Introducing Ilana – An Online Marketplace for Black Fashion Designers

Ilana is proud to announce the launch of the Ilana store – an online marketplace for Black fashion designers to sell and gain expertise.

Coined from the Yoruba word Ilana (pronounced Eleanor) meaning a pathway, the origin of the store follows the story of the unfulfilled dreams of a Black female fashion designer; the mother of Samuel, one of the store’s founders.

Having realised the exclusivity and elitism highly evident in the fashion industry that mitigates the breaking in and growth of Black and other ethnic minorities into the fashion industry, Ilana’s founders (pictured above); Samuel Ade, a seasoned entrepreneur and Borislava Bozhikova, a Bulgarian designer joined forces to launch an e-commerce store; Ilana, dedicated to supporting black-owned fashion brands.

The e-commerce store houses and makes available designs from Black fashion designers to a global audience. With a percentage of sales going into a scholarship fund for designers, part of the Ilana community, the store is facilitating the growth of other fashion talents on the continent.

The store launched in November 2020, currently houses designs from luxe Black-owned brands like Larry Jay, Fruché, Atto Tetteh among others and looks forward to expanding its borders to other established and emerging black brands.

Ilana, unlike other online marketplaces, is here to change the narrative of the fashion industry; facilitating the growth of local brands, encouraging community and creating a pathway for the brilliant emerging fashion talents on the African continent to learn, develop and scale into global brands.

For more information or enquiries, please contact Ilana via hi@ilana.uk

All images courtesy of Ilana.