Osei Duro
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What is your brand's philosophy?
Hand made hand dyed clothing
Where do you get inspiration?
Our surroundings, friends, vintage clothes and thrift markets, reducing waste, Accra's multitude of texture, and so so much more.
Tell us about yourself and your team!
Co-founders - 2 white females. Country director - black female. Production manager - black gay man. QC manager - black man. Shipping coordinator - black woman. Lead pattern maker - black woman. Ecomm shipping team - three women, races unknown. Support staff - around 12 others of mixed gender and all Ghanaian
Country spending breakdown
Canada 12%, China and India 11%, Ghana 43%, Other 3%, US 31%
Total 100%
2019 SPENDING AS % OF REVENUE
Advertising 7%. Bank Fees 2%. Contract labour 19%. Debt Service 2%. Materials 13%. Other 1%. Payroll 25%. Postage/Freight/Import Duties 18%. Professional. Fees 1%. Profit 3%. Rent 3%. Taxes 4%. Travel/Transport 2%
TOTAL 100%
OUR WORKPLACE
We work to grow and thrive together and we have great retention, no one has quit in years. The benefits of our jobs include:
- Work week: We take full time pay for a four day work week (standard in Ghana is six days) and have three weeks paid vacation per year. We take full pay during pandemic lockdowns and other forces majeures.
- Wage: We earn above a living wage, and take earnings of two to five times our previous incomes. Our income is sufficient not only to live on, but to also enable a change in circumstance for the individual and their family.
- Profit-sharing: 5% of our 2020 annual profits were shared between all Ghana employees, with individual percentages based on years worked.
- Pension: Osei-Duro remits 13.5% of each employee’s salary, (beyond the salary itself) to Ghana’s government sponsored pension plan (SSNIT). Each employee is expected to contribute the remaining 5%, as stipulated by law.
- Parental Leave: We take three months full pay maternity leave, plus one year of one hour paid per workday for nursing or pumping and additional benefits as the law provides, and two weeks full pay paternity leave (which is not legally required).
- Medical: We can take unlimited sick days, are covered for prescription eyewear, emergency health coverage, and annual wellness exams. We also can take yoga classes and nutritional workshops for free.
- Financial Services: Osei-Duro has a matching savings program, as well as interest-free loans, and emergency short-term housing.
- Childcare: We provide childcare, and strive to be a family friendly workplace. Children are welcome in the office as needed.
- Career development: We have paid career development; from leadership workshops to technical trainings to further certificates.
Where are your products designed?
Ghana, Vancouver
What materials do you use? Where are your raw materials made?
Lenzig ecovero rayon, certified fair trade organic cotton, linen from Ghana, source unknown.
Where are your final products made?
Accra, Ghana - from the cutting to dyeing to sewing to final preparation.
What certifications do you have, if any?
Currently applying for Fair Trade Certification
What are you most proud of as a brand?
How hard it was to get to where we are now with very minimal funding.
What is your vision for the fashion/homeware/art industry in the future?
We strive to have zero waste, and are working towards it with a multitude of scrap projects and artist residences and collaborations.
