Building An Equitable and Sustainable Clothing Brand in Rwanda with Elizabeth Berabose

Need a little picturesque scenery? Come with us as we take you to the land of a thousand hills, Rwanda, East Africa. Did you know Rwanda has the world’s record of highest representation of women in parliament, with over 60% of parliament members being women? Did you know Rwanda's capital, Kigali, has been hailed as one of Africa’s greenest and cleanest cities? Meet the beautiful Rwandan Boss Babe  Elizabeth Berabose, a highly intellectual and socially conscious young fashion designer and entrepreneur. Elizabeth is a creative at heart, fashion enthusiast, and change maker. As we all know, the fashion industry has a critical role to play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals as it is the second largest polluter in the world. Elizabeth’s brand, Berabose Designs was launched in 2021, with the intent for it to be more than just a fashion brand, but a brand that has a positive social and environmental impact. In this episode, we got candid gaining insights to Elizabeth childhood growing up in Belgium with Rwandan parents and their experience with the Rwandan genocide. The impact that it had on Elizabeth and how that fueled her passion to want to return to her country of origin to contribute to its development, economic empowerment, and sustainability agenda. She walked us through her day-to-day grind of working in the industry, how she uses her voice and creativity to tackle and address systemic problems from sustainability to racial inequality, gender inequality and the many biases that exist in the fashion industry on the continent. Even with these challenges, Elizabeth is not allowing them to deter her from chasing her dreams of making her brand a household name.  We discussed the future of sustainable fashion in Africa, more specifically, how she incorporates traditional methods that are eco-friendly and ethical into her brand. We honed on how Berabose is taking action to  minimize waste and the impact she is hoping to make in her country.  Like all our bawse women, Elizabeth was truly a pleasure to connect with and get to know. We are dubbing her, the new school leader in the up-and-coming fashion entrepreneur boss babes.