“Opulent colors and edgy cuts for contemporary, fashion-forward women”: Interview with the label Aschobi

APiF: Please introduce your business and your designs.
Adami Kai: Aschobi provides women with a daring yet timeless take on fashion. My designs represent a combination of various ethnicities with contemporary European styles. Aschobi blends structured silhouettes with opulent colors and edgy cuts. The label offers dresses, tops, evening wear, trousers, skirts, and accessories that will appeal to contemporary, fashion-forward women. As a luxury brand, we use the best in high-quality materials to create clothing that represents a true investment for customers.

APiF: When and why did you start designing with African Prints and Fabrics?Adami: I started designing with African Fabrics as a child on holiday in my home country Sierra Leone. I got tired of returning to boarding school in NYC with a suitcase filled of ill-fitted Africanas with massive sleeves that swallowed my 13 year-old childish frame and odd-shaped, ankle length pencil skirts that the tailors swore looked “FINE!!!!” on me.
APiF: Fashion Finds: What is your favorite piece in your closet or of your collection and why?
Adami: My favorite piece in the ASCHOBI collection would have to be the diaspora dress. It is the dress you wear when you don’t know what to wear and is guaranteed to get you lots of attention. But more importantly, it really expresses the spirit of the ASCHOBI woman: She is confident, elegant, a bit feminine, and edgy. She projects an effortless sophistication, a worldliness that fits in everywhere, yet always stands out from the crowd. She is both a trendsetter and timeless, an individual secure in her sense of self.

APiF: How do you market your designs and how do you make them accessibleto a global audience?Adami: We are committed to satisfy a unique niche as a multicultural modern brand. Aschobi has a targeted marketing strategy that focuses on exposure via online and offline means, ranging from social media and email marketing to fashion magazine editorials, trunk shows and in-store events.

APiF: Any tips for new designers/start-ups in the fashion industry?
Adami: It is a lot of work. The glitz and the glamor have very little to do with the journey, so it requires a lot of dedication, stamina and motivation to make it through the obstacles. Keep your mind open to the people you meet, you never know who is willing to lend a helping hand and how things can take off from there. But most importantly, never stop searching within yourself on how you can make your ideas, your brand, the people that work for you better. Never settle, continue to raise the bar and challenge yourself. After achieving one goal there has to be another to conquer.

Find out more:
f: Aschobi on facebook
w: http://www.aschobi.com/