israella Kobla

Emefa's fashion journey officially began in 2012. After her brother's untimely passing at the beginning of that year, she took the semester off from her civil engineering studies. She went to her motherland, Ghana for a period of time and spent about most days with her Aunty learning the basics of pattern drafting and sewing; something she had always wanted to do.

She found the techniques easy to pick up and after returning to Canada she found herself letting her creativity flow and building on the basics her Aunty had taught her. While completing her engineering degree, she would create custom outfits for her friends, just for fun.

Two years into her career as an engineer, something triggered her to give her long time dream of becoming a fashion designer a real go. By the start of 2018, she had moved to Toronto to attend fashion school at George Brown College. Throughout the 18 month program, she conceptualized two collections, one of which she debuted at Vancouver Fashion Week in October 2019.