My name is Toyin Onakanmi, CEO of En_Vogue_Afrika. I am a Mom to two amazing kids. I relocated to Canada from the UK, about 7 years ago.

I started my entrepreneurship journey last year because of my passion for fashion and my love for African prints. I love African prints and prior to the pandemic, I decided to wear more of African-print tailored outfits. I’m proud of my African culture, heritage and love to flaunt my African Identity. That was how I birthed my business ‘En Vogue Afrika’. The goal is to show the world the vibrancy and beauty of our African prints and also bring you the best of Nigerian fashion brands. The African culture is rich and beautiful and hence, the need to promote and inspire others to embrace and appreciate our culture & creativity.

What stands us out as a brand;

• We provide unique Afrocentric designs that make you stand out.
• We switch things up with endless options. We don’t simply showcase Ankara, we diversified into Adire and Aso Oke as well as mix fabrics such as Adire and Asooke.
• We make you stay connected to your African roots through fashion.

Just like any other business, you don’t get to see everything happening ‘behind the scenes’. We do encounter lots of challenges. The biggest challenge is getting the right workmanship that will make the business easy for us. I can’t tell you the number of times we received finished products that cannot be presented in the market for sale because of poor quality control which tends to result in total loss. Another challenge is shipping cost within Canada. Some Customers are not aware that it’s expensive to ship items within Canada. It’s even cheaper to ship to the US than within Canada.

Helpful tips for people looking to start a business in the Diaspora:

• Get a good business plan, don’t start without a good plan in place.
• Don’t start a business just for friends and family — come out of that illusion if you think they will buy and support you. Some will while others will not, period.
• Stay focused and Persevere — I know we all are in business to make money but the beginning may be rough. Focus on your focus and don’t get distracted.