Fashion sisters host event for black creatives

Two sisters who founded a special event celebrating black creatives have told how their own challenges starting a fashion brand inspired them to fight to give others a platform.

Adeola and Ronke Jane Adelakun, are the founders of the African fashion brand Cultureville, which they started after struggling to find African print clothing in the UK.

The two told the BBC Radio Manchester that they struggled with upscaling their business due to a lack of help and resources available.

Adeola said: "I soon realised I wasn’t alone, there were many other creatives that were struggling to actually make money out of their craft."

After university, Adeola went back to Nigeria for three and a half years to reconnect with her roots.

She said that while she was there, she fell in love with the fabrics and clothes which inspired the start of their fashion brand after realising that this style was hard to find in the UK.

Returning to Manchester with a plan, Adeola teamed up with her sister Ronke Jane and together they worked hard to set up Cultureville.

Adeola said: “For me, I think it’s a knowledge and network gap.

“I didn’t see many fashion designers or people with similar journeys and there’s a lot of things that you can only do if you know somebody, which I found difficult.”

She continued: “And it wasn’t just me. So many other creatives were struggling because they needed a platform, skills, resources and so that was how we started this event - by thinking about what we can do to help this community of creatives.”

The Black Creative Trailblazers was set up by Adeola and Ronke Jane in the hope of boosting the representation of black creative entrepreneurs and offering the same help that they had needed when starting Cultureville.

The annual event, held at the Aviva Studios in Manchester last week, featured performances from black musicians, poets and models as well as showcasing the work of artists and fashion designers.

Ronke Jane said: "We have to do more to open the door to black creatives, it's not enough to just talk about it."

A report released in 2020 by the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, found only 2% of workers in the UK’s creative industry were black.

Ronke Jane added: “It’s such a small percentage in an industry worth billions.

“It represents a lack of opportunity and a lack of the community being able to elevate itself."

The pair said that they want Black Creative Trailblazers to act as a launchpad for creatives’ careers by inviting potential employers and agencies to watch the show.

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