The Fashion Designer - Emma Amoafo

Emma Amoafa is a third year medic. After a day on the ward most students can only think about bedsheets but Emma has another fabric on her mind. Her embryonic label Friday Born splashes colour across the streets of London in a life-saving injection of Ghanaian vibrance.

Meredith – How long have you been interested in fashion design?

Emma – I started designing from seventeen and making from nineteen. Then Friday Born started in January this year.I would do sketches then I would explain and get someone to make it for me, sit down and talk through exactly how I wanted it. Then I picked up how I could put stuff together myself.

M – Where did the name Friday Born come from?

E – In Ghana it’s customary to give a child a name according to which day they were born. I was born on a Friday so my name is Afua.

M - How important is Ghana for inspiring your work?

E – Probably the most important thing. I was born here but I go back to Ghana every year. I learnt how to design from Ghana. I think what makes people notice my clothes is the fabric, that’s all from there. It’s the whole reason I started as well.

M – All the money you make goes to charity, is that right?

E – It’s an orphanage in Ghana, in the city my parents come from, up on one of the mountains. I went there, and it was so nice! I thought, it’s my turn to do something for them. Growing up in this country, the only thing you ever get taught in school about Africa is poverty and wars. And whenever I went back, I lived in a city in a nice house. People ask you stuff, like do you live in a hut? And I’m thinking, why do they ask me this? I’ve never even seen a hut. It’s me wanting to show that it’s not about just that at all. We have so much to offer!

When they ask you stuff, like “do you live in a hut?”,

“Do you have enough to eat?”, they’re not being rude, that’s just what they’re told in this country. At the same time, you can’t act as if there isn’t poverty. I feel like Friday Born represents two sides of the coin. I’m showing you that there’s art coming out of Africa, there is talent, but at the same time, there is a lot of improvement to be made.

M – If you had one message you wanted to get across about Ghana, what would it be?

E – Just that it’s not only about poverty and war. Its so sad that no one has shown how colourful, how much talent and entrepreneurship there is coming out of Africa. We’re getting out there, it’s just happening slowly.

M – How do you get from an idea to actually making an item?

E – Things just crop up in my head; I might see something that I like, or I might see a fabric that I like. I start in different ways. I don’t put that much effort into sketching. I just do a rough thing and go ahead and do it. I don’t obey the laws that you are supposed to, like measuring. I’m very haphazard.

M – A lot of bow ties, where did which come from?

E – I don’t know, it was really random. It was about this time last year and I’d finished exams. I had scraps of fabric, not big enough to do anything proper with, it just sort of happened. Bow ties are a big thing, but I do accessories like laptop cases. I do a few clothes but I’ve been reluctant to go wild on them because they take so much longer to make. I want to find a tailor that’s not too expensive.

M - Do you have any advice for anyone trying to do something like this alongside their degree?

E - Just do it! The worst you can do is say you don’t have time, because you waste time anyway. Everyone is on Facebook and Twitter. If you really want to do something, you will find time for it. I think there are harder times and easier times. Right now is obviously a hard time with exams, otherwise, it’s just time management. I honestly think that, in life, you can do most things if you just plan well.

M – Where do you see this going?

E – It’s only been six months, it all happened really quickly. I need to do lot of thinking over the summer as to how far I want to take it. After exams I just need to make a lot. When I get back a couple of people have talked to me about participating in some shows.

M – Do you think we dress too grey in this country?

E – I would say we can use some more colour.