Sai Sankoh is the embodiment of the saying “you won’t know until you ask.” Precisely what wouldn’t we have known? For one, she is initially from the motherland, Africa, for the individuals who are new to what that implies. Specifically, she hails from Sierra Leone, a country off the west coast of Africa. Her life has been spent on three different continents: Africa, where she lived in her local country and Ghana, started things out, and, after a while, her family moved to the United Kingdom, planting impermanent roots in London. Lastly, she landed in the United States, in Fairfax, Virginia. The move from Sierra Leone wasn’t purely by choice but by a measure of safety. Her folks chose to escape when she was only 9 years old because of the civil war that took place there from 1991-2002. She arrived in the States when was 15 ½ and in the last semester of her junior year of high school.
Though her transition from across the pond to the U.S. was seamless, she actually wasn’t interested in coming to America. Sankoh was at the age where friends and possible love interests start to really matter and having to leave all those behind would displease any teenager. After high school, she pursued accounting at Virginia Commonwealth University until realizing that she had no interest in that subject as a career. She switched to nursing and became a Pediatric nurse, a profession that she adored and one that satisfied her folks and provided stability many seek. Sai had been immersing herself in the world of fashion since 2009, and after relocating to Dallas in 2015, eventually decided to pursue design.
By the end of 2018, she was a full-time designer and business owner. Her brand’s DNA is inspired by her native Sierra Leone and all the bright colors you see at the markets when shopping for vegetables and fresh fruit. “The vibrancy of my line is native to my roots.”
What was your motivation for becoming a fashion designer?
Frankly, I never thought I’d become a fashion designer. I was in love with the tech side of fashion. If we go back a little bit to when blogging was really the thing to do, there was so much newness to it from the affiliate side. I created Luxury Checkout, an aggregate platform that housed 30 to 50 stores, and I was making an excellent commission off of that, so fashion design wasn’t the goal at the time. What truly motivated me to create my own designs was seeing the runway items in person. They don’t always translate well from the screen to the department stores, and when I realized that, I said I can do this. I can create for women like me. In 2012, I returned home to Sierra Leone to visit and worked with a few tailors hoping to bring my samples to life. After the initial release went so well and the public’s response being so overwhelmingly positive, I knew I had a chance to turn my dream into something big.
What’s been the most challenging part of becoming a designer and staying one?
At first, it was telling myself that I cannot fail if I do this. Knowing I had made myself that promise and waking up every morning with that at the forefront of my mind forced me to do everything in my power to make it work. People copying my designs has been the number one challenge. I’ve gotten over it now, but my caftans are all over AliExpress. There’s another brand who I won’t call by name for legal reasons that has reproduced my signature caftan in full. Since they are a bigger brand with a bigger platform, they were able to get picked up by Saks and are now selling my design at this department store; that’s really disheartening to see. Another really disappointing reality is knowing that one celebrity purchased one of my designs and then worked with a network that completely copied and replicated the entire piece. The art of negotiation is a challenge, too, because manufacturers will try to overcharge you. I was on the phone for almost an entire day doing that, and that’s not an exaggeration.
What are your aspirations for Sai the person and Sai Sankoh the company?
I just want to continue creating. The brand is in a couple of stores, and hopefully, within the year or next, I get picked up by a few more. One of my objectives is to have my garments in the shops at various airports throughout the hot climate destination spots such as Fiji, Jamaica, Florida, and the Caribbean. I’ve gotten into real estate, so I’m hoping that takes off as well as I’m hoping to one day have a boutique hotel. Menswear is an area I’m interested in pursuing. There’s another designer in Dallas who designs men’s suiting; we’ve been discussing a collaboration to create a men’s resort collection. We’ve sketched out a couple of styles already that are going to be amazing. I would love to design a caftan for Andre Leon Talley one day as I know he loves those.
