JOANNA Masiyiwa, 28, who launched her own fashion brand, Amayi London, is attracting global attention after being named as one of the top designers to watch by leading international style publications.
The Times in the UK named her among designers to watch, while Monocle recently named her as one of the top 25 global brands to keep on the radar.
Joanna has an unusual business model in which she produces only a limited number of her fashion pieces, intended to be collected rather than sold through mass-market channels.
The Yale-educated designer left Zimbabwe with her family in 2000, when she was only two years old.
However, she has maintained close contact with her home country, where she travels regularly to see her grandmother, whom she dresses in her colourful designs.
Joanna also draws inspiration from African design elements for a global audience. Although she is not a tech entrepreneur like her father, Pan-African businessman and founder Strive Masiyiwa, Joanna remains very close to him, and they discuss business every week.
Two of her other sisters also run their own businesses, while her eldest sister, Tanya Elizabeth, runs the family foundations — including the Higher Life Foundation
