Meet Evelyn Onyejuruwa of Ankara Miami & Ankara Delights Boutique in Downtown Hollywood

Ankara Miami, Inc. is a South Florida-based event planning company committed to “Redefining African Cultural Trends.” Since its creation in August 2011 by Founder/CEO, Evelyn Onyejuruwa (Miss Nigeria Florida 2011-2012), the company has continued its mission to promote progressive people and trends within the African Diaspora. Ankara Miami’s launch event, Ankara Miami 2012: 1st Annual Ankara Fashion & Cultural Show, showcased emerging and established designers from the African Diaspora and their use of Ankara (a well-known West African fabric) as well as other African fabrics and prints in mainstream Western fashion. Since its inception, Ankara Miami has also made social and financial contributions to entities such as the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center, HANDY, Inc., the Nigerian American Foundation, Embrace Music Foundation, and Honey Shine, Inc. Its year-round events have included toy drives, networking mixers, and consulting/event management for other African and African-inspired events.

Ankara Miami is the FIRST & LARGEST major runway production in Florida featuring designers, live entertainment, and visual art solely from Africa and the African Diaspora. The company has worked closely with notable corporate and culturally-based brands (e.g. Macy’s, Arik Air, Inglot Cosmetics, Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, Diaspora Arts Coalition, Fela! On Broadway, Toyota of North Miami, Natural Trendsetters Salon, and the African-American Research and Cultural Center) as well as local and international media (e.g. HOT 105, The Beat 103.5, Huffington Post Miami, SouthFlorida.com, The Miami Times, Black Enterprise, Essence Online, Cool FM (Nigeria), Complete Fashion (Nigeria), Zen Magazine (Nigeria), and Tropics Magazine (South Africa).

In February 2015, Ankara Miami expanded its signature, red-carpet event from Ankara Fashion & Cultural Show to Ankara Miami: Florida’s FIRST African Fashion Week. In its exciting journey, Ankara Miami organizers will continue to feature even more talent from Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, and throughout the United States, and provide a medium that encourages buyer/investor relationships, highlights talent and progression within the African Diaspora, and facilitates networking opportunities between established industry professionals and aspiring newcomers.

After three years of successfully producing Ankara Delights’ quarterly African-inspired pop-up shops, the highly anticipated Ankara Delights Boutique opened this past June in Downtown Hollywood. Stay connected as Ankara Miami & Ankara Delights continue to heighten the awareness of the modernization of African culture on a local, national, and international platform and provide a fashionable hub for all things African in South Florida & beyond.

Has it been a smooth road?
Limited initial funding & financial resources have taught our team to be creative while working towards maintaining a standard of excellence and providing positive experiences for our attendees and event participants.

It’s been fulfilling to see a shift in mindsets and local trends since our inception in 2011, despite negative media imagery of Africa and Africans.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Ankara Miami & Ankara Delights Boutique – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Ankara Miami is a special events company with a primary focus on promoting positive and progressive people and trends within the African Diaspora. We’re most known for our love of African fashion and our signature annual African Fashion Week held every February. I’m proud of our progression since our establishment in 2011. In that time, we’ve grown our signature one day event to a full four-day fashion week, incorporated African inspired quarterly pop-up shops, partnered with numerous notable brands, & been featured in national & international press.

What sets us apart from other special events brands is our purposeful focus on representing the positive images of Africans, African culture, and other African-inspired trends. We’ve been trailblazers in South Florida and are happy to see our visions come to life.

I’m also proud and excited about the opening of our brick & mortar location this past June in Downtown Hollywood. Our pop-up shops have allowed us to bridge the gap between consumers and African owned/made brands. Going forward, it will be on a much more consistent basis creating easier access to buy locally.

I believe that everything has its divine time. But if I had to choose, I would have started our Ankara Delights pop-up shops and retail component much earlier. South Florida fashion & culture enthusiasts deserve direct access to African made and African inspired fashion & goods.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Modern aspects have been added to great African fashion pieces that were previously not always valued as “western” wear. The bold & beautiful colors and patterns are being seen more frequently on major runways & red carpets, in mainstream media, at weddings & other special occasions, and in the workplace where a representation of African heritage can sometimes be seen as taboo.

African prints are being incorporated into not only women’s apparel, but menswear, kids’, accessories, home goods, and many other fashion items. Its influence also transcends into beauty, hair, and skincare which are on the rise as well.

Currently, Africa is home to a number of the world’s fastest-growing cities in areas such as entertainment, sports, technology – and fashion. Having direct access to fashion designers and producers is a key component in providing authentic apparel & goods.