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Rosario Dawson’s One Eighty Nine Took Home The CFDA Grand Prize

In 2013, Rosario Dawson founded Studio One Eighty Nine with her business partner, Abrima Erwiah. With headquarters in both Ghana and New York City, Studio One Eighty Nine is a fashion lifestyle brand and social enterprise that focuses on producing and promoting African and African-inspired fashion. The brand’s mission is “to use fashion as an agent for social change.”

The brand’s founders shared some pretty exciting news via a recent Instagram post, announcing a huge victory for the brand. They wrote in the caption: “We won a CFDA x Lexus fashion award for our work dedicated to sustainability. We did this. Did not expect it. We have worked so hard for so long in the trenches in the community… people have given up so much for us and sacrificed so much. We have sacrificed so much.”

The caption continued, saying, “[Two] women of color creating an authentic brand with its foundation in Africa and America helping to promote an ecosystem and economy for the empowerment of people. We are building community. Our community has rallied behind us and been so supportive. EVERYONE. It’s all love and it’s pure heart. It’s magic. We are magic.”

The 2018 CFDA + Lexus Fashion Initiative is a nine-month sustainability-focused program. After competing amongst four other fashion brands–Cienne, M. Patmos, St. Roche and Whit–Dawson and Erwiah’s Studio One Eighty Nine was named the winner, taking home the grand prize of $80,000.

This initiative was created in an effort to help brands that are committed to sustainability in the fashion industry. Throughout the immersive nine-month program, the brands were taking in courses that taught them how to enhance their sustainability efforts. Studio One Eighty Nine is committed to environmentally friendly fabrics, fair labor practices and more.

Congrats to Rosario Dawson and Abrima Erwiah!