Velma’s Millinery & Accessories
Fashion, like a cyclone, is something that constantly picks up speed and changes its course. It can be all-encompassing and unpredictable. But for Velma Owusu-Bempah, focusing on the traditional aspect of women’s apparel that is millinery, she has proved that by sticking to a specific accessory, you can harness the wild world of the fashion industry
Velma’s interest in fashion started at a young age. Her mother is well-known fabric merchant Sarah Crossland, and Velma used to play with off-cuts to make little purses for friends and family. As her purses got better, friends would say things like “Velma, you need to make me a hat to go with this purse.” She liked this idea and her mother encouraged her to pursue it as a career, making the steps to be taken quite clear, “Why don’t you just go ahead and study hats in London where people are wearing hats?” That’s just what Velma did.
She perfected her craft at Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design, no less, and proceeded to embark on a creative journey which has led her to make hats and accessories for prestigious clients in Ghana and abroad. She has made pieces for Ghana’s First Lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo, and Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles-Lawson, and was named the official accessory designer for the show and banquet held for Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall’s visit. For the past three years, Velma’s designs have been selected to be showcased at London Hat Week – an honour for any designer.
How has her work shot her to fashion fame? For starters, it helps that Ghanaian women are so attuned to fashion. “Looking good is a big thing in Ghana. You consider what you are going to wear from head to toe, and this includes accessories. Accessories are a big deal because everyone really takes the time to consider how they look when they go out, and I’m happy to see that millinery is playing a part in that now.” Were hats always a thing? “Millinery has improved a lot. When I started, it wasn’t like this. It was really hard to push. But at least the interest was there. People would say, ‘OK I’ll wear a hat because I’m going to a wedding’, but now they wear hats to parties and dinners as well as special occasions.”
Since starting her business, Velma has also been involved in improving the millinery skills and employability credentials of her community. Velma’s Millinery Academy was started to train future milliners and designers, and she also teaches hat-making for prison inmates as part of the Fair Justice Initiative.
As for fashion trends this coming year, is there anything Velma can wisely predict for us? “In the past, it’s been big, it’s been flat, but now women are wanting little turnouts. Anything like a fascinator or a hatinator is quite stylish and popular. Headbands are doing really well and I make some great signature headbands called knot bands that people love because they are so versatile.” Will women’s love of millinery stay strong in Ghana? “Millinery is popular all over the world now, not just Ghana, and every time I step out I get new ideas.”
You’ll find Velma’s Millinery and Accessories on the first floor of Sarah’s Fabric Building, 15th Lane, Osu. It’s a space she shares with her sister and fashion designer Ophelia Crossland, and menswear apparel company Ninteen57, owned by Richard Kofi Okyere Darko, husband of Ophelia.
