Meet Samata Pattinson, the Ghanaian Designer Dominating the Global Fashion Space

Samata Pattinson is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Suzy Amis Cameron’s Red Carpet Green Dress (RCGD), a sustainable fashion and apparel brand. In her journey, the self-taught fashion entrepreneur has more than 15 years of experience.

The British-born Ghanaian award-winning designer also doubles as a writer, broadcaster, and entrepreneur. Though an economist by qualification, she’s attained milestones in fashion and media.

How Samata Pattinson got into fashion 

Samata Pattison was born and raised in Cambridge, England. To further her education, she attended the Queen Mary University of London. There, she earned her Master’s degree in economics, finance and management. This period also served as her formative year as a fashion designer.

Though she lacked the industry’s fundamentals, she was guided by her sense of creativity and passion for fashion, especially the red carpet type of fashion. 

So when she moved to London to start her master’s degree, she used the opportunity to immerse herself in the fashion industry. There, she related and learnt from creative people, editors, designers and garments and textile engineers.

With an understanding of the industry, she started her career as a public relations (PR) Director for King’s Road boutique Elival. In 2005, with her experience, she created her clothing label with Ken Livingstone at the Festival of Youth Arts Fashion in Piccadilly Circus. Her business was self-funded. She redirected the income she earned into the business.

This made her the first black British female to feature during the Nolcha Fashion Week, New York. Her creative work in the industry earned her an invite to Number 10 Downing Street by both Gordon Brown and the Cameron administration.

Taking a new step on the right path

The recognition of her work saw her take new steps in her fashion career. In 2011, she contested and won the Suzy Amis Cameron’s Red Carpet Green Dress young designer contest, an international sustainable design initiative on the Oscars’ red carpet.

This marked her entry into Red Carpet Green Dress company. With her creative insight, she climbed the fashion ladder and became the campaign director and later vice president. In 2019, she was appointed Red Carpet Green Dress’s chief executive officer (CEO).

Since assuming the office, she annually promoted sustainable fashion on the red carpet at the Oscars. She has been working with brands such as Louis Vuitton, Armani, and Vivienne Westwood to achieve sustainable goals in the industry.

Her expertise in eco-design solutions and business has seen her work with prime ministers, business leaders, and notable summits and platforms. This includes IT TVnews, South by Southwest Eco, Copenhagen fashion summit and the U.S. department of state bureau of international information programs.

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As a media person and author

Apart from being an accomplished fashion expert, Samata Pattinson has made a name for herself in the media industry. This has seen her frontline some sustainable fashion work with notable media brands in the industry, such as The Talent Magazine and The Guardian.

She has also interviewed the likes of Suzy Amis Cameron, Missi Pyle, Dame Vivienne Westwood, Christopher Bailey and Christopher Raeburn.

In 2016, she narrated, co-directed and co-produced a short documentary about sustainable fashion. It was titled Designing Change with Suzy Amis Cameron.

Still in the creative space, in 2013, Pattinson authored ‘Fashion Designer’s Resource Book’. She also published ‘The Tribe Empowerment Journal’.

Samata Pattinson’s The Tribe

Samata Pattinson founded ‘The Tribe’ in 2016 as a global women’s only event and collective. While it serves as a brand, it is also a community that brings and connects women worldwide to inspire, encourage and support each other.

This is done through online conversation, THE TRIBE Empowerment Journal, forums, engagement, or physical events.

The platform is not exclusive to women in the fashion industry. It encompasses women from sectors such as Media, Business, Law, Food, Drink, Art & Design, Lifestyle, Sport & Entertainment, Science and Public Life.

As an all-encompassing brand, it has interviewed people such as Vandana Shiva (an environmentalist), Priyanka Bose (actor) and Stephanie Schierholz (NASA Public Affairs Officer).

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