The Folklore pilots a B2B platform to link global retailers with African and diasporic brands

Since debuting The Folklore in 2018, founder and CEO Amira Rasool wanted to shine a spotlight on emerging designers and brands from Africa. And over the years, as she built the DTC platform, Rasool received requests from curious retailers interested in partnering with these brands, too—but they simply “didn’t know how to get in touch” with them, she told Retail Brew.

The result is The Folklore Connect, its new online B2B wholesale platform that links global retailers with African and diasporic brands.

• “This was a…way to really build fanfare around these brands and get them familiarized in this market,” Rasool said.
• Part of the company’s recent $1.7 million pre-seed funding round was used to create Connect.

Link up: A pilot is underway with 15 retailers and 25+ brands, including Rich Mnisi, Orange Culture, and The Underargument, with the platform set to open to the public this August.

Rasool said she’s on the lookout for more companies—criteria include either being based in Africa or having at least one Black founder. Folklore will also consider factors like whether the biz has been operational for at least two years.

• Brands should also have the “ambition to scale globally,” she noted, and, in part, “make an impact in their community.”

Ultimately, the goal is to create one central location where brands can manage all of their wholesale. “Whereas the DTC platform…was strictly to get these goods in the hands of the end consumer…we are now going to be connecting brands with retailers to better facilitate wholesale transactions that will provide the end consumer with even more options of where to buy these products,” Rasool said.—JS