Philomena Kwao: When I started, I was different from anything that existed in mainstream fashion
Philomena Kwao is a plus-sized British-Ghanaian model who has many philanthropic interests. Her meteoric rise came from working on multiple major campaigns for Torrid, MAC Cosmetics, Lane Bryant, Evans UK, Nordstrom and she has been highlighted on Huff Post UK, Guest blogger Metro UK, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Essence Magazine, among others. This British-Ghanaian beauty is the perfect canvas and model for the fashion industry! Her regal unapologetic natural beauty is one to behold. Philomena is also the Global Ambassador for Women For Women International Charity. She preaches the need for open dialogue and real inclusivity in the movement towards equal rights for women. SLA interviewed Philomena during her recent visit to Nigeria to celebrate with the women who are graduating this year’s program and have achieved access to life-changing skills to move from crisis and poverty to stability and economic self-sufficiency. [bctt tweet=”To pursue modeling, be yourself! – @PhilomenaKwao” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] You bagged a degree in Economics, and a Masters’ degree in International Health Management, how did you make the career switch to fashion and style? My original career choice was very different and my journey into modeling began by chance as I had planned out a career in health management and policy after completing my masters degree. A friend of mine entered my details online into a modeling competition in which Evans and Cosmopolitan in conjunction with Models1 were looking for a new plus-size model to front their shape campaign and to also become the Face of Style 369. I eventually won the competition and hence my career began. I was going to take a career break anyway after my masters as I had continued through school and work with no break. So when the opportunity came for me to move to NYC a new adventure made perfect sense. I could make money and travel which were two of the things I wanted to do most at the time. It was a huge blessing. I originally set out to try modeling out for a year. One year turned into seven and here I am today. It’s been an incredible journey so far. I am now signed to JAG Models and I am living and working in NYC. Tell us about how you got your modeling debut When I first got to NYC I didn’t work at all. It was hard! My look was new. I was everything you weren’t supposed to be rolled into one. Dark skin, plus and a shaved head. What would brands do with me? It took a while for me to find my place in the industry but when a few brands like Lane Bryant, Landsend and Torrid took the plunge to try something new and widen the definition of beautiful my career really took off. [bctt tweet=”My beauty is common in Africa but in the West its what defines me and sets me apart – @PhilomenaKwao” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] As an African plus-sized model, what was your biggest challenge breaking into the fashion industry, and how did you overcome them? For so long, in the West, the standard of African Beauty was (and arguably is) very very narrow. Extremely tall, extremely thin and extremely dark. Most of the African models hailed from East Africa and the west fetishized their beauty as exotic and a true representation of The African woman. There are many problems with this. Africa is a vast continent with hundreds of thousands of ethnicities each with their own beauty. To homogenize the African woman is limiting and dangerous. My beauty is common in Africa but in the West its what defines me and sets me apart. When I first started I was different from anything that existed in mainstream fashion. I had a shaved head, my features are more commercial and I am a plus sized woman. It was very hard for people to get their head around it. Typically plus-size models are white and hourglass, and when they are black they are of a fair complexion with an acceptable hair texture. If they were slightly darker they had a long weave. The typical American girl next door look. African models were typically slim tall and dark. And yet here I was a mixture of everything; too ‘exotic’ for commercial modeling, too big for mainstream high fashion modeling. My biggest challenge was getting people to understand that black beauty exists in an infinite number of forms. This wasn’t easy, a big push for my career was definitely when Lupita was recognized as a world-class beauty because then I became the plus size Lupita. [bctt tweet=”My biggest challenge in the industry was getting people to understand that black beauty exists in an infinite number of forms – @PhilomenaKwao” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] What prompted you to get involved in the movement towards equal rights for women around the world? As a woman, it’s hard to exist and live in this world without being affected by what’s happening to women around you. I was born in London, in the UK to a mother who immigrated from Ghana. I will never forget my first visit back home to Ghana. The disparity between my cousins and I simply because of where we were born was staggering. Even at such a young age it just felt so unfair and I was determined to make a change in any way possible. How did you become a Global Ambassador for Women For Women International Charity? Modeling is fun. It’s been an incredible blessing in my life, and I’m so grateful for every opportunity that I’ve been given but it isn’t enough. It isn’t enough for me. I’m still very much interested in my first love and passion, the advancement of women around the world. Whether through health, economic empowerment or social empowerment, women around the world need advancement. For too long we have been globally oppressed. The time for change is now and everyone can create change, firstly within themselves and then in their wider community. Social media has become such a powerful tool for this. One of the
