by Black Enterprise
August 2, 2024
Andrea Osei speaks to Black Enterprise about how she is diversifying the luxury bridal fashion scene.
Entrepreneur Andrea Osei keeps reinventing herself while remaining true to the values that guide her new ambitions.
The pharmacist-turned-fashion designer has already established herself in the luxury bridal scene, creating silhouettes that stem from her Ghanaian-American upbringing. With diversity from leadership to marketing, Andrea Osei Bride keeps growing.
From showcasing at Bridal Fashion Week to being featured in Brides magazine, Osei is at the forefront of making luxury accessible to everyone. Alongside her professional milestones, Osei’s impact extends to philanthropy. She co-founded a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting children within the African diaspora.
Osei has much on her to-do list but is more inspired than ever by her surroundings and storied history. She spoke to BLACK ENTERPRISE about her “multidimensional” journey and evolution as a Black woman entrepreneur.
BE: You went from pharmacy to fashion. Can you provide details on when this love for fashion design, specifically bridal, spoke to you?
It was such an unexpected discovery, to be honest. It was really rooted in seeing my grandmother sew at her sewing machine, garden, and do all types of things to beautify our home. So, I learned how to sew by hand from my grandmother as a child, but I also gravitated toward math and science and was pushed toward that. I never really saw myself as someone who was “fashionable,” mainly because my family didn’t always have the means to buy the latest and the greatest growing up. My grandmother had actually passed away six months before my wedding in 2013, and my aunt, who was also my godmother, got me a sewing machine in her honor.
I just had a natural knack for it, doing children’s clothes and a few custom orders. Then, I opened up my series of women’s ready-to-wear clothing. People had always asked me for wedding dresses, but I always felt like I wanted to do my due diligence and get more skin in the game, such as studying the business of fashion before I transitioned. So I did it all throughout COVID. After that, I decided that I was ready to jump into the world.
How are you tying your upbringing, culture, and identity into your work, especially when the silhouettes are built from the classic white dress?
I didn’t realize it at first, but now, like, when I look back, a lot of my fashion influence actually comes from African church culture. I think that was my first taste of seeing women throw it on, from beaded laces and puff sleeves, every single Sunday. In our country, we do a lot of what’s called the kaba and slit, which is basically a peplum top and a penciled bottom with a slit in the back. But I’m going more for texture and structure for this next collection. I want it to feel sublime and ethereal. Those are two words that pop into my mind when I describe this next collection. All of those factors play a huge role culturally and even when I’m doing my designs for bridal. I want to make women feel like how those women felt every Sunday.
For many Black female entrepreneurs, getting the funding to bring ideas to fruition is tough. Can you explain, financially speaking, your journey to getting your business off the ground? Did you get angel investors?
I believed in me, predominantly. And if I could lend some advice to anyone trying to get their business off the ground, I’ve always essentially led with ‘I have the talent,’ and just jumped in, bootstrapped, and self-funded it. Try to build that foundation of capital as much as you can. What I found in my journey is anytime that you don’t feel like your personal finances are really stable, it’s very hard for you to consistently remain focused on the goal. So, I’ve utilized grants, my own funding, and small loans. I haven’t taken out any major loans, and I’ve used crowdfunding. Those are the capital resources that I’ve used throughout my journey as an entrepreneur in fashion. But I’m really happy with how things are going now.
How are you moving the needle forward in diversifying this niche space in fashion?
It’s hard to be an African-American designer in the bridal space because it is not diverse. When you hear people say that fashion needs more diversity and inclusion, when you zero in on bridal, it’s even more so, right? And I think a lot of the unspoken sentiment is that your business will not be successful if you don’t use all-white models or if you yourself are not white or racially ambiguous. We are moving the needle forward by being very bold in our approach when it comes to marketing and branding.
When we say we are about diversity, equity, and inclusion, it’s not just in our modeling campaigns. It’s on the back end, too. So we like to hire people of different races, sexual orientations, backgrounds, religions, etc, because I feel like they each bring their own flavor to the table and their own POV from their cultures as well. And it’s very, very valuable to my business as a creative. I love it.
You’re providing luxury from a Black lens to a Black and diverse demographic. What does that luxury mean?
We aren’t going to be confined to what someone else defines as luxury. I think, for me, what it means is showing up better than the expectation each and every single time. It’s making sure that the quality assurance is on “1000.” You make sure that you really cater to that bride. She should know you have her best interest at heart. You are and want to be ingrained in her special day. Go the extra mile. Make sure that they know this is not just luxury bridal; this is one of the top options.
What challenges do you feel you’ve learned from the most as you continue to grow and scale your business?
Don’t try to grow too fast. That’s a lesson I’ve learned and it has been reinforced to me. I think that in this world of “Instagram microwave” success, it is very easy to feel like you’re not reaching a milestone fast enough. You’ll see other businesses in the industry have reached a certain level. Yet, you don’t know the cost of their sacrifice to get to that point. So it’s really about staying in your own lane. Planning is paramount, and so is being consistent with the work.
Raising H.O.P.E. is your philanthropic endeavor; explain its creation and your ongoing role.
So Raising H.O.P.E. is a nonprofit I co-founded with my sister, Ellen. Our purpose is to provide resources to children within the African diaspora. We’ve been mainly focusing on children with special needs. The whole reason we started [the venture]is because of my mom’s work with a group of orphans in Dodowa, Ghana. We were like, ‘Wow, how can we make this more sustainable and cast a wider net?’ What we focus on is providing resources to the community and also tools. When we are working with autistic children, we have their parents come in and teach them the tools that they can use to go back and help their children.
What do you want your lasting impact to be?
I want to build a legacy of excellence that my [successors]can ultimately inherit and pick up the torch to run with. I also want to leave a legacy that shows Black women or girls that you don’t have to be one-dimensional. You can give yourself permission to evolve, and I think that’s really the story of my life. I thought I was going to be a pharmacist until I retired. I loved being a pharmacist. When I discovered a new love, I gave myself permission to reinvent myself. You should reinvent yourself as many times as you feel fit in your spirit.
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