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Fashion

This year’s Black History Month theme, African Americans and the Arts, invites us to delve into a rich cultural heritage. This month, we will be celebrating the diverse artistic contributions of African Americans across multiple domains and spotlighting the intersection of Black arts and technology. The Origins Of Black History Month Harvard-trained historian Carter G. Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) and announced Negro History Week in 1925. Woodson had hoped to raise awareness of African Americans’ contributions to civilization, and the event

UK-based Black-owned platform Sojo has become the first fashion repairs and alterations platform to achieve B Corp certification. Certified B Corps are companies verified by B Lab to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. The B Corp Community is a global movement of businesses that provide leadership by demonstrating their commitment to people and the planet. There are over 7,800 B Corps worldwide, across 161 industries in 92 countries, with over 708,300 workers. Sojo achieved 86.8 points, above the B Corp pass mark of 80 and

Lagos-based fashion and beauty e-commerce platform Maka has raised $2.65 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Pan-African venture capital firms 4DX Ventures and Janngo Capital. Other contributors include Palm Drive Capital, angel investor Jonathan Shipman, and executives from delivery platform Wolt. Maka Maka empowers trusted creators to live-stream and sell directly to their audiences. The platform allows shoppers to purchase through live-streams, on-demand videos, or online catalogs.  Founded in 2021 by Diana Owusu-Kyereko, former CEO of Jumia Ghana and ex-CCO of Jumia Kenya, Maka originated as an interactive social commerce platform.  During the

Vanessa Kingori OBE, chief business officer at Condé Nast Britain and Vogue European business advisor, is set to leave the media giant to join Google in 2024.  Among her many accolades, the Kenya-born media mogul was the first Black publisher for Condé Nast Britain and the first woman publishing director in British Vogue’s 105-year history. Top role at Google Her new position as Managing Director of Tech, Media, and Telecoms at Google marks a strategic shift for the accomplished executive. She forms part of a trio of female senior executive hires. “We

Retail technology consultant Jessica Couch is launching an AI-generated fashion tech platform with co-founder Bo Hu Yang, aiming to help stylists and stylish people to monetize their influence.  The AI-powered platform, which officially launches in October, is a personalized fashion discovery engine that matches people to products based on fit and style. How does Looks work? Stylists, can tag and post their looks on the platform and share them with their community. The stylist will get paid whenever someone buys an item that they post. The platform incentivizes peer-to-peer relationships

Renowned tennis champion Naomi Osaka has forayed into the world of digital fashion in a new partnership with Meta Avatars. Osaka has unveiled her flagship digital apparel collection that showcases her unique sense of style which she describes as “eclectic, unpredictable, yet comfortably cool.” The collection launched on Wednesday with five outfits that draw inspiration from her Haitian and Japanese heritage, her love for tennis, her media company Hana Kuma, and even her beloved dog Butta. “Being able to take trends from the real world and translate into the metaverse

Sabrina Thompson, a NASA aerospace engineer and founder of streetwear brand Girl In Space Club (GISC), is using her passion for sneakers to ignite the curiosity of young minds in science, space, and technology. The 38-year-old’s initiative, STEMulating Art, is bridging the gap between creativity and technical skills for young minds. Designing a pair of kicks for the moon Thompson noticed that while kids were excited to meet a rocket scientist like herself, they had trouble connecting with the technical aspects of her work. Determined to bring space exploration down

25-year-old Iddris Sandu is a technologist and founder of Spatial Labs (sLabs) an organization committed to reshaping the future of commerce, Blockchain technology, and fashion.  The technologist, born in Accra, Ghana, moved to Los Angeles when he was three years old. After teaching himself how to code and partaking in a range of internships and consultancy programs, Sandu set his sights on reshaping the way technology exists in the world. Additionally, he stuck to his word and became one of the youngest founders to enter Black Enterprise’s 40 under 40 list. The

The Lip Bar Inc., the holding company for the beauty brands The Lip Bar and Thread Beauty, has closed a new funding round. The $6.7 million round, led by Pendulum, will focus on expanding The Lip Bar and Thread Beauty’s distribution as well as incubating a third beauty brand. Endeavor and The Fearless Fund also contributed to the fund. Melissa Butler, the business’ founder and Chief Executive Officer, said the round came after years of consistent growth unencumbered by the pandemic. “Our lip sales were crazy during the pandemic—we sold

Armed with smartphones and armies of faithful fans, social media sensations such as Khaby Lame are building fortunes by redefining the rules of entertainment, advertising, and stardom. The inaugural Forbes Top Creators list highlights the 50 social superstars leveraging a combined 1.9 billion followers across social networks to earn $570 million in 2021 alone. Their average age is just 31. Next year’s windfall is significantly richer as famous personalities shift from influencers to owners, using their massive reach to start their own ventures—clothing lines, beauty empires, TV series, and fast food chains.

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