Studio One Eighty Nine (headquartered in Ghana, West Africa and USA) co-founded by Rosario Dawson and Abrima Erwiah, is an artisan produced fashion lifestyle brand and social enterprise, made in Africa that produces African and African-inspired content and clothing. The brand currently operates a store in NY and Accra (Ghana), an ecommerce site, a manufacturing facility in Accra, and supports various community led projects in Africa and in the USA. We work with artisanal communities that specialize in various traditional craftsmanship techniques including natural plant based dye indigo, hand-batik, kente weaving and more. We focus on empowerment, creating jobs and supporting education and skills training. Studio 189 has recently been selected as a finalist in the prestigious CFDA Lexus Sustainable Fashion Initiative, partners with the United Nations ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative, NYU Stern School of Business and has collaborated with brands including EDUN (LVMH) and Yoox Net a Porter. Studio 189 is the recipient of various awards including the Martin Luther King Jr Social Justice award from Upenn in 2015, the MOCADA Social Justice award in 2016, the Design Miami Visionary award in 2017, the Filming On Italy Social Justice award in 2018.
The mission of Studio One Eighty Nine and the idea for Fashion Rising took shape following a trip with V-Day in February 2011, through Kenya, Burundi and Rwanda to Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of Congo for the opening of the City of Joy.
