They did everything together, so it was only natural that they go into business as a trio. Having launched their business in 2014, sisters Lilian, Marysonia and Mirian Ugokwe have grown their clothing and accessory brand Dashiki Pride to reach 70 countries and have attracted the attention of celebrity customers like Blac Chyna.

Despite the sisters being around 22-years-old, their early success is due to their dedication to changing how the world perceives African culture. They have always aspired toward business and found themselves connecting this passion to a love for their homeland.

“When you want to start something new, fears stemming from whether it’ll be successful or not could weigh one down,” Mirian told Blavity in an email. “However, we persisted through it as we knew we really wanted to change a stereotypical narrative. We wanted to achieve something much more than the ordinary – we wanted to share our beautiful African culture with the world.”

Through their clothing line, the sisters hope to bring forth unity and freedom.

“We invite everyone from all cultures and [walks] of life to share this emancipation through our clothes and products,” Marysonia said. “We have customers from everywhere from Australia to New Mexico. People have various reasons for shopping with us, whether it’s getting in touch with your roots or love for vibrant colors.”

Despite the massive attention the line has brought, the Ugokwe sisters are not satisfied.

“We aspire to be bigger and better in all aspects of our business,” Lilian said. “We want to take our business to the next level, making it more of a lifestyle brand. We want to reach more people.”

Boasting 300K followers on Instagram and quickly rising to the top of Afrocentric clothing wear, the sisters are continuing their climb by working on their summer 2018 lookbook.

Dashiki Pride features clothing for women, men, kids and plus sizes, as well as handbags, shoes and jewelry. Unlike many other brands featuring Afrocentric clothing, Dashiki Pride’s prices remain low, starting at $20 for shirts and the jacket in Black Chyna’s closet is only $60.

No matter their growth, the sisters will stay true to the morals implanted behind the name of their brand, which captures the essence of dashiki clothing.

“Dashikis represent a sense of pride in one self,” Lillian said. “Dashiki is a crucial aspect of culture because it’s a sense of identity for lots of people. People use dashikis to identify or connect with to their Afrocentric roots… [They] represent a liberation from the norm… It’s not a piece of fabric that people normally wear. Therefore, you can deviate yourself from the norm in pride!”

dashiki pride

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