“It’s been super,” Ebby Ihionu, shop owner of Elegance African Fashions, says. “Usually during winter, the business is slow, but it has been like up, up, up. You know, people come every day.”
Ihionu is originally from Nigeria and has run this business out of the basement of her home for 11 years. And for the first time, she ran out of some items. “I ran out of dashikis. I ran out. I had to go, and you know, start making more,” she explains.
The colorful printed dress shirts usually sell in the summer. And Ihionu isn’t slowing down. She’s already booked up with orders for custom-made clothes for the next two months. It’s all because of the bump from “Black Panther.
Diane Basemera from Uganda runs an online marketplace called Amooti, where African artisans sell their goods. Basemera, 30, started her business two years ago with the goal of being an “Amazon” for African products. Sales on her website have tripled since the movie came out. One artisan on her site even created a line of hoodies inspired by “Black Panther” for spring.
Some fashion experts already predict the film will give African designs even more influence in the fashion industry.
“This is a long-term trend,” says Caroline Daniels, who runs the fashion entrepreneurial initiative at Babson College. “The number of people that are becoming fashion consumers is growing, is more diverse. They want more choice, and they want clothing that expresses individuality as well as diversity.”
Tomorrow’s the start of pride month so just a few reminders:
Pride got where it is largely in part from the work of trans woc.
The white stripe on the trans flag is for intersex, transitioning, and neutral or undefined genders.
Asexuals are not straight
The A stands for Asexual and Aromantic
The Q stands for both Queer and Questioning
Bi people are not faking and are not ‘half straight’
Yes we know corporations get in on pride stuff for money but seeing rainbow stuff everywhere can be extremely liberating so let people enjoy it, dammit.
Corporations supporting pride is actually a great thing because it suggests public interest is strong and they realize it will appeal to their target audiences and thus helps make the world more accepting of the community. It means they believe supporting pride is more important than any business they might lose from doing so.
If your identity changes or you can’t define yourself yet/don’t want to, that’s perfectly okay.
And, because parts of tumblr seem to forget, no one letter of the group gets to decide who does or does not belong. No throwing out the B, the T, or the A. We’re stronger together.
In-fighting only makes it easier for all of us to be hurt.
SliceOSunshine 