OUR STORY

When I launched Maakola in 2015, I had no fashion or retail experience. But what I did have was a strong entrepreneurial spirit and an Italian’s sense of style.

A traveller at heart, I know how it feels to be the outsider trying to integrate into a new community. I am often the new and different person in the room; the only woman. A lifetime of wanderlust has taught me that it only takes a tenth of a second to form an impression of a stranger.

That’s why I started to design my own clothes. I was looking for pieces that could communicate my personality in an instant, while also keeping up with my fast paced lifestyle. The answer lay in the African prints I discovered in Ghana: vibrant, unique patterns that tell a story of their own.

Inspired by the saleswomen who popularized Dutch wax prints in Africa a century ago, and with the help of Cindy Kofie and Priscilla Adjubel, I decided to launch Maakola: a new kind of fashion brand that empowers women through work and makes customers feel good through what they wear.

I’m so grateful to all the women whose talent, imagination and dedication has inspired us on our journey — and I hope you’ll become a part of the Maakola story too.