Irene Armah Blogs on Fashion and Technology in Ghana

fashTECH 2009

Hello, I will start by introducing myself and what I do even though Richard (ewuraba.com) may have done that already. My name is Irene Naa Korkoi Armah and I am an accessories designer specializing in beaded jewelry. The name of my company is Plurale by Inka. My works tend to be afro centric embracing our traditional beads with other foreign beads. To give a clearer picture of what I do, I design and create the finished product but do not make the beads I work with. I have been doing this for the part time and now full time for the two years. I will skip the start up and so on and we will get into a very interactive mode involving IT and the Ghanaian fashion industry or arts and the problems we face.

When you visit Ghana one thing you cannot miss is the arts and in my corner especially beads. The level of entry in the arts and culture is low therefore we have a lot of “low level education” but this sector is a substantial part of tourism which drives the economy. In my quest to make a difference and establish myself as one of the top designers in the industry it has become very clear that without any form of IT in my organizational structure I will be heading down hill and the best thing is to pack up.
My experience with other artisans regarding this issue is a sad one. As part of one of the organizations which aims to improve and widen the market for Ghanaian arts we are all required to have email addresses and mobile phones. Via this we are informed on previous minutes of meetings, international trade shows, grants and so on. So then you can imagine what will happen when you are not in touch with the world. You will be left behind. It is sad that about 70% of artists who are part of this group do not have email addresses. None of them even had websites but most of them are exporters.

Now the case study brings us to state the obvious facts in set backs: the challenges we face
The artists do not want to venture into new territory, meaning they are satisfied with a table top venture but yet still want more. Speaking to other designers I found out that due to problems of late payments in exports and poor finishing or delays in shipping they have been left with a sour taste in their mouths. Most of us want a large global market but do not take the painstaking duty of understanding the business through research to meet the global market
No cataloguing of stock How many of us will invest into purchasing a pc, broad band or internet access and regular visitation. Pricing – that has been a major setback in this industry that sometimes when you give actual prices people shirk because they thing that prices are high when in actual fact they are not. This is all due to the fact that a lot of us designers do not know how to cost our items and thus run into a mundane style of business which is killing the industry and making it look mediocre.
Record keeping using an excel spread sheet is essential and this helps with your organization. With face book and all the social websites available you can say that we have no excuse not to sell globally because we can use such avenues to advertise. What I have learnt is that even though there are some businesses who sell online we are not able to accept credit cards here via the internet, the hitch in buying online is payments.

Now lets say we are able to catalogue, price, etc and we have on our site a section for selling and we get an order for a thousand pieces. That is the challenge, you wish for more but do you have the logistics to take that up and meet the deadline. I will say that it boils down to research. There are so many soft wares for designers out there and there is the need for us to know our business and study the areas we operate in both locally and internationally. I found out a whole lot and now I can decide to have an online shop so long as my logistics are in place.

To round it up looking at all the set backs in the fashion industry in Ghana I will say that the advantages are limitless and the earlier we do something about it the better. A large proportion of the market is out there and we can meet their needs through the internet. Not everyone can afford a holiday but most can shop on their phones and make orders via the internet. There is so much business progress in inculcating IT in your business. It is everything these days from designing your logo, training staff, designing your works, scheduling appointments, cataloguing, pricing, research, structure growth, job opportunities, and opening for investors.