Dorien Toku apart from the entrepreneur?
I am an extremely proud Ghanaian American woman whose existence is to share a passion for bridging the gap between America and the African diaspora. Encouraging cultural diversity to influence economic independence through business development and reinvestment in Africa and beyond.
After a sleepover at 16 years old you discovered a need for a beauty product that wasn’t common in most households unless you are from Africa. Tell us more about how this birthed Sapo Body Sponge. that my friend had never heard of this sponge, moreover the fact that she was only familiar with using a washcloth to bathe. Although I dismissed this as quite “strange” it wasn’t until college when so many people questioned my net like sponge every time I took my bath caddy to shower. As a biology major, I didn’t have time to focus on the business opportunity that was right in front of me. However, after college was when I dabbled with the thought of making it a business. In the workplace my skin was a familiar topic that ended with the question “what do you use for your skin?” After gifting this product multiple times and receiving positive feedback it was time to turn it into a business, my mind was clear. now, tell us about that career change. Any advice for people wrestling with the same decision?
Growing up in a traditional Ghanaian household my parents’ aspirations for me to become a doctor came to an end when I realized it was time to explore life and move away to “find myself”. I moved to a city that was kinder to young black entrepreneurs, Atlanta GA. I was inspired by creatives and their success stories; my passion continued to push me into becoming a business owner. The blood, sweat and tears that I continue to work through are worth it and I will not stop until Sapo Body Sponge is worldwide. I would encourage anyone to pursue what they are absolutely passionate about.
In Ghana one of the spoken languages is, Twi. In Twi “Sapor ‘’ which is the correct spelling is translated to “Sponge”. Because the R is silent when it is pronounced I wanted to ensure it was pronounced as phonetically as possible so I respectfully dropped the “R” and birthed Sapo Body Sponge.
What were the most difficult hurdles and learning curves you encountered while growing Sapo Body Sponge?
That a business is way more than an LLC and a good idea lol. The most difficult hurdle was knowing when, where and how to spend money because some of it if not all of it can be lost. And this part will test a person to see how invested they are in themselves. Giving up is the easy part, pushing through tested my commitment to myself.
What is your ultimate goal for Sapo Body Sponge in terms of social responsibility?
The ultimate goal for Sapo Body Sponge is to become a global brand so we can give back to the country of origin, Ghana. I would love to work with organisations to assist in building more specialty schools (science, math, tech, art, design schools etc) with the best tools and resources. Bridging gaps between the US and Africa I would love to implement more exchange programs for students to “Rediscover Africa through us”. Creating narratives that encourage uplifting Africa The body sponges come in different warm colours, which colour is your favourite and why?
Dorien: My favorite is the Royal Purple. The royal part is a reminder that I am the queen of my destiny. The color is beautiful, understated yet powerful and radiant in its simplicity. Ironically all these verbs also describe the Sapo Body Sponge brand.
Sapo Body Sponge is now available in Walmart, from an outsider looking in this is really impressive, to you what does this symbolise?
Being on Walmart was a huge step in the right direction and definitely assisted in validating the brand
however there is still a lot of work to do. For me it was a reminder that there is no ceiling to the level of success that I will achieve and there is so much more to come.
Starting a business is challenging and sometimes a dose of humility is needed to succeed. What is the one thing that young entrepreneurs should not be ashamed of doing when they first start out? ASK QUESTIONS and DO THE RESEARCH. It is so important to have direction and taking partnership with a successful mentor will help in time and money lost.
Is there a certain type of product that you’ve always wanted to develop but haven’t been able to under the Sapo brand?
Not yet as we have been quite linear in our approach and focus on one product at a time. With regards to expansion, what’s next for Sapo Body Sponge?
All things beauty in the near future; soaps, body washes, body butters and who knows maybe even fragrance. More to come for sure, stay tuned!