JESSICA NAA ADJELEY KONNEY: I TURNED MY BOREDOM INTO PASSION FOR FASHION BLOGGING
Jessica Naa Adjeley Konney found living alone quite boring so she chose to stay on campus after lectures to while away time. As spending time on campus meant more time on the internet, she discovered blogging and entertainment blogs in Ghana like Ameyaw Debrah. This led to her decision to turn her boredom into a passion to keep her busy after school hours. Even though she knew nothing about blogging, she took a bold step and her experience in journalism/writing to set up a blog called Fashion 101 which later turned to Trendsnblendsgh as she saw the need to rebrand once her blog began to grow. She chose fashion blogging because there was no platform specifically dedicated to fashion in Ghana especially Ghanaian fashion. Over time, her blog has grown to become one of the best in Ghana and the Harper’s Bazaar of Africa called Trendsnblendsgh the go-to online hub for everything African Fashion starting with Ghana. Jessica now covers fashion events, features fashion entrepreneurs, offers style tips, offers professional advice to young fashion brands etc. Describe how you first got into blogging Blogging for me started as a hobby to while away time during my days at the Ghana Institute of Journalism. I used to spend so much time on campus after school back in the day because I had nowhere to go as I lived alone, so being at home was quite boring. While on campus, I surfed the internet a lot and that was when I realized that there were entertainment websites like Ameyaw Debrah, Ghana gist blogging about entertainment and there were fewer blogs on fashion so that was the moment I decided to turn my boredom into a passion to keep me busy after school hours. Interestingly, I had no clue about blogging whatsoever but I took the bold step to set up my blog using blogger.com and called it Fashion 101. With no direction whatsoever I set out to start fashion blogging. I thought to myself that once I had experience in journalism and writing I could definitely put together some content for this blog and I guess I did. How do you keep your social media pages lit and drive traffic to your blog? I see myself as a fashion journalist because I’m always on the lookout for contents that will make the news. After every post, I made sure to share the link to my blog on all my social media platforms (back then it was just Facebook and Twitter) and I consistently kept sharing. I also attended fashion events and introduced myself as a fashion blogger because it was the most common term people could understand. This wasn’t easy initially because it was new to event organizers but consistency and relevant content got me where I am today. With regards to keeping the social media pages lit, we take a lot of time to curate images from different sources. We are always looking out for the best photos that will not only engage our audience but keep our timeline clean as well. We sometimes collaborate with photographers for some of the stunning images but quite often we source these photos from other pages or brands. How do you get clients and generate revenue/income? For a long time, I felt the numbers or traffic wasn’t enough for me to monetize so I explored other ways to raise revenue or income. I started offering digital marketing services to clients for as low as about 100Ghc back then. Then, I also charged brands who promoted their lookbooks on my blog and platforms and that’s basically been how I make money. Trendsnblendsgh has gone into brand consultation services and helping young brands establish themselves all at a small fee. Monetization is however on our to-do list for the year. [bctt tweet=”People don’t see your dream as big as you do so don’t rely on them for validation – @dje_djelyn ” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Would you say fashion blogging is a great financial plan? Do you see a future with this career path? To be honest it’s not a great financial plan unless you’re determined to make it one. It’s new and fresh to people, especially in Ghana. Fashion entrepreneurs here don’t understand why you need to be paid for your services and it’s quite difficult and frustrating trying to get them to understand. I’d say have a financial backing, extra sources of income so it sustains the passion. At this point, I see it as a great career path for me. To be an editor-in-chief of one of Africa’s most renowned fashion website and some more career opportunities in this same field. Did you encounter any challenges when you started Trendsandblendgh? What did you learn from it? Always waiting for approval or validation/support. When I started trendsandblendsgh, I wasn’t so confident as an individual and also in what I was doing. I was seeking validation from others to tell me if this post was good enough or this idea was great. What this did was to slow me down entirely because until I had gotten approval or even support from someone I wouldn’t move. It’s one thing I have learned to fight and rise from. People don’t see your dream as big as you do so if you want to rely on them for validation, approval or support you might as well not start anything at all. Other than you, which 3 fashion bloggers are your absolute favorite and why? For style bloggers I love Irony of Ashi, her style is simply elegant. I dote on Afua Rida, I love her uniqueness in styling. I also love my friend Nuel Bans of debonair Afrik, I love his creative issues and admire his passion. Who is your number one fashion inspiration, favorite fashion magazine, and designer? With the rise of style influencers, it’s becoming extremely difficult to stick to one fashion icon or style icon. I tend to