Amma Osei, Capturing The ‘Boga’ Style

Amma Osei, founder of Sarf’O, can best be summed up in one word: energetic! After ending a long and tiring day at work, and trekking to Leyton to interview Amma, we were instantly bolstered by her humour and passion for designing innovative and futuristic shoes. It goes without saying that we were impressed with her growing ambition to develop into a knowledgeable and successful businesswoman.

Sarf’O, which was founded in November 2012, initially started out as a hobby for Amma. However upon the requests of bespoke orders from friends and family, coupled with unemployment and her determination to put her talent and energy to good use, Amma decided to turn her hobby into a viable business. Still learning the ropes of this new industry, Amma has been part of several fashion shows organised by FashionMist, designed shoes for Pauline Long, and has used her skills and knowledge in photography and media production to market her work. In Part 1 of this 3-part interview, we find out more about Sarf’O.

And so the conversation begins …

Yaaya

 

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Yaaya:

Hi Amma, it’s very nice to meet you! So, as you may know, one of the things Yaaya is keen on is providing a platform to showcase the achievements and talents of black women in Europe. How important do you think such platforms are for black women and girls?

Amma O:

It’s very important. I feel that Yaaya providing this platform for all of us, especially for black up-and-coming designers. It is a good way for our voices to be heard. Sometimes we start businesses or other types of stuff in our homes, and we don’t know how to get out there. Yaaya providing this for us, enables us to reach people we don’t necessarily know. It’s just good exposure for whatever people are into. This is one of many reasons why I agreed to do this interview.

Yaaya:

So the promotion of Sarf’O was one of the main reasons that influenced your decision to be interviewed?

Amma O:

Definitely! I’m still struggling a little bit with marketing my products, and the only way I market my products is by putting pictures on Facebook, Instagram or giving out my business card when I go to events. So by somebody [Yaaya] interviewing me, and wanting to hear my story, this will encourage people to look into what I do.

Sarf’O

 

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Yaaya:

You are the founder of Sarf’O. How did you come up with this interesting name?

Amma O:

This name was my brother’s name. He died about six years ago, so I thought that it would be a good idea to name Sarf’O after him. He loved style, he was a unique person. His name was ‘Boga’. I’m sure you understand what that means in Twi? (Laughs)

Yaaya:

Yes! Do you want to explain it to our readers?

Amma O:

‘Boga’ means a man of unique style. He’s a man everyone wants to see. With such a man, people want to see what trainers he is wearing, how he wears his trousers, and how he’s generally customised himself for the whole world to see him. That’s what ‘Boga’ means in our language Twi. It means a man of uniqueness, and that is why I named my brand after him, because I feel what I do is different, unique, and out of the box. He [my brother] represented that, and I just wanted to dedicate my brand to him.

Yaaya:

That’s beautiful. When did you start Sarf’O?

Amma O:

I started in November 2012. I was at home, unemployed and bored. So I thought I needed to be useful somehow. As a young person I need to put my energy into something. People need to see my energy because I’m full of it! So I thought why not, let me do something. I’ve always wanted to be part of the fashion industry, so I thought this [Sarfo’O] could put my name out there in the world of fashion.

Yaaya:

What was your motivation behind starting a fashion label?

Amma O:

To be honest, my motivation was the fact that I didn’t want to waste out. I went to university, studied media production and I didn’t want my talent to be wasted. I see myself as a creative person, So I thought, “If I’m not going to do anything related to media, at least let me do something that I love to do”. First of all, I love everything and anything about shoes. I love statement necklaces and statement earrings. I love shoes, I love fashion, and I’ve always wanted to be a fashion designer, so I felt why not! This is what motivated me. Not to waste my energy but put it into something positive and useful that I could tell people about. That was my main motivation.

Yaaya:

The tagline for Sarf’O is ‘Be unique, be an inspiration’. Does this tagline represent your designs, or the people that wear them?

Amma O:

Do you think my tagline represents my designs or the people that wear them?

Yaaya:

(Laughs) Well they certainly are unique, but we’re asking you!

Amma O:

(Laughs) Yes. That word ‘unique’, I think I should buy it and copyright it! I love the word ‘unique’, and this is what I wanted to reflect. A lot of people are doing what I do, but what makes me stand out is the fact that I think outside of the box. Certain things you can’t really design with, but I think “why not? Why not push it further? Why not take that risk? When I’m going out, I buy shoes that I feel are unique.” Sometimes people see it, and they are like “why are you wearing that?” But to me they are unique, and they make me stand out, and people will pay attention to me because of what I’m wearing. This is what I put into my work. I want somebody to say “wow that is nice”, and use words like 'unique' and 'different'. This is why I have this tagline. If you are unique, if I look at you, and you have something beautiful on you, you will inspire me. You are my inspiration there and then. I didn’t tell you, but your outfit spoke to me.. This is why I love ‘be unique, be an inspiration.’ You inspire me if you are unique. That’s it.

Yaaya:

A big part of success in the design world appears to be getting oneself out there. How does Sarf’O promote itself?

Amma O:

Very good question. Most of the time we do promotions on Facebook, we also do fashion shows as well. I have recently done one with FashionMist. I did a few fashion shows last year when we first started out as well. We collaborate with other fashion designers as well like House of Adjeiwaah. She’s a clothing designer, and she’s one of my biggest supporters. If she’s dressing a celebrity, she would be like “Oh Amma, design shoes to go with this dress.” I also collaborate with a fashion label called N’kya. I did a fashion show with her last year. So these are ways we try to market ourselves, but now we are going to look into designing unique pieces, and giving them to artists to wear when they are going out to perform, or getting bloggers to blog about our shoes, by giving them freebies to do so. I believe this will pull in more people. For now, we just promote our work on Facebook and Instagram. I joined Instagram not too long ago, and I use Twitter a little bit.

Yaaya:

You spoke about FashionMist. Would you like to explain what it is?

Amma O:

It’s a fashion organisation that puts on annual fashion shows for up and coming young African designers, that don’t know how to get themselves or their products out there. FashionMist basically caters for people like myself. Last year I did a fashion show with one of their designers, and this year I did my own slot. They have an exhibition in the morning, and fashion show in the evening. It was really good, and I did enjoy it. That’s what they do, they bring African fashion to light. There are lots of different types of fashion shows out there for up and coming African designers, which I’m looking to get involved in.

Yaaya:

Would you say that Sarf’O mainly concentrates on shoes?

Amma O:

I definitely don’t do clothes. Just shoes and bags. From time to time, I do earrings. So I would say that I do shoes and accessories. Shoes can stand out on its own, even though it’s an accessory.

In Part 2 of Amma’s interview, we explore her journey into fashion and how her Ghanaian and British heritage influences the Sarf’O brand.

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Image Source | These images do not belong to Yaaya. Images courtesy of Amma Osei (Sarf’O)