by “The most important thing to remember is that you can wear all the greatest clothes and all the greatest shoes, but you’ve got to have a good spirit on the inside. That’s what’s really going to make you look like you’re ready to rock the world.” Alicia Keys (Glamour UK, 2020)
Ghana is considered one of the wealthiest nations in West Africa. The country is equally known for its rich natural resources and efforts on sustainable development.
“The Government and people of Ghana have taken up the challenge of the SDGs, and are working assiduously towards their successful implementation.
Gold, cocoa and more recently oil form the cornerstone of Ghana’s economy have helped fuel an economic boom.” (BBC, 2018)
Significantly, GHANA Voluntary National Review Report, 2019 reported the regime is indeed aiming for sustainability.
Despite above economic indicators, the fashion industry is not left behind.
Promotion of Fashion and Culture
The Ghanaian fashion industry and brands have embraced the sustainability approach to creating long-term value by taking into consideration how they operate in the ecological, social, and economic environments.
Other brands have stepped up their collaboration across supply chains to reduce waste, increase resource productivity and optimize material usage.
In Ghanaian culture, women usually dress in both ornate traditional and Western outfits and there are no limitations in the mode of dress in Ghana.
With bold prints, Kaba and Slit combination style with Kente cloth (sometimes a beaded piece) is the ultimate dream for those who are interested in the country’s culture.
According to Swiftfoxx, it is “an African equivalent of the Western tailored Top and Skirt.” Generally, Kente is worn by the Ghanaian tribe and it characterizes the national cultural identity.
Use of social media platforms
Fashion and culture are highly recognized on various social media platforms through social media accounts, brands, and businesses.
#GhanaFashion on Instagram is quite popular, having 417K posts with engagements and interactions from multiple users.
The hashtag posts reveal beautifully presented Ghanaian fashion elegance, along with posts related to makeup, hairstyles, accessories, photography, and wedding images.
As a reminder for all social media lovers, Facebook owns Instagram since 2012 (BBC, 2019).
Social Media Hashtags
“…Africans are pairing their already extensive use of mobile phones with a more recent and massive interest in social media.
Internet-based tools and platforms that allow people to interact with each other much more than in the past.
In so doing, Africans tend to be leading what may be the next global trend on the continent, a major shift to mobile internet use, with social media as its main drivers.” (Afolabi, 2015)
Social Media has really changed the way we see fashion and culture.
From hashtags to stories, we can view and experience that people all over the world are interested in the next new thing.
Therefore, when a particular hashtag becomes a trend, people become aware and they start making conversations and discussions over a particular topic through the hashtag.
A hashtag is like a title or a label; if it is catchy and attractive along with a specific campaign. People start to share it all over the social media landscape.
When it comes to #Africa, its hashtag has over 31 million posts, where #Ghana has more than 7 million posts, and as we mentioned before #GhanaFashion with 417k posts.
Let’s study what we have seen on Instagram as trends related to #Africa and #Ghana in particular.
#Africa includes mixed images of nature, wildlife in addition to fashion, lifestyle, and photography. Whereas, #Ghana combines posts associated with fashion, clothes, style, food, entertainment, and more.
More specifically, #GhanaFashion has many posts related to a specific type of Ghanaian style of fashion with its beautiful prints.
Ghana-based fashion entrepreneurs can use these hashtags in order to reach their target audience, thus, they can create awareness, interest, desire, conversion, and advocacy or loyalty (Marketing funnel, Sprout Social).
Social media plays a great role in promoting culture through fashion.
When it comes to the Instagram platform, it states that the “hashtag and location pages include public photos and videos that were shared with the corresponding hashtag or location”.
Most of the social media users interact with the accounts who have posted images or videos related to #GhanaFashion and most of the engagements are considered positive and encouraging among the users.
Hashtags are public and sorted in one specific category, therefore, users can freely select images and posts that they want to see and they can interact with them.
Accounts’ comment boxes are filled with emojis such as fire, love, and smiley face, in addition to positive notes most of the time.
Hashtags and mentions are also used by social media accounts in order to gain more reach among the public.
Fashion brands are definitely adopting social media to appeal to their audiences within a certain platform.
Here’s a list of some Ghanaian fashion brands on Instagram with “following” insights.
Christie Brown [1] @christiebrowngh : Ghanaian luxury fashion brand offering a stylish taste of true neo-African culture with more than 80k followers
Studio 189 @studiooneeightynine: Sustainable Fashion Award Winner, made in Africa, handcrafted textiles. More than 45K followers
AAKS @a.a.k.s: A bespoke range of eclectic handcrafted bags made in Ghana. More than 37k followers.
Duabaserwa @duabaserwa: A high-end Ghanaian womenswear brand. More than 26k followers
Ohema Ohene @ohemaohene: African inspired fashion brand for Men and Women with a British Twist, made in Ghana More than 6k followers
Larry Jay @larryjayghana: Ghanaian brand of ethical fashion clothes and accessories. More than 6k followers.
Horseman Shoes @horsemanshoes: No.1 shoemakers in Ghana. More than 4k followers.
Atto Tetteh @attotetteh: Contemporary African menswear brand from Ghana. More than 3k followers.
Gary Pie @garypieonline: The emerging brand, based in Ghana. More than 1k followers.
Kayadua @kayaduastudio: Continuous expression of FREEDOM, Ghana. More than 1k followers.
Different fashion brands use different hashtags since the image, video, and text have to be interrelated and consistent. Plus, there is no right or wrong when crafting social media content.
To have an effective and successful social media plan, fashion brands can invest more in social media through advertising and follow a certain strategy to achieve success and sustainability, whilst promoting their culture online.
“It is the human being that counts. I call gold; it does not answer. I call cloth; it does not answer. It is the human being that counts,” a proverb from Ghana (African Studies Center, BU).
Figure [1]: Photo credit to Christie Brown
https://www.facebook.com/ChristieBrownGH/
Bibliography
Articles
- 27 of the most memorable quotes that prove fashion is *so* much more than frivolity, Glamour UK. 21 August 2020. https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/ Accessed 22 October 2020.
- Elikplim, Eriq, Latest Ghana kaba and Slit Styles for any Occasion, https://www.swiftfoxx.com/latest-ghana-kaba-slit-styles-occasion/ Accessed 22 October 2020.
- Marketing funnel, Sprout Social wesbite, https://sproutsocial.com/glossary/marketing-funnel/ Accessed 22 October 2020.
News Items
- Ghana country profile, BBC NEWS, 1 May 2018, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13433790, Accessed 22 October 2020.
- Facebook owns the four most downloaded apps of the decade, BBC NEWS, 18 December 2019, https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-50838013. Accessed 22 October 2020.
Other References
- Afolabi, Adeleye, “Social Media Marketing. The Case of Africa: Challenges of Social Media Marketing In Africa.” 2015, Carleton University, Master of Engineering, Research Project
- Amoh, Max and Johnson, Vera, “Proverbs from Ghana”, Pardee School of Global Studies, African Studies Center, http://www.bu.edu/africa/outreach/teachingresources/specific-african-countries/gp/. Accessed 22 October 2020.
- Help.instagram.com
- GHANA Voluntary National Review Report of the Implementation of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, June 2019. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/23420Ghanas_VNR_report_Final.pdf. Accessed 22 October 2020.
- The Republic of Ghana, USGS, Earth Resources Observation and Science, https://eros.usgs.gov/westafrica/country/republic-ghana
