Design Market in Ghana launches

The Design Market is a premier, seasonal market that features talented designers, artists and makers from across the African continent. The second edition will take place on November 4-5, in Accra, Ghana.

At the Design Market, visitors will have the opportunity to meet and shop directly from great designers from all over Africa, discover one-of-a-kind goods, and support local entrepreneurship. The weekend-long market will take place at Luxury Living, a high-end furniture store and home to Accra's Tea Room, which serves a range of luxurious African teas. In addition to a unique shopping experience, the Design Market offers a fun community event along with music, cultural exchange and a wide selection of specialty foods and beverages.

The Design Market is produced by Dabira, a company founded and led by Charlotte Ashamu, an economic development specialist and recipient of the Mo Ibrahim Leadership Fellowship awarded annually by billionaire, Mo Ibrahim. "We want to showcase home-grown African design talent. Our goals are to help designers and small businesses grow, to inject money into the local and regional economy, and open people's eyes to the fact that amazing, quality products are made in Africa," said Ashamu.

The Design Market will feature a curated exhibition of top-quality designers and products ranging from fashion to home décor to furniture. In total, over a dozen emerging and established designers from five countries in Africa will showcase their work. They include:

• Furniture designer and fine artist, Hamed Ouattara, from Burkina Faso, who transforms recycled metal into artistic homeware collections. His collections have been showcased at Design Miami, the premier global venue for design held alongside Art Bassel. 
• Ghana based womenswear label, Nadrey Laurent, renowned for its unique and striking designs worn by top African celebrities such as Yemi Alade.
• Leading Nigerian womenswear fashion designer, Yinka Fashola of Moofa, and founder of the Moofa School of Fashion Design. 
• Ghana's Studio Badge, a design studio that produces an exciting range of furniture, lighting and lifestyle products that celebrate the beauty of local Ghanaian wood.
• The trendy footwear brand, Nio Far, created by Senegalese designer, Milcos Badji, using traditional textiles and unique patterns.
• Idong Harrie, an exquisite line of leather footwear and accessories made in Nigeria, which trains unemployed youth in the art of footwear making.
• Nigeria's Ty Tys, a range of men's neckwear and accessories all hand-made using aso-oke, a traditional Nigerian textile. 
• Contemporary ready-to-wear women's fashion brands, Yalerri, Needlepoint and Atunnise Clothiers, made in Cote d'Ivoire and Nigeria respectively, incorporating African prints.
• Two of Ghana's new, cutting-edge fashion accessories brands, Myth House, which designs one-of-kind bags made of metal mesh, and Vastie's, creators of stylish sunglasses for all ages.
• Selassie Tetevie of Ram Designs, a Ghanaian furniture designer renowned for his unique pieces such as traditional musical instruments transformed into sofas and chairs.

Guests at the Design Market will also have the opportunity to discover specialty foods made locally in Ghana and beverages such as teas sourced from local communities in Africa. The featured chef is Jeff Luno of Wood, who fuses his French flair with local ingredients to create an unforgettable culinary experience.

Dabira, which means “to create something marvellous” in the Yoruba language, is a pioneering organisation dedicated to nurturing Africa's creative assets. Dabira's mission is to propel talented designers into growing successful and sustainable businesses.

To date, Dabira has supported 30 emerging design entrepreneurs through its business accelerator program and has established the Design Market in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, as one of the city's leading cultural events, attracting up to 250 visitors from all over the African continent and the world.

Source: African Media Agency