Rule4080.com Congratulate's Hemma on LUCKY & ESSENCE Editorial Spreads

Perfect for Spring - Hemma's Fashion Spotlight

The collection, although made from authentic kente woven on handmade wooden looms, is incredibly modern and fresh with structured jackets, corsets and dainty shorts with a bold color palette that will look good on anyone...Read more about Hemma on Fashion Spotlight. Buy your Hemma Original today!

Darling 1 Horatio Street, NYC 10014 (212) 367-3750

Albertine 13 Christopher Street, NYC 10014 (212) 924-8515

Montgomery 2312 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd, NYC 10030 (646) 260-1486

Some Odd Rubies 151 Ludlow Street, NYC 10002 (212) 353-1736

Avamaria 107 Crosby Street, NYC 10012 (212) 966-0909

Coco & Breezy

At Hemma, we love innovation, check out two fellow young innovators - CoCo and Breezy specializing in luxe shades and apparel.

Nina Ricci's Gravity Defying shoes

Nina Ricci's 8'in.heels are also taking fashion to new heights!

The Wait is Over! Hemma Now Available at Albertine

The wait is finally over! You can now see and feel the luxe authentically hand-woven kente in chic silhouettes Hemma offers this spring at Albertine!

Albertine, a boutique located in the West Village, features exclusive Hemma garments not offered anywhere else.

Shop Hemma today at Albertine!

Albertine, 13 Christopher Street, New York, NY, 212-924-8515

Fashion For Charity: Hemma

See what Bella Naija has to say about Hemma!

Ghana Rising: The Hemma 2010 Collection

Check out the latest Hemma feature on Ghana Rising!

SECRETISTA: HEMMA BRINGS ME BACK TO MY ROOTS

Check out the Hemma feature on Secretista

We're Back. Hemma Launching Fall 2009

We at Hemma have been preparing for our 2009 launch and with that we've been away for a bit setting the stage for a fabulous experience. Don't worry folks, we are back and here to stay, bringing you all that the Fall collection has to offer. An international twist on the Luxe & Chic style of nyc! Preview a few of our favs to be matched with KENTE this fall! Its all about the boots this Fall, knee high or thigh high for a really dramatic effect.

The trench coat will undoubtedly be a staple for the season. Along with this, don't forget your Military styled jackets & shoulder padded blazers. Structured tops are back in and chic-er than ever. Big bags have been in for a while and aren't going anywhere. The bigger the better. Enjoy all the space ladies!

Let's not forget the one shoulder dresses and tops making a come back too.

Accessorize!

This season is all about being bold, confident and unique...being all of these things, Hemma's timing couldn't be better.

Drama Desk Awards

We at Hemma admire and support all forms of creativity including drama & theater. We were lucky enough to attend the 54th Annual Drama Desk awards! The awards gala was established in 1949 where critics and journalists writing on theater, give annual awards honoring outstanding work in theater. These awards are unique in that Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway compete in the same categories. The Drama Desk continues to be dedicated to furthering excellence in the theater.

Billy Elliot The Musical Wins 10 Drama Desk Awards to head the list of 2008/ 2009 Drama Desk winners!

If you know any actors, you probably are already well aware that they are a special group of people in their own right. Having so many stars under one roof was incredibly entertaining, whether it was the impromptu breaks into song and dance or the heartfelt insight into the ups and the downs in the life of an actor.

We had the opportunity of meeting some of the celebs including Geoffrey Rush, a prolific actor on and off the big screen in such pieces such as Pirates of the Caribbean, Munich, Elizabeth and much more. Present were such stars as Andre De Sheilds, Jane Fonda, Condola Rashad (a wonderful actress in her own right, daughter of Phylicia Rashad), John Lithgow, Liza Minnelli, and the always fabulous Carson Kressley, to name a few!

Every Company Needs Investment

I think that money or the lack there of makes most people apprehensive about starting their own business. However, there are dozens of ways to get around this problem. Though its not so easy to get someone to give you large sums of money, it's more possible than people think, myself included. Cindy and I were lucky enough to find a couple who believed in our idea and in Hemma's potential and chose to invest in our company! Best of all, they not only invested monetarily but are investing time, resources, ideas etc. This brings me to a very important point, Once you do have investors or know potential investors, you should ask your self :

• Do I get along with them as people? (You will most likely be spending large amounts of time sharing and communicating with them)

• Do they share my motivation and drive to make the business a success?

• What are you looking for in an investor?

• What do they want out of the deal?

• Do you trust them?

Its very important to find a good fit between you and your investor because hopefully they will be someone who shares more than just money with you (ie: information, knowledge, experience). Cindy and I thought about these questions and what was important to us, before we even found investors so that when we did, we were prepared! Prepare for opportunities, so that when they appear, your ready! Its more than just being at the right place at the right time. What we did when searching for investors:

1. INTERNET RESEARCH: We searched for grants in all fields we thought would apply. Who would give you money? Be very inclusive and search broadly at first not only specific to your industry but specific to who you are (ie: student, woman, person of color; were just a few of the criteria we looked into).
2. YOUR FAMILY: The closest people to you, who would probably be very supportive of you doing such a courageous thing like starting your own business. Ask them for money: parents, granny's, aunts, uncles.
3. USE YOUR NETWORK: Whether you are a student, employee, parent etc, use yoru network of people. They may be potential investors themselves or more likely than that is that they will know someone who would be interested in investing. Tell as many people you can about your business! You have to basically become your company, its biggest fan and cheerleader. The more people you tell, the more people will hear about your company and possibly want to contribute. That is pretty much how we met our investors.
4. READ as much as you can about business related issues, including tips on effective ways to get investment for your specific industry. One publication I would recommend is Inc. Magazine, read the magazine or articles online, its great for the new business owner! I also recommend SBA another organization that helps small businesses with a wide range of services from loans to counseling.
5. YOURSELF: Cindy and I invested our own capital at Hemma's inception and we did so willingly because we both really believed that we would see a return. We had both just graduated college when we decided to start Hemma, so we were not at all financially established, but that goes to show that you do not necessarily need large sums at the inception of your company.
6. HAVE A BUSINESS PLAN:

• Learn how to write a business plan by internet/book research and by looking at templates online or from friends
• Be very detailed when writing
• It's OK to not have all the answers about your business at the very beginning of writing your plan, the more you research, the clearer they may become
• Make the cover and writing style within very professional and concise
• A business plan is your way to convince someone that you have a great product, service or idea so treat it as such!

So now your ready to move your business to the next level. Good luck!!

The Origins

The idea for hemma came about when we studied abroad in Ghana. We were there during the our junior year in the Spring of 07. This was a major turning point in both of our lives because we were able to become so detached from our lives in New York and fully immerse ourselves in the Ghanaian lifestyle. We were both worried when we first got there and weren't sure if we could last an entire semester. But by the time we left, we cried our eyes out because we didn't want to leave Ghana behind. Through hemma we've found a way to bring some of Ghana back with us and share it with New York. We fell into the idea of creating a clothing line, it started off unintentionally. While in Ghana we loved the wide array of West African fabrics and garment designs, so we started designing clothes for ourselves. Between Cindy and I we made dozens of pieces, including garments made out of Kente fabric. Everyone in Ghana and the NYU program loved it. When we came back to NY we got the same reception. A lightbulb clicked for us. We decided that we wanted to share the clothing that we loved so much by starting hemma.