Pathe'O

Pathe'O is the story of a determined, hardworking man, who created a modern African brand.

Born as Pathe Oedraogo in Burkina Faso, he came to Abidjan, the economic hub of Cote d'Ivoire, in the 70's. His choice was to farm with a hoe in Burkina or cut with scissors in Abidjan, so he chose to cut.

As time passed, Pathe'O looked at things from a different angle and found his own path in the fashion world.

" At that time there was practically no individual creativity in Abidjan, tailors waited to be given garments to copy. African fabrics were not worn out in the evening" says Pathe'O.

That's how he came up with the idea of the Pathe'O brand. It was a risk but " if you don't take risks, you never get anywhere". And so he tried, developed his idea, and fought for it to catch on. It's a story of courage, hard work and perseverance.

The risk paid off, with his originality, and creativity, being recognized and appreciated. He started dressing television stars, and that helped him gain recognition.

Then he won the UNIWAX Golden Scissors award in 1987. He became well known for his use of colour and the elegance of his outfits.

He started doing haute couture, and that took him to the catwalks of the world: Brazil 1992, Paris 1993, Washington and all over Africa.

Pathe'O participated in all the big fashion events around Africa (FESPACO, SIAO) and started to dress celebrities such as Nelson Mandela, who he finally met in 1997.

Others found out who was behind Madiba's unique dressing style and followed suit... so he dresseed Laurent Gbabgo, President of Côte d'Ivoire and Alpha T. Konare amongst others.

Pathe'O thinks that Africans should buy goods from Africa first, dress African, and be branded Pathe'O.

Now his business is reaching it's third stage of development, as an international company with boutiques all over Africa. He currently has his own outlets in Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Gabon, Mali, Senegal, and Congo Brazzaville.

Pathe'O's business has about 50 employees. It goes beyond creativity, and is developing Africa through the fashion sector. He would like investors to develop the textile sector further, and not just leave it up to the designers only.

A selection of Pathe'O shirts are currently on sale at Kiro in the Yaya Centre, Nairobi.