Sub Saharan Africa does not have a dedicated fashion institute; there are a small array universities that offer fashion degrees, however none of these are recognized by the international fashion industry. Burgeoning African design talent is left with no choice but to study abroad, an option only available for wealthy Africans thus leaving and a continent of untapped talent. In Ghana, Radford University has a Fashion Department that offers a B.A. in Fashion and is NAB (National Accreditation Board) accredited under the KNUST – Kwame Nkrumah University of Technology. The AIFD will incorporate Radford’s fashion department into it’s state of the art facility and expand it considerably by developing partner programmes with the best fashion educational institutions in London and New York.
The AlFD will become the premier design innovation and education facility in Sub Saharan Africa and a leading initiative within the continent. Africa has long been associated with vibrant creativity, an institution such as ours will reinforce the message of excellence within the context of innovation and design. Our proposal is to create an education facility that can produce successful design innovators and world fashion industry talent, much in the way of international design institutions such as Parsons School of Design or London College of Fashion. In order for Africa to reach financial prosperity, the continent needs to produce large numbers world beating individuals but in the field of innovation and business, fashion has a vital role to play in this.
We plan to work with successful global fashion and design innovators who will deliver classes to our students.
Through our membership of the Global Partnership Forum we have access to a number of global business leaders whose expertise would have a major impact on our students.
This will not only allow our students to access some of the world’s best business minds but also encourage them to think on a global scale in their business models and aspirations. An institution such as ours would also put Africa on the map as an international centre of excellence in fashion and innovation. Our model is inspired by Parsons School of Design New York and London College of Fashion.
