After twenty (20) years of experience as a designer, filmmaker, and creative director, Nana Kofi Asihene is girding up for greater projects.
Asihene is ready to launch his new collection, paying homage to his first love, fashion.
For Asihene this is the time to build and harness all those years of experience to position him as a creative consultant who helps brands and organisations build strong emotional connections with their audience through strategic creative communication.
“When you’re a perfectionist like I am, no matter what you do, you never really feel satisfied or that it was perfect enough,” he says. “That’s one of the things that drives me, I always feel there is something more to do,” he said.
His attention to detail is evident in this collection. The clothes by their very nature are not at all timid; they are simple in cut, but not in impact.
It would be impossible to tell the story of Nana Kofi Asihene’s career without moving across multiple mediums.
Nana Kofi Asihene’s love for fashion and the creative field started very early when he would either go to the library in Accra Central and read old fashion and style magazines or buy them from the back stalls of the Odorna Station in Circle. Perusing those pages gave him an eye for the arts. His foray into creating was nurtured while studying Visual Arts at Accra Academy, and the creative process crystallised while getting a Diploma in Fine Art from the Ultimate School of Art.
The arts gets a bad rap in Ghana, however, coming from a family of creatives like Theodosia Okoh and T-Michael, Nana Asihene always knew what was possible with art.
He spent the following years getting a degree in Textiles from KNUST and setting himself up for a career as a fashion designer. He won the British Council International Young Fashion Entrepreneur and was a finalist at the Redds Fashion Design Awards. He also apprenticed for Jimi Delaja Couture and started his own fashion line. His young fashion line would set him on the path of the late Kofi Ansah who became a mentor.
Then came the pivot into the visual medium. As a student in KNUST, he had dabbled in making music videos. Therefore, it became easy to direct music videos for musicians who needed them. He helped shape the music video industry in Ghana.
In the last decade, he formed NKACC, a brands and communication company, where he is the Creative Director and Lead Consultant. He has worked with brands such as Tullow Oil, Old Mutual, Dalex Swift, Vodafone Ghana, KFC Ghana among others.
To talk to Asihene is to have a conversation about film, photography, business strategy, and fashion. The depth of his knowledge and experience is an unending well. He has helped shape a lot of businesses’ brand identity, creative culture, advertising campaigns and brand communication goals. Gaining an MBA adds another layer to the knowledge he dispenses.
Exploring where he wanted to go, he created the Nana Asihene Design Studio. This is a product design studio, that focuses on user-centric design, African craftsmanship and aesthetics. The ethos is rooted in the essential characteristic of African art, being both aesthetic and functional