Bias in African Fashion (BAF) is today announcing members of its inaugural Advisory Council.
BAF was started in June 2020 with the desire to drive dialogue and conversation around areas of prejudice in African fashion. As the group looks to further its work to reduce bias in the African fashion sector and make it accessible to all, they have enlisted the help of some fashion industry professionals to guide them in this work. Members of the Advisory Team are:
Yemi Osunkoya
Yemi Osunkoya is the founder and creative director of the Kosibah brand. After obtaining a BA Fine Art (Textile Design) from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife, Nigeria and Diplomas in both Womenswear and Menswear from Paris Academy School of Fashion, London, UK, Yemi established Kosibah in London in 1991. Kosibah specialises in figure enhancing contemporary and elegant bridal and evening gowns.
Clients of the brand include members of the British Parliament, senior staff of the British Royal Family, daughters of a member of the British House of Lords, members of Royal Families from Nigeria and Ghana, actresses, singers and other celebrities.
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Yemi and Kosibah have had editorial features in a number of publications including The New York Times, Brides Magazine, The Knot, Hitched UK, World Bride Magazine, Munaluchi Bride magazine. A gown designed by the brand is on permanent display at the Brighton Museum, Sussex, UK.
Yemi is now based in New York City (Brooklyn). However, Kosibah still retains an atelier in London.
Jennifer Ronne
Jennifer Ronne is the founder of Victoria Grace Fashion. Her career in fashion began early on with experiences working with Condé Nast’s Vogue UK, setting up the first Calvin Klein flagship merchandise store, and to eventually serving as an Independent Fashion PR Consultant in the UK. With a degree in Marketing and Masters in Financial Derivatives, Jennifer subsequently spent several years working as a finance professional in London with KPMG, Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley.
She relocated to Lagos, Nigeria in 2008 where she held the post as the Director-General of the Nigerian-German Chamber of Commerce. It was after holding a couple of conferences supporting the Nigerian textile and manufacturing industry that Jennifer decided she wanted to go back into the business of fashion, leading to the start of Victoria Grace.
Jennifer is a British born Nigerian, married to a German. She has 3 boys and lives in Togo, West Africa with her family & pets where she curates her brand.
Victoria Grace operates out of Lagos, Lomé, London and Hamburg.
Ann McCreath
Ann McCreath has lived in Kenya since 1992. She is the founder of fashion heritage brand KikoRomeo, set up in 1996 in Kenya to stimulate employment and promote traditional craft skills.
She has an MA Hons from the University of Edinburgh, a Diploma in Fashion from KOEFIA in Rome and over three decades of experience in the fashion industry. A pioneering entrepreneur in sustainable fashion, McCreath continues to design, while mentoring young designers and consulting for fashion industry players.
She is on the board of the Kenya Fashion Council and an advisor to Fashion Revolution Kenya.
BAF is also looking to establish a Champions Council- a collective of individuals with interest in driving change in the African fashion sector. For those in the fashion segment with interest in becoming a member of their Champions Council, outreach can be made to them here.
BAF was started by Udochi Nwogu, co-founder of It’s Made To Order and Papa Oyeyemi, founder and creative director of Maxivive. Since the start of the platform in June of 2020, they have published in a number of media platforms about the importance of eliminating bias in Africa’s fashion industry. In addition, they have started a digital talk series engaging with organizations who are engaged in similar impact work in fashion. They continue to engage fashion professionals on the continent and across the globe on how Africa can ensure it builds a fair and inclusive fashion sector.
Follow BAF on Instagram @biasInAfricanFashion or Twitter @BiasAfricanFshn
