Fashion is her passion
Discovering your passion is never an easy task and transforming that passion into a brand and a viable business that empowers others is even harder still.
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However, one person who has been able to succeed in both endeavours is Ms Angelina Matey, who discovered from a very early age that she had the passion for sewing.
And she has pursued that passion to establish a fashion design school known as the Angilo Institute, which has so far trained over 500 people in the art of fashion design for over 20 years.
In an interview with Showbiz, Angelina Matey said her parents recognised from a very early age that she had an interest in sewing and as a result enrolled her as an apprentice with a seamstress during her vacation days from school.
Ms Matey admits that although she was initially against the idea of studying sewing, she is now grateful for the opportunity.
“I studied accounting in secondary school and at the university but eventually after National Service, I realised I still had much more interest in being creative than being an accountant so I set up the Angilo Institute,” she said.
She admits that setting up initially was not an easy task and she had to put in extra effort in order to get things off the ground.
“My mom was a baker so I set up on a table in front of her oven with one sewing machine but because people were aware of how hardworking I was, many people came for me to train them.
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“Through the little fees I charged, I bought another sewing machine and it grew from there and now I have over 200 sewing machines and over 200 students studying various courses,” she said.
“For anyone who wants to go into business, the key word is hard work. You don’t have to give up and you have to make sure your clients are satisfied and keep on working until you get to the top.
“There were times when customers were not satisfied with my work so I bought new fabric with my own money and did the work all over again just to maintain them as customers and get them to recommend me to others,” she added.
Drawing on her years of experience, Ms Matey said the Ghanaian fashion sector seems to be experiencing a decline thanks to the over reliance on foreign imports and the refusal of local designers to create their own unique designs.
“At the moment, things are at a decline due to the influx of foreign imports. It looks like people are only interested in copying what they see in catalogues and already-made designs rather than creating their own.
“Currently, creativity is lacking but we need to understand that we can also create our own for others to also copy,” she said.
“There is a huge market for local and African designs but the fact remains that the foreign products are significantly cheaper, which makes them affordable for the majority of consumers,” she said.
Angelina Matey acknowledged that the attitude of some local fashion designers was also to blame for the dwindling fortunes of local fashion designers in the country.
“The culture of indiscipline is also not helping the local fashion industry. Ghanaians in general give a lot of excuses when it comes to business.
“Why do you delay the outfit of a customer and give excuses when the customer needs that particular dress for a function. I see it as an attitudinal problem but not every fashion home exhibits this though. There are still many professional fashion homes out there that are ready to work,” she said.