A 27-year-old raised over $1 million to build a platform for African designers: 'We know our problems better than anybody else'

For Amira Rasool, fashion is simply a lifelong passion.

"I was ever the idiosyncratic that laid retired my archetypal time of schoolhouse outfit, like, 2 weeks earlier school," she says. The South Orange, New Jersey, autochthonal yet started a manner blog successful precocious schoolhouse and took connected internships astatine magazines similar Marie Claire and Women's Wear Daily portion studying astatine Rutgers University. She landed a relation arsenic a manner adjunct astatine V Magazine her last semester of college.

That aforesaid year, she besides traveled to South Africa, discovering section covering brands she'd ne'er heard of successful the States. When she got back, she realized determination was nary mode to get them abroad. And "it wasn't conscionable a South African problem," she says she realized. "It's a occupation with each of Africa." Many brands didn't person the technology, infrastructure to vessel internationally oregon entree to U.S. retailers to get their apparel extracurricular of African borders.

The travel planted the effect of an thought for a institution that would alteration conscionable that, and Rasool ultimately founded The Folklore Group. It includes a business-to-business level connecting planetary retailers with brands from emerging markets specified arsenic Africa, South America, Asia and the Caribbean, a marketplace wherever consumers tin observe these brands and a newsroom that writes astir them.

"We're specifically targeting brands that person been geographically oregon racially marginalized from being capable to person this entree to retailers," she says. Rasool, present 27, raised $1.7 million successful pre effect investments successful July 2021 alone.

Here's however she's built her manner empire.

After that archetypal sojourn to South Africa, Rasool sought retired ways to instrumentality to the state to recovered her company. She decided to get a Masters successful African Studies astatine the University of Cape Town and from there, she traveled to Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya to larn astir different brands and to commencement gathering connections with concern owners.

Rasool officially launched The Folklore successful September 2018, a direct-to-consumer concern selling men's and women's apparel and accessories arsenic good arsenic homeware brands from each implicit Africa. She besides sold items from Black concern owners successful the diaspora.

She had $30,000 to statesman with: $20,000 that she'd saved up moving astatine V Magazine and doing immoderate freelance penning and $10,000 from her father. She ran the tract herself with the assistance of interns and "my ma would conscionable vessel the products from her spot to customers," she says. "It was precise overmuch a assemblage effort."

Rasool lived successful Cape Town done her grade past moved backmost to the States successful February 2020, archetypal to New Jersey, past to Atlanta. As the company's recovered investors, it's been capable to expand. The Folklore present employs 12 radical altogether.

After the execution of George Floyd successful 2020, Rasool realized retailers were actively looking for Black-owned brands to commencement stocking and selling.

The Folklore didn't rather person the scope of large retailers and could extremity up competing with them for the aforesaid clientele. But if the institution was the connective insubstantial betwixt brands and large retailers, "instead of competing with the Nordstroms and Saks that were present funny successful these brands," she says, they could "collaborate with them."

She besides "saw that we would beryllium capable to marque a bigger interaction connected the brands if we are capable to get them stocked successful much stores than conscionable The Folklore," she says.

Going forward, the extremity is growth.

"We ideate being capable to person thousands of brands from astir the satellite utilizing the platform," she says, and "having hundreds of thousands of retailers." They besides privation to grow their categories to hygiene and kids, for example, and grow their terms points truthful they enactment for galore types of retailers.

As acold arsenic proposal for different Black entrepreneurs goes, "I would accidental to look astatine issues that we person wrong our community, similar problems that we face, and make solutions," she says.

Ultimately, she says, "we cognize our stories and we cognize our problems amended than anybody else."

Check out:

How these Black pistillate entrepreneurs marque wealth pursuing their passions

Single ma earns $10,000/month connected Outschool: 'I would person ne'er been capable to marque arsenic overmuch wealth arsenic a regular teacher'

This millennial ma built a $1 cardinal concern by 33—here's her proposal to different entrepreneurs

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