Conversation with Paul Kweku Akrofie, CEO, Real Peoples Company

FashionRetailBusinessEducationPodcast
Written By Joshua T Williams
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Paul Kweku Akrofie discusses his experience working in the fashion industry in Ghana. He shares his commitment to sustainably expanding the reach of African design and manufacturing, though business coaching and mentorship.

Paul Kweku Akrofie is the founder and CEO of Real Peoples Company (RPC) Ltd., a Ghanaian design and manufacturing brand that currently produces quality bags and accessories in Accra. With a passionate belief that quality comes from Africa, Paul uses a creative mix of locally sourced materials to create forward-looking designs that are locally inspired, globally oriented. The company also works on design and manufacturing contracts for multinational brands like the Vlisco Group (Woodin) and Nestlé. Through his leadership and enthusiasm to create dignified and meaningful jobs for Africa’s youth, Paul serves as a business training coach in partnership with the Impact HUB Accra and is providing local tailors with skill sets and jobs through his contracts which would have been outsourced internationally. He is also a member and alumni of the Global Shapers Community of the World Economic Forum and currently heads the Ghana committee for sustainable fashion organized yearly in partnership with Fashion Revolution in Accra.

Learn more: LinkedIn | Real Peoples Company Ltd.

Hosted by: Christopher Lacy, Assistant Professor, Parsons School of Design

Produced by: Joshua Williams, Assistant Professor, Parsons School of Design

Executive Producer:Fashion Consort

Follow the podcast on Instagram: @RetailRevolutionPodcast

Joshua T Williams

Joshua Williams is an award-winning creative director, writer and educator.  He has lectured and consulted worldwide, specializing in omni-channel retail and fashion branding, most recently at ISEM (Spain) and EAFIT (Colombia), and for brands such as Miguelina, JM, Andrew Marc and Anne Valerie Hash.  He is a full time professor and former fashion department chair at Berkeley College and teaches regularly at FIT, LIM and The New School.  He has developed curriculum and programming, including the fashion design program for Bergen Community College, that connects fashion business, design, media and technology.  His work has been seen in major fashion magazines and on the New York City stage. Joshua is a graduate of FIT’s Global Fashion Management (MPS) program, and has been the director and host of the Faces & Places in Fashion lecture series at FIT since 2010.

http://www.joshuatwilliams.com
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