Charlene Akuamoah Is Channeling Her West African Heritage Through Style

We spoke with the Ghanaian stylist and designer about getting started and working on passion projects.

African designs, patterns, and colors have experienced an impressive boom in recent years. African ideas are front and center and now, more than ever, African creatives are being considered as the trendsetters and champions of innovative fashion.

Ghanaian wardrobe stylist and fashion designer Charlene Akuamoah is one of those trendsetters trying to break barriers. Akuamoah, who is based in Toronto, started out by styling friends in the entertainment industry. She tried her hand out in wardrobe and editorial styling for fun at first, before others took notice of her talents and began hiring her. In 2016, a few years into her career, Akuamoah and two of her best friends started their apparel brand BROKE&LIVING, a passion project dedicated to women stretching and testing their creative abilities. The now unisex brand separates their clothing into two sections; BROKE, their basics + everyday wear collection, and LIVING, the company's ready-to-wear line. Akuamoah was named one of OkayAfrica's 100 most influential women among the diaspora in 2019, as the brand took off.

From years of volunteering her time for free at studios and on sets, Akuamoah has scored styling partnerships with Sony Music Canada and has had her work featured in a number of publications including FASHION Magazine, Afropunk, The Fader, The Marilyn Denis Show, and more. 

Akuamoah is focused on creating a network of Black and African creatives within her industry and encouraging young creatives who want to pursue careers in fashion, styling, and wardrobe and costume designing. Her understanding of fashion, from both a design and editorial angle, has given Akuamoah the ability to approach all her projects with a different, unique perspective.

We spoke with Charlene Akuamoah on her focus on dressing narratives in bigger and better ways, and being the person she needed when she started out.