Fashion
feature: archel bernard’s clothing company the bombchel factory creates rehabilitation opportunities in post-ebola liberia
Archel Bernard, a Liberian-American and Georgia Tech alum, has been hard at work building a sustainable fashion business in her parents’ native Liberia. Her business, the Bombchel Factory located in Monrovia, is a clothing company firmly committed to assisting the rehabilitation of post-Ebola Liberia. Bernard, who only recently entered the fashion industry, opened a small boutique in 2013 called Mango Rags, which closed the following year upon the arrival of the Ebola pandemic. After returning to the States for five months, Bernard returned to Liberia. “Ebola or no Ebola, I was ready to come back home,” she told The New York Times
A year later, the Bombchel Factory is up and running, with the help of Bernard’s female employees who have survived Ebola or lost loved ones to the virus, as well as interns who are rape survivors or students from the Hope School. They’ve been producing ready-to-wear garments created from indigenous fabrics with traditional prints and hope to expand. The Bombchel Factory has only begun to positively affect the lives of Liberians. They are currently running a Kickstarter campaign (until Fri. March 11) with the hopes of being able to hire and train even more women to make their clothing accessible to women all over the world.
You can learn more about the Bombchel Factory and how to contribute to their Kickstarter right here.
By Erin White*, AFROPUNK contributor
the Bombchel Factory Kickstarter
*Erin White is an Atlanta-based writer and AFROPUNK’s editorial and social media assistant. You can follow her on Tumblr or friend her on Facebook. Have a pitch or an inquiry? Shoot her an email at erin@afropunk.com.
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