Elike Nkansa: Architect turned fashion designer

*This article was first published in my column “Celebrating Entrepreneurship’ in Graphic Business on Tuesday, June 2, 2015

There can’t be many people in Ghana — or even the world — who spent several years at university studying architecture only to give it all up to become a fashion designer.

But that is what Elike Nkansa did, defying his parents’ wishes in the process. Perhaps it was always bound to happen, given that the entrepreneur had been designing clothes since his school days.

“After my education, I worked in a firm for just nine months, but ran back to my [fashion] studio and business because I missed it sorely,” he laughs.

His ‘artsy and liberal’ parents were not ecstatic about his decision, but they were cautiously supportive. Elike had studied architecture as a compromise between what his parents wanted and his desire to pursue his artistic passion and dreams.

“At the time architecture seemed perhaps the most solid artistic program that was available,” he explains.

As a child, he would sketch clothes and then hand them over to a professional tailor to make up — providing detailed directions and sample fabrics that he’d purchased with his pocket money.

At the age of nine, Nkansa designed and sold his first garments: Hawaiian shirts with lapels. Eschewing the typical bold fruit and vegetable prints normally used, Nkansa settled on fabric and designs that were much subtler. As he puts it: “I chose the fabric that looked dignified in my opinion. Like something my father would wear.”

A diplomat friend of the family who happened to be visiting the Nkansa home snapped up the shirts. But it soon became clear this was not simply a kind gesture from a family friend: the diplomat loved the garments so much he quickly ordered another batch.

Such early success gave Nkansa the necessary confidence so crucial to successful entrepreneurship.

“By the time I was a teenager I was quite sure that it was possible to make a product, walk up to somebody and ask them if they would buy it, negotiate a price and get it sewn up. Even if you only made a marginal profit, you knew that someone else might see it and want one [for themselves].”

During his secondary school and university years, Nkansa ran a thriving fashion business alongside his studies.

I am proud to say that I have been wearing Nkansa’s clothes since those days. In 1995 when the defunct Filla! magazine I co-founded decided to hold a fashion show, it was Nkansa’s designs we chose to model on the catwalk. (As we chat, I am delighted to learn that the show, held at the Novotel in Accra was Nkansa’s first such fashion show).

In 1996, immediately after finishing his undergraduate studies at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Nkansa opened his first shop and workshop with the proceeds of his early success in selling his clothes.

In those days, like a lot of entrepreneurs, he had to live in modest circumstances. His first shop, which Nkansa slept in on a collapsible bed during the night, is only three doors down from his current outlet in North Kaneshie. His “factory” was a disused friend’s bakery nearby, which was unbearably hot to work in during the day.

To drum up business Nkansa would hit the clubs with friends each weekend and hand out flyers and business cards, figuring that was the way to spread the word amongst the “hippest people”.

Nkansa produces colourful clothes for both men and women which he describes on his website as “casual, minimalistic and unique”. His designs continue to be popular, and not just in Ghana: around 70% of trade is exports.

His marketing spend is negligible: he relies largely on word-of-mouth, a website and the firm’s Facebook page. Elike Clothing boasts over 1,000 customers and has a long waiting list for its bespoke range.

I can attest that measuring and fitting sessions with him are an absolute joy. He is as comfortable discussing the politics of the Soviet Union as he is discussing Georgio Armani. He is a voracious reader (Paulo Coelho is his favourite author) and a film buff.

Nkansa’s architectural training and world-view give him an edge in the highly competitive fashion industry. He’s as interested in how clothes feel on you as he is in what they look like. But he admits on his website that designing for women offers “more potential and a challenge”.

It’s no surprise that he has managed to stay relevant for this long. “It is critical to stay young mentally, maintain all kinds of friends and read a lot,” he says. “A stronger worldview of things generally … is essential for any entrepreneur — and much more so fashion, which is a colourful business!’

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