15 young founders who rethink the world (v) Amira and fashion e-commerce platforms

15 Young Founders Rethinking Everything (5)

15 young founders who rethink the world (5)

Amira Ressoul and The Folklore Group's fashion e-commerce platform

From studying in South Africa and thinking about decolonization, to founding a company and building cultural bridges

Amira Rasool, 26; The Folklore Group

Amira Ressoul, 26, founded fashion e-commerce platform The Folklore Group.

"Our African-based brands tend to have more sustainable practices."

"Our African brands tend to adopt more sustainable practices," she says. ”

After college at Rutgers University, Amira Rasool got her master's in philosophy at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

Amira completed her undergraduate studies at Rutgers University in the United States and went on to study philosophy at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and earn a master's degree.

While she was there, she thought a lot about decolonization. "When African countries were colonized, they were told their customs were wrong," she says. But on this side of history, she thought there was a lot to admire about those customs.

While in South Africa, she thought a lot about decolonization. When African countries were colonized, colonizers taught indigenous peoples that their customs were problematic, but she believed that from a historical perspective, there was much to admire about those customs.

In 2018, that thinking prompted Rasool to found The Folklore Group, a Techstars-backed e-commerce distribution platform that brings fashion and lifestyle products from African nations to the rest of the world.

This idea led her to start The Folklore Group in 2018. It is an e-commerce platform backed by Techstars, a well-known startup incubator. The platform is a bridge between Africa and the world, bringing the fashion of African countries and products related to their lifestyles to the rest of the world.

Although the idea received praise and investor interest (just this April, she announced a $1.7 million pre-seed funding round), the actual logistics proved to be complicated.

The construction of the platform has been well received and the interest of investors. Just this April, she raised $1.7 million in pre-seed funding. But she also found the logistics behind the platform complex.

First, there was the matter of simply getting The Folklore's brands out of Africa — and paying their creators. No payment system was available continentwide, but The Folklore is working with a vendor who is helping to facilitate payments for brands on their platform.

First, at the very least, take the brands out of Africa and pay the creators of those brands. And there are no ready-made payment systems across the continent. The company is currently working with a vendor to set up a payment system.

African designers couldn't get professional photographs of products, so The Folklore showed them how.

In addition, product designers in Africa often lack professional photographers to take professional product photos, and companies are also helping in this regard.

Then, because shipping small-batch quantities was pricey, Rasool figured out bulk shipping and distribution. To keep up with demand, this spring the brand pivoted from direct-to-consumer to wholesale.

Then, since products are usually small in bulk and small shipments are expensive, Amira came up with bulk shipping and distribution. To keep up with demand, this spring, they shifted their operations from direct to wholesale.

Now, Rasool says, she's working to bridge a different culture — that of consumer expectations.

Amira says she's working to build this cultural bridge and bring products to consumers who are excited about different cultures.

"Our customers in the West are used to a certain speed and accessibility, but our African-based brands tend to have more sustainable practices," she says.

Our customers in the West are usually used to getting products quickly and experiencing products, but our African brands are different from this habit in that they do it more sustainably.

"They usually engage in slow fashion, produce smaller batches, and are careful about where they source. So we've tried to show consumers there is value in adjusting their personal behavior to be more sustainable. Plus, there's a positive impact on others they can be proud of." — Kim Kavin

They are usually engaged in slow fashion, small batch production, and pay attention to their reputation. Therefore, we try to show consumers the value of its sustainability, as well as their positive impact. Journalist Kim Kevin