Keeping up with our coverage of phenomenal female entrepreneurs, we sat down with Vanessa Bannerman, Head of Merchandising and Operations at Christie Brown, a Ghanaian luxury womenswear brand, to hear her story on Breaking Into Fashion!

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Born and raised in Ghana and Canada, Vanessa met Christie Brown creative director and founder Aisha Ayensu during her high school years. They reconnected in 2007 and brainstormed launching a luxury brand designed for “that modern woman who seeks a true taste of Africa.” During that time period, the fashion industry in Africa was in nascent stages and both women were excited about the notion of building something entrepreneurial.

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Although it wasn’t for another 1.5 years when Vanessa officially came on board as Head of Merchandising for the brand, she shared, “In the beginning, it was just me cheering [Aisha] on, I myself wasn’t in the retail industry per se because I worked more on the planning and analysis side. A year and a half after [Aisha] had launched, we sat down again for dinner one Christmas and I said to her I think you have a missing piece of the puzzle…for this passion you have to be turned into a business, we have to come together.” In 2009, Vanessa joined to manage the Merchandising and Operations of the business.

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Believe it or not, Vanessa initially had aspirations to become an investment banker. She shared, “I left Ghana when I was 17 years old…and I got a full scholarship for school in Montreal, Canada. I was really hoping to become an investment banker…the further I got, as I finished my finance degree, the more I realized [finance] was what I wanted to do because it was a challenge, but not because I actually cared. It was much more difficult to find a job in Montreal without being fully bi-lingual [French and English].”

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Her first lesson: “Find what you really like and find a job in that. If [I could] showcase my passion, I was sure there was someone out there who would forgo the fact that I was not fully bi-lingual and that was retail. In a retail world, nobody cares if you speak French…the question is can you communicate with the people who make clothing.” Vanessa started her career post-university in retail in Canada while managing her start-up role at Christie Brown from a distance. Under the advice of a mentor, she eventually became a merchant for a major retailer in Canada.

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I was fascinated with how she manages both of her retail roles in Canada and Ghana and asked how she would contrast her experiences. She said, “Working for a huge corporation in Canada means that thinking inside the box is standard [while] managing Christie Brown requires more thinking outside of the box…creativity is key, it is important to be as innovative as possible.” But how does she balance it all? She laughed and shared “I haven’t slept in 7 years, but it is a personal decision…in terms of strategy, it was about 150% commitment versus trying to decide how to split my time between the two.”
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A real rockstar, I had to get Vanessa’s best tips for breaking into the fashion industry: “1) It doesn’t matter where you are in the world in fashion, it continues to get tougher…it’s not supposed to be easy because if it was, it wouldn’t be worth it…thinking that is supposed to be fun takes away from the mentality that you are running a business. 2) Don’t be afraid to jump into something you are not sure of… take calculated risks or you will be left behind and 3) Listen to yourself…there is enough room for everybody to be successful. As an entrepreneur, take a stand and don’t be too stressed about what others are doing!” She continued, “If you want to be in the fashion industry, an interest in the industry is the most important thing. Do your research, get on all the blogs, and find out the different channels where people are talking about fashion. Surround yourself with people who know the industry, and lastly, she offered “find a mentor if you can, although it’s not easy, and ask questions of them.”
Vanessa Bannerman in Christie Brown
Vanessa Bannerman in Christie Brown
My final question: if you have $20 on a Saturday in Montreal, what do you do?  Vanessa said, “I would go to Starbucks, get myself a $2 coffee, pick up latest edition of Vogue and go shopping for my favorite basics at H&M!”
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Vanessa let me know she is a big fan of FashionBombDaily! If you want to find out more about Christie Brown, check out our You Should Know feature, the official site here or follow the brand via Instagram @christiebrowngh.

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