Samata Angel

Samata Angel (born Samata Elizabeth Catherine Abudulai on January 23, 1983) is a London-based clothing designer, author and musician who specializes in women’s wear. Samata is a British African whose family originates from Ghana, West Africa. Angel is CEO of Samata’s Muse clothing label. She first came under the public eye when she made history and became the first black British female to show during the Nolcha Fashion Week in New York and after being featured on prominent black entertainment website Concrete Loop for this achievement.

Background

Samata was born and raised in Cambridge, UK and is the middle daughter of two Ghanaian parents. Angel grew up in Cambridge and moved to London to pursue a degree in Economics, Finance and Management from Queen Mary, University of London. Her primary reason for selecting this degree was due to the demands of her academic-minded parents, particularly her mother who holds a degree from a university in Cambridge (as does her father).

Fashion career

Angel's first job in the fashion industry was for a Japanese clothing label in London aged 22 whilst completing her university degree. She worked as Head of Marketing and Sales. She then went on to work as Head or PR for Elival Fashion Incubator, a 3-storey boutique in the prestigious King's Road area of London for under a year. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnTb20i3wYA] At the time she was arguably the youngest Head of PR for such a sizeable boutique. When the boutique closed at the end of 2004, Samata set up her clothing label Samata’s Muse in 2005 focused on producing clothing for women.

In 2006, the designer won 'Best Couture Line 2006' at the UK Urban Fashion Awards, which was followed by a nomination for the 'Exceptionally Creative Awards' at the British Female Inventors and Innovators Awards 2007 [http://www.gwiin.com/downloads/press07/BFIIN%20AWARDS%202007%20shortlist.doc] for a t-shirt range she designed inspired by the character traits of strong ambitious women. Samata's Muse was nominated for Best Women's Wear Designer 2007 at the UK Urban Fashion Awards 2007.

During 2007, Samata was also made Fashion Editor of The Talent Magazine, a confident, young and inspiring new glossy set to promote emerging talent. Angel is rumored to have been the mastermind and creative drive behind the fashion content of the magazine which she left months after its launch [http://yolandeletshou.blogspot.com/2007/07/talent-magazine-launch.html] [http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2007/05/on_the_rack.html] .

Samata became the first Black British female to show during the Nolcha Fashion Week [http://www.nolchafashionweek.com/] and was profiled by leading black entertainment logo Concrete Loop . In 2007 Angel was made an Ambassador for Girls! Make your Mark campaign [http://www.makeyourmark.org.uk/inspiring_stories/samata_angel] , a national campaign to encourage more young women to have ideas and make them happen either through running their own business or social enterprise or by making an idea happen at work.

In 2007 Samata Angel was also nominated for the Aristoc Woman of the Year 2007 Award [http://www.pressinformation.co.uk/articles.php?article=150] and is currently nominated for Cosmopolitan Magazine’s Fun, Fearless Female Awards 2008.

In December 2007 Samata traveled to Sierra Leone with recording artist Sway DaSafo, MTV’s ‘Making the Band 4’ star Dawn Angelique Richard and others for a music festival to raise funds for a community development project. Samata organised the fashion show element of the production, coaching models from the UK and from Sierra Leone on runway (fashion) walking.

Angel has been featured in magazines and newspapers such as Look Magazine (UK), Pride Magazine, New Nation and on websites such as Concrete Loop, Fashion Capital and Fashion Africa. To date Angel counts Jenny Holloway, Terry Mansfield and Charles Thompson (Screen Nation Film & TV Awards) as her mentors.

In September 2008 Samata Angel launched a guide book series called 'Fashioning your Life - A Clothing Designer's Guide'. The book series offers advice to emerging and struggling fashion designers in the fields of marketing, promoting, manufacturing, setting up, money management, design copyright and other important areas. Volume 1 and Volume 2 have been published through Lulu (Company) and feature exclusive quotes from the likes of Nigel Barker (photographer) and Nick Ede. Also listed in the book series are the top fashion schools in the world including Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and Parsons The New School for Design.

Samata is rumoured to be under consideration for a role in a future James Bond film.

Music

Samata Angel also uses the name Samata X for her music activities. She is a musician who has recorded with hit-producer DaVinChe.

References

* http://www.makeyourmark.org.uk/inspiring_stories/samata_angel
* http://concreteloop.com/2007/08/designer-spotlight-samatas-muse
* http://www.clickwalla.com/home/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1519&Itemid=45
* http://www.pressinformation.co.uk/articles.php?article=150
* http://www.fashionafrica.com/features/interview-whos-haute-samata-angel-of-samatas-muse/

External links

* [http://www.samatasmuse.com Official website of Samata’s Muse]
* [http://www.myspace.com/samatas_muse Official Myspace of Samata’s Muse]
* [http://www.youtube.com/user/samatasmuse Official YouTube channel for Samata's Muse]