For just 2 minutes imagine what it would feel like for you to …
- Have a clear roadmap blueprint on how to bring your Fashion Made in Africa vision to fruition?
- Save yourself time and energy while you are building your business?
- Gain an experienced hands-on coach to keep you on track, along with professional advice, whilst you pursue your Africa based dream?
- Have a network of other likeminded creative entrepreneurs to keep you motivated and encouraged along your business development thus reducing the isolation of working alone?
- Have a network of other likeminded creative entrepreneurs to keep you motivated and encouraged along your business development thus reducing the isolation of working alone?
This is what you will gain by undertaking my new online course SPARK on building and creating your own made in Africa fashion line in one fashion season.
Originally launched in 2013 as a classroom based workshop, our FAB workshops became an online course in 2016 and now it is bigger, better and literally able to strike that spark that will light that flame within you to impact lives through your African fashion business!
The textile industry is the second largest employer after agriculture in the developing world, and a large percentage of this workforce are women. By building a fashion business in Africa, by working with producers on the ground in particular with women you are investing in local businesses and this helps empower families and their surrounding communities.
I believe by being a social entrepreneur, means that your business activities are beyond making money. Your business has purpose as well as fulfilling your vision and dreams it is also about how much impact you can deliver to African communities and be a change driver for those you meet.
Spark is the ULTIMATE resource of tools and strategies created to equip creative entrepreneurs, empowering them to successfully create and build fashion businesses made in Africa.
FABA or the Fashion Africa Business Academy is a program of Africa Fashion Guide, the social enterprise I launched in 2011, created to promote and support the full supply chain of Africa’s fashion and textile industry with a focus on sustainability and ethical fashion.
From being recognised by The Guardian newspaper as one of their Top 10 African fashion blogs and also mentioned on Vogue Italia online, Africa Fashion Guide recognised that a community of designers, students and business owners wished to know more about how to set up a business in Africa.
And so in 2013 launched Fashion Africa Business (F.A.B) Workshops™ which has evolved into the Fashion Africa Business Academy™ (FABA)
Testimonials
Previous students to FABAcademy have recognised the worth of undertaking a unique and specific course such as SPARK.
Hear what they had to say specifically
I first became aware of Jacqueline Shaw and Africa Fashion Guide in 2012. I was preparing for a trip to South Africa and was doing research and came across Africa Fashion Guide. I was really impressed with the content and started following Jacqueline Shaw. When the course was established, I wanted to participate. I knew it would be of great value. I was not disappointed when I participated in several of the Fashion Africa Business Workshops in 2016. I highly recommend her offerings. I have gained so much valuable information, knowledge about Africa resources and access to a network of people who have created sustainable Africa resourced products."
The 2016 edition of F.A.B. Workshops was Excellent! Good presentations and speakers, all well prepared and informative and open for questions after the courses. I'll definitely recommend the workshops to my friends.
I would describe the 2016 edition of F.A.B. as Excellent. It was very informative, learnt a lot. Has given me a good foundation as l look to getting into business.
One of our online group coaching members Bardot Taylor says
“you star thank you. P.S – really love the great work your continuing to deliver and the awareness you’re bringing to this aspect of the fashion industry. We need you Xx”
I enjoyed the replays from this month and encourage the other newcomers to go back on the timeline of this group and look for some great inspiration from the videos. Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge Jacqueline
Why do business in Africa?
Africa is a continent of vast beauty, colour, rich culture and diverse traditions. It is known for its wealth of resources, its history which spans centuries and its untapped potential. There is a growing sense of importance of this continent to the creative industry in particular to fashion manufacturing.
Africa has become more and more recognised as a growing hub of new creativity where, now in developing African countries, creative entrepreneurs are able to compete with those in the rest of the world.
The Economist magazine’s online report on growing economies in particular countries, stated that:
‘...over the ten years to 2010, no fewer than six of the world’s ten fastest-growing economies were in Sub-Saharan Africa Angola…Nigeria, Ethiopia, Chad, Mozambique and Rwanda, all with annual growth rates of around 8% or more.’
But the industry has challenges from cotton production to cloth manufacture and thus an understanding of the full supply chain in African textiles and clothing needs to be understood for Africa’s textile industry – designers, supplies and manufacturers – to fully complete in the global textile marketplace.
So F.A.B Academy™ offers you a creative, hands on, informed solutions to these challenges and prepares you for success.
Why FABA
It equips design students and budding creative entrepreneurs with the relevant tips, strategies, tools and resources to be able to firstly understand, then successfully prepare, build and grow their own African fashion business and design ranges which are based on sustainable design practices and ethical working conditions.
Designers and fashion businesses will be educated and advised on the relevant elements required to run a successful African fashion company. Whether you are setting up shop, sourcing or producing in Africa, working with African producers or using traditional African textiles and crafts in a contemporary way, then the F.A.B Academy™ is for you.
The training will inform those who wish to understand further the present situation of Africa’s fashion and textile industry as a resource for future production and an opportunity for business expansion, growth and partnership. Whilst the community will keep you accountable along with the trainings from industry professionals within the courses, the programs and the F.A.M. membership too
Specific Objectives:
- To highlight the creative potential in African fashion design
- Knowledge sharing and connect design with business skills
- Social Entrepreneurship to encourage impact and development work in Africa
- Encourage the use of traditional African fabrics, textile techniques and sustainable materials too
- To create innovative new design collaborating international skills through an expansion of relationship building between international designers with the skilled African artisan, craftsman and manufacturer.
- To understand the differences and sensitivity of challenges faced when sourcing and producing in the African countries
- To draw maximum attention internationally to the topic of African design, crafts, skills, fashion and sustainability
- Highlighting the growth and importance of sourcing and production in the African market with case studies of small scale through to large scale fashion businesses setting up and building businesses in Africa.
Benefit of FABA
Our signature course SPARK is conducted in a relaxed online format that you can take at your leisure over time.
This SPARK course will overall help to nurture and support emerging design talent with skilled craftspeople and producers in Africa and educate and equip a community of designers and entrepreneurs about producing ethically and responsibly in Africa.
During the course each lesson includes a combination of videos, case studies, presentations by industry experts and worksheets such as creating your own cost sheet, sourcing for ethical and African fabrics, working out your target customer, tick sheet preparing you for working with suppliers, templates and examples of technical specification sheets through to creating a marketing strategy and more!
Students will also gain an opportunity to grab their spot on an invaluable sourcing trip – part of our Fashion Africa Sourcing Trips – to Africa at a discounted student price
Grab your spot when the course it ready and become part of the changing landscape in Africa’s fashion industry and join the new narrative.