28. D’IYANU Founder Addie Elabor on Building a Ready-to-Wear African Inspired Fashion Brand From the Ground Up

Dear Diaspora

D’IYANU (dee-ya-nu) is a ready-to-wear bold print clothing line offering quality, trendy African inspired fashion at affordable prices. With her love for fashion and passion for self-expression through unique clothing, Nigerian born Addie Elabor launched the D’IYANU brand at the beginning of 2014. D’IYANU is a fun, bold, chic line centered on inspiring individuals to confidently dress bold and beautifully.

After getting her master’s degree in international marketing, and working for a few years as a buyer and marketer, she found herself unsatisfied. After noticing there were very few ready-to-wear African clothing brands, she decided to launch one herself.

During the episode, she shares:

• Her upbringing in Philadelphia, PA
• The early days of D’IYANU and she leveraged Etsy, Ebay and Facebook Ads early on to market and grow her business
• Her journey launching D’IYANU while working her full-time job
• Her vision to expand to the continent and give back to the community she comes from

“There’s a lot of potential that the continent holds. I’m excited to see us in the Diaspora go back and give back, in whichever capacity we’re able to.” - Addie Elabor

Resources mentioned in this episode:

D’IYANU: https://www.diyanu.com

Follow D’IYANU on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diyanu/

Rich Dad, Poor Dad: https://amzn.to/3aycisb

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