About Us

Founded July 3rd 2019 by TJ Obisesan, CoolAfrican is a lifestyle brand offering sustainable, high-quality fashion products and accessories enthused by African pop culture and heritage.

 

HOW IT ALL BEGAN…...

Growing up in the Uk as a young man from sub-Saharan Africa, it wasn’t cool identifying with the motherland in any way shape or form. One cannot overemphasize the effect of the “slum story depiction of Africa” on the mainstream media in the minds of young teenagers. College playground was a bully space for kids with an African name, accents or any form of obvious affiliation with the motherland. Being British doesn’t count for much either growing up as you are always hiding your African roots to avoid being underestimated or perceived negatively by colleagues who only see Africa from one lens, most often negative.

Few years down the line, seeing how the emergence of Afrobeats (cross-pollination of traditional African sound and western pop sound) made it cool again to be African. It daunted quickly on me only Africans can change the African story. I have always read about this and believed this, but the conviction only came when I started seeing how Afrobeats enabled inner-city London kids from african background to begin to embrace their roots and boldly claim they were from Africa. 

I realized not only until we innovate, embrace and promote our culture, science, food, people, fashion, and way of life, would we begin to see real change within our community which will, in turn, bring value to the brand “Africa”, and ultimately get the communities outside to embrace and respect us for who we are.  

So, I set on a mission as a self-proclaimed pan-Africanist and pop culture enthusiast – I asked myself how best can I contribute to this cultural and behavioural change within African millennials in the diaspora community. That’s how I came up with “Cool African” - A brand using quirky and socially conscious designs as a tool to embolden and propel the new African story. 

Our current mission as a brand is to continue to consolidate African contemporary and ancient pop culture into a capsule of high quality, eco-friendly and impactful product lines that are accessible by all. 

I firmly believe that by doing this; we can continue to contribute to the cultural shift of what it means to be African and progressively engage the global village with the new African narrative. 

Grab something here today to support the mission.