By Ibrahim S.Bangura
Mayor of Freetown, Yvonne Aki-Sowyer on Friday, December 16, 2022 launched Freetown Fashion Design and Creative Arts Network at the Town City Hall in Freetown with the aim of creating job opportunities for youth in Sierra Leone and across Africa.
The launch was attended by Morta Foresti, the project leads for Overseas Development Institute (ODI); Foday Dumbuya, founder of Labrum, a menswear fashion brand fusing British tailoring with West African design and creative director in London; fashion designers; musicians; artists; and filmmakers.
The initiative of the platform came about after Mayor Aki-Sawyer and Mayor Giuseppe Sala of Milan and co-founded of the Mayors’ Dialogue, a city-led platform for Africa and Europe, made a series of discussions to addressing job opportunities for youth in Africa in 2020.
According to Aki-Sowyer, after some months of working with partners to collaborate with the fashion design industries and creative communities in cities, they agreed to launch the Freetown Fashion Design and Creative Arts Network.
She said that the platform is not only aiming at helping youth to be self-reliant but also improving the image of the country as well as its economy. She encouraged everyone of Sierra Leoneans to embrace the platform for the interest of all.
Mayor expressed her appreciations to the participants and the Mayor of Milan. “We were excited to listen to three Freetown creative makers sharing reflections about their experiences in London and Milan in July and September 2022. It was also a pleasure to listen to a recorded message from Mayor Giuseppe Sala of Milan. We thank you all for this great opportunities for Africans mostly for the Sierra Leonean youths,” Mayor said.
She said that with partnership and support from the ODI and Labrum, the platform will be used to develop and channel opportunities for skills exchanges between cities.
According to the Mayor, the ultimate aim of collaborating with Milan is to open the Milan market to Freetown fashion to lead the industry and create jobs.
Fashion Designers, artists etc.thanked Mayor and partners for creating the platform for them. “This is what we are expecting. We thenk you, Mayor Aki-Sowyer and partners,” they said.