Anna Touré spent the past ten years building her global PR firm, Anna Touré PR , and its parent company, AT Group, which offers business development services to the emerging brands she represents. Combining her love for fashion, business and communications, Touré developed an interest in the fashion industry as a child. “[Growing up] I always read my mother's fashion magazines and I always watched fashion TV. I wanted to be in the fashion industry, not necessarily as a designer but more on the business side,” she tells AMAKA. She goes on to explain how important it was for her to nurture both her creative abilities and passion for business. This led her to graduating with a master’s degree, specialising in languages (she speaks German, French and English) and business, from Blaise Pascal University in France. 

Touré was born in France to a Senegalese father who played basketball for his national team and an Ivorian mother with a keen interest in fashion. Following her dream of establishing an intercontinental company, Touré moved to New York in 2008. “It was the best training I could have had compared to Paris. In France, PR is more conventional,” she reveals. In 2012, after carefully mapping out her vision and building some industry networks, Touré signed her first client, the renowned Senegalese designer and artist, Selly Raby Kane. With a global team based in Dakar, Abidjan, New York and Paris, she now works with a broad range of clients in fashion, beauty, skincare and even the hospitality industry, in Africa and across the diaspora.

Now based in Dakar, Senegal, since 2020, Touré has represented the likes of womenswear fashion label, Simon et Elise, Melayci Cosmetics, and the Beyonce-approved jewellery label, Karidja & Khadija. Her firm also recently started working with Marodi TV, a prominent production studio in Senegal — providing the wardrobe for the company’s TV anchors. Speaking with AMAKA from Dakar, Touré delves in on the state of fashion communication in Africa, its challenges, and how to make it in this industry. 

AMAKA: How was your experience growing up between France, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire? 

AT: It was a rich experience. It was very important for my parents to not lose our [African] culture. My dad was a basketball player for the national team in Senegal and then he played in France, and that’s how he met my mom who is from Côte d’Ivoire. My mom was into fashion and my dad sports so culturally we were always exposed to different things. 

AMAKA: You’re the founder of both Anna Toure PR and the AT Group. What’s the difference between these two companies? 

AT: AT PR is part of the AT Group. We started with AT PR but we quickly realised that because of my experience and the demand, we could extend to other services – so we wanted to diversify what we could offer clients. AT Group is more like a business development organisation that works with different companies in fashion as well as restaurants, hotels, resorts and architectural offices. 

AMAKA: How do you decide which brands to work with? Is there a specific criteria that you follow? 

AT: It’s important to work with brands that have real storytelling, brands that are passionate about what they are doing. We pick our clients based on authenticity and the quality of their products. When it's a beauty brand we test the product to make sure that it meets the standards. 

It’s also essential to see if the brand is financially ready as there are a lot of costs involved. Something practical we always ask our future clients is if they have the capacity to produce the stock that we would need to introduce their brands to the market. The work needs to be done from both sides.

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AMAKA: How would you describe the fashion PR industry in Africa? 

AT: It’s not perfect, especially when you deal with designers in different countries on the continent. The reality is that Africa is not the same as other continents. It’s evolving and more opportunities are opening up for creatives. For instance, if you don’t have a website as a fashion brand, there are a lot of marketplaces where you can still sell. Digital media has also changed things. Nowadays, any brand, even the smallest can be available to anyone in the world. 

AMAKA: In your opinion what kind of change needs to happen for it to be where it needs to? 

AT: There’s a website called Naole Media specialising in the communications and PR industry in Francophone countries in Africa. It’s a good initiative to showcase [the industry] and for people to learn and understand what PR is. Lagos and Glitz Africa Fashion Week have seminars in which they invite different panels to talk about the industry. I think these kinds of initiatives help brands understand why it’s important to work on their communication strategies. 

AMAKA: How would you explain your job to someone who doesn’t know or understand what PR is? 

AT: We connect brands with their niche or future clientele, and give them strategies on how to position themselves. In fashion, for example, we send lookbooks, clothes or samples to magazine editors for publication or celebrity stylists for TV appearances, the red carpet or photoshoots. 

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AMAKA: What’s the secret to running a successful PR and communications agency? 

AT: You have to be passionate and curious. I’m still learning every day. I read a lot of specialty magazines which cover news and the business of fashion. Reading can give you ideas. 

AMAKA: What’s the biggest challenge of working in this industry right now?

AT: If we had more infrastructure it would be easier because brands are currently doing a lot with little means. If you are in Abidjan for example, it’s not easy producing in large quantities as it would be in, let’s say Turkey. I think governments need to invest in this industry and understand that it's profitable. 

AMAKA: What does the future of PR and communications look like? 

AT: I think it’s always changing. PR now is not only about good press and events. The rise of digital has made the industry adapt – we’ve shown that, especially during the pandemic. When I started, it was all about magazines, press and interviews. And now it's a mix. In Africa getting press is okay but I focus more on events. 

AMAKA: What advice would you give to emerging designers? 

AT: What I’ve realised is that a lot of amazing talents in the fashion industry lack business skills. It’s very important to have good business training. I’ve seen many talented designers missing that part; how to handle and run a company. Fashion is not only about designing but also being able to run your finances, manage a team and make your business profitable.