Well dressed for international success and deeply rooted in Africa
This was my light-bulb moment. There is huge demand for good-quality fashion from African designers but few places to buy it
IT IS the night before Kisua launches its first accessories line, and I’m perched in front of my laptop, determinedly perusing its website; inviting, colourful and fetching, much like the brand’s collections of women’s clothing, accessories and footwear. On its home page, I click on a video of a beautiful, sylph-like, Afro-haired woman ambling down the unmistakable streets of Cape Town. She’s wearing a Kisua dress of course — long, intricately patterned and billowy — in a serene and apposite setting against the unique pastel shades of the city’s streets.
Over light, melodic acoustics, a buttery voice describes the uniqueness of Kisua; the high standards of quality that the brand adheres to, and the intricate work that goes into making its garments.
The video, titled Kisua Africa for Eight, introduces a group of women who contribute to making some of the brand’s clothing. Their pride in the brand is visible. One of these women humbly remarks “every piece is a labour of love”.
Kisua — “well-dressed person” in Swahili — is a description that comes to mind when you meet its founder, Samuel Mensah Jr.
Chic yet understated, Mensah is the founder and CEO of the burgeoning brand. After earning a master’s in economics from Oxford University, he began his career in finance. Born to Ghanaian parents, with a multicontinental upbringing, he is one of many “Afropolitan” pioneers who have had the key advantage of being an African with a global perspective, and bringing such a perspective to business in Africa.
As the former Africa director for Intel Capital, Mensah was not initially set on the fashion industry. It all started when “I began buying ready-made African-inspired clothes as gifts for friends and family overseas. Before long, people were trying to place orders with me, offering money with a request that I purchase clothing on their behalf during my next visit to a particular African city.”
As he travelled expansively across the continent, Mensah kept his intuitive sense of business open. Such demand from abroad exposed a gap in the African textile industry.
“This was my light-bulb moment. There is huge demand for good-quality fashion from African designers but few places to buy it. This led to the founding of Kisua.”
KISUA is an online fashion brand that makes and sources its garments in Africa, working alongside local designers and seamstresses to create its wide-ranging collections. Since its inception, it has pioneered its way into redefining African contemporary fashion, with weaves, patterns and textures rooted in the continent, and made contemporary with silhouettes that translate well into the international context.
Mensah defines the brand’s design philosophy and aesthetic as, “contemporary, wearable African fashion”.
What further differentiates Kisua is its strong international presence. “Kisua is the only African fashion brand with operations on three continents — Africa, North America and Europe — with distribution centres in the US, UK and SA.
“We are very proud of our African roots while our international set-up enables us to take African fashion to the global consumer.”
The brand has reached markets in the UK, France, India, Austria, Germany, the US and SA — the latter two being its biggest markets. Despite such international exposure, Mensah adds, “We still have room for considerable growth in Africa, the US and Europe.”
With such a far-reaching network, the brand also captured the attention of the largest online site for luxury clothing, Yoox.com. This has resulted in a collaboration with the brand to feature its clothing alongside other international brands, such as Stella McCartney, Gucci, Prada and Marc Jacobs.
If the online behemoth was ever looking for an African brand, Kisua was the obvious frontrunner. “The Kisua collection on Yoox has been very successful and we expect the relationship to continue to grow.”
Like any business in Africa, the brand is not without its challenges. Being chiefly an e-commerce business, one challenge is that faced by many online companies whose revenues are highly dependent on consumer trust.
Mensah explains: “Fashion is a tactile experience. For our customers to truly appreciate the quality and beauty of a Kisua garment, they need to hold it in their hands. As a new brand that is sold primarily online, consumers can’t touch and feel the product before buying it.”
The brand, however, has found a way to address this issue. “In addition to sharing the Kisua story on digital platforms, we are also creating offline opportunities through a series of pop-up stores in New York, London and Johannesburg for consumers to interact with the Kisua brand and products in person.”
WORN by Beyonce, Estelle and South African actress Terry Pheto, Kisua has managed to generate the kind of exposure for which even larger fashion brands pay a pretty penny just to lay their clothes on the backs of some of the most prominent figures in the world.
Mensah is unwaveringly optimistic about the burgeoning African fashion landscape: “I see Africa emerging as a major player in the global fashion industry within 10 years, and a billion-dollar homegrown African fashion company emerging within 20 years.”
His sanguinity recalls the Kisua video of the beautiful woman who wraps it all up with the words: “Everywhere I go, I carry a piece of Africa with me.”
Though he is not the creative force behind the brand, Mensah has always had an engrained sense of style.
“I grew up surrounded by stylish people and beautiful textiles.”
His business background eventually moulded his style preferences to “I’m a suit man”.
When asked if Kisua would soon have a men’s line, especially given that menswear designer Ozwald Boateng is one of its esteemed board advisers, Mensah would only say: “Watch this space. I can’t give too much away just yet.”
Whatever the brand decides to do, one can be assured that it will only add to its continental success.