We recently connected with Bindu Dennis and have shared our conversation below.

Bindu, appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Creating a fashion line has always been a passion of mine, even while pursuing my graduate degree. Bold, beautiful, rich, and vibrant African patterns and fabric have always intrigued me. So I decided to create a fashion line that would showcase my African roots.  In 2014, I started the search to create my African inspired swimwear collection. I have constructed sophisticated and chic swimwear I know men and women will look and feel confident as they embrace and experience the African culture through my designs.

Bindu, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am Bindu Dennis, a native of Liberia and one of the 16 children.   I left my native county, Liberia, due to civil war. The Ivory Coast, a neighboring country, became my home for for some years. After relocating to the United States, I pursued my Master’s Degree in Social Work, from the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

Zoe’s African Fashion is an online African-inspired swimwear collection. I design my own prints on high quality materials which make them one of a kind and I bring them directly to the consumers. Because of my obsession with details, the bold colors, vibrant patterns, trendy designs, top-of-the-line fabrics, and edgy cut-outs guarantee that my customers will stand out whether they are relaxing poolside, strolling on the beach, or on any culturally celebratory occasion. Zoe’s African Fashion has an understated elegance with playful edges.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

The idea of creating an African Inspired swimwear collection came about in 2014. I started my search in Liberia in 2015 for fabrics, but Liberia did not have any four-way stretch African Prints. In 2016, I traveled to Ghana in search of African prints and designers. Unfortunately, Ghana also did not have swimwear fabrics to start the line in Ghana. I visited many fabric stores in Maryland and none had any four-way stretch African prints for a swimwear line. I was so excited when I found a fabric store in NYC to make my African patterns for my collection in April 2018. I was really big on having all my designs made in Africa, especially my native home, Liberia. I contacted a few designers who assured me they could do the job. When I arrived in Liberia in November 2018, the designers were not able to sew the swimwear on the sewing machines they had at their factory. I searched in Liberia for factories that could sew my African swimwear collection. However, I wasn’t so lucky. As disappointed as I was, I came back to the USA and bought the right sewing machines for my swimwear line and shipped them back home to Liberia. I thought that would be the end of my roadblocks for my collection. Well, it was not. Although I bought the right machines, due to the unstable electricity Liberia faces, the factory was not able to start the work because the machines required electricity while being used. I was so devastated because I spent every penny trying to create this line. Giving up was not an option for me. In 2020, I took my search to Asia and found a few swimwear manufacturing companies that were able to execute my passion for my African Swimwear line. In December 2021, my website was opened for purchasing. Even though my swimwear collection could not be made in Africa/Liberia, all my traditional African styles are being made in Liberia and Ghana.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

My products are available on my website at www.zoeafash.com. Customers can also shop directly from my Instagram shop.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.zoeafash.com
• Instagram: @zoeafeicanfashion
• Facebook: Zoe’s African Fashion

Image Credits
Photographer credit: Instagram @ cnsphoto (Capture ‘n’ Shoot by Manish)