Why Retailer Chekwas Okafor Focuses on African Luxury

As part of my Diversity is the New Luxury series (#DITNL), I sat down with entrepreneur Chekwas Okafor to discuss why and how his e-commerce space, ONYCHEK focuses on African luxury brands.

“By default, African brands are conscious brands,” asserts Chekwas Okafor, Founder of retail ecommerce space ONYCHEK.com. The online retailer specializes in curating and showcasing luxury brands that are truly ‘Made in Africa’. These brands preserve culture and help African economies by positively impacting the artisans who make these goods.

Some of ONYCHEK’s designers include Nairobi, Kenya-made jewelry from Adele Dejak, South African menswear brand MaXhosa by Laduma, South African accessories line Legacy Collection, Sawa shoes made in Ethiopia and Christie Brown hailing from Accra, Ghana. Chekwas and ONYCHEK focus on these distinct African brands to create visibility and opportunity for entrepreneurs and craftspeople on the continent.

Chekwas explains, “Brands that make their products on the continent are conscious brands. They think about their supply chains and that puts us in the right position for consumers that are more conscious and care about how their products are made.”

The young fashion entrepreneur realized that although high-quality, ethical luxury fashions are being designed and fabricated throughout the African continent, little was being done to help these designers tell their stories on a global stage and showcase their goods in a well-positioned way.

“I wanted to focus on luxury because that’s where most of the magic is happening,” Chekwas explains as he details why he’s using fashion to spread the message of innovation of Africa. “Designers are telling incredible stories that weave in culture. The world will understand us a lot more, and understand we’re here, by starting with luxury. Luxury fashion made in Africa is our major value proposition.”

Portions of this article were originally published on Vanichi Magazine and Joy Donnell Official.