Fashioning Business

Ghanaian entrepreneur Alima Bello, the founder of Bello Edu, would have been toiling away in a greasy oil seed factory had she not chosen to ignite her passion for contemporary fashion design.

Fashion and art are often synonymous. Just ask Ghanaian fashion entrepreneur Alima Bello, who in 2014 launched a contemporary womenswear brand named Bello Edu.

“We describe the clothes we are making as canvases for women,” says Bello on her body of work. And as with every canvas, this dream too started on a blank sheet of paper. As creative director of the brand, humble beginnings preceded international acclaim, such as showcasing her work on prestigious platforms like the Portugal Fashion Week as well as being stocked in retail outlets across Africa.

The challenges included facing an industry that makes it difficult to raise capital to fund entrepreneurial dreams.

“Fashion is such a seasonal business, and a lot of traditional finance institutions don’t understand how it works. It takes time,” says Bello, reiterating the words of most startup founders in the fashion sector.

“The way the fashion cycle works; you get a loan, you do your samples, you start taking your photographs, start doing your campaign, start getting your pieces into retailers and that takes about three months before you start seeing any income from your designs.”

Bello had to bootstrap her dream by creating capital working several odd jobs. Her career also did not take a linear path.

Growing up in her hometown in Kumasi, Bello was expected to graduate with a degree in business management from the University of Ghana and promptly join the family business.