Kunjina Tesfaye, an Ethiopian creative entrepreneur building a proud ready-to-wear fashion brand — Lionesses of Africa

Tell us a little about your team

Our team includes one main designer (founder), one main tailor, one assistant and two salespeople. We are all passionate about fashion and the potential of made in Ethiopia products, so we all try our best to do a fantastic job in making quality products and to promote them well.

Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?

Even though my passion lies somewhere else, I joined Addis Ababa university to study construction technology and management because my parents wanted me to have a ‘plan B’. In 2017, while I was a fourth year student in college, I joined Wossi International Fashion Institute and took a short course in fashion designing. After acquiring some skills from fashion school, I established the brand Kunjina and started promoting it on social media. Then in 2018, which was my senior year in college, I joined the African mosaique fashion incubator program which taught me more about branding, business plan development, and overall how the international fashion industry works. By the end of the program, I made a collection named Art’itecture which was based on the collaboration of the two worlds I lived as a designer and an engineering student. The Art’itecture collection made me win the most creative, innovative, and promising fashion designer of 2018 award and I was also recognized by the American Embassy by being the runner up for the best fashion business model. My brand, Kunjina, was featured on many local TV channels, radio, magazines and also on BBC Amharic for my work that showcased my collaboration and passion for another field I  chose to learn to make my parents happy.  I was also one of the finalists at the 2019 Frankfurt Style Award and one of the pieces from my Art’itecture collection was shown on road shows in Berlin, Paris, and Vancouver. 

In 2019, I collaborated with two other Ethiopian designers to open up a shop and I have been working full-time on my brand ever since. My aim as a designer is to use fashion as a medium to share my experiences and my creativity with the world. While working on my passion I want to support the local economy by creating job opportunities for people. As an advocate for Art, I aspire to become someone that can inspire new generations of Africa to listen to their callings and do what they’re passionate about. Also, to prove to them that it is possible to follow one’s dream, pave your own way, and become successful!