OUR STORY
Ashanti Empress is an ethical African fashion brand based between Ghana and Bristol, UK. The brand was born from the idea of using fashion as a means to address issues of poverty, capacity building, youth unemployment and female empowerment in Ghana. We work directly with an amazing team of Ghanaian tailors, providing them with reliable, well paid work and training opportunities. Because we work on a small scale, we are able to directly connect the creators of Ashanti Empress clothing with the wearers of Ashanti Empress clothing! You can find out who makes our clothes here.
When you buy any item from Ashanti Empress you are actively supporting and making a difference to the Ghanaian people we work with.
OUR PRINTS
We spend many hours in the winding alleyways of Kejetia, Ghana's biggest market, searching for the boldest, brightest African prints that are synonymous with Ashanti Empress clothing. Usually fabric can only be bought in 12 yards pieces, meaning we have to really hunt to find larger quantities in our favourite prints. Although this can be hard it means that all of our designs are limited edition, with only a few made in each size and print.
Our popular colour me crazy patchwork material is made from 100% recycled African fabrics. We rescue the leftover cutoffs of fabric from our tailors and many others in the area and we repurpose it to create reams of beautiful patchwork fabric which is then sewn into new Ashanti Empress clothing. Yaw N'safoah is the man behind this epic recycling mission and each year he collects, sorts through and sews over 1000 metres of patchwork fabric for us to make our festival dungarees, jackets, African print shirts and more!
WE DON'T JUST MAKE COLOURFUL CLOTHES
Social responsibility is at the heart of Ashanti Empress and we work directly with 35 Ghanaian tailors, seamstresses and craftspeople, ensuring fair wages whilst supporting local industry by generating economic and creative opportunities. Our tailors all run their own tailoring shops and are commissioned to complete bulk orders for Ashanti Empress. The regular income generated from this has empowered many to increase the capacity of their own businesses, buy new sewing machines and move from renting to owning their own work premises.
Find out more about the Ashanti Team
