User:Vickywrite/sandbox

Dumebi Andrea Iyamah (1993) is a fashion designer born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. She is the founder and CEO of the fashion label, "ANDREA IYAMAH". Catering to bridal, swimwear and ready-to-wear lines, Andrea is known for her take on women’s fashion and revolutionizing swimwear

Early life and Education
Dumebi was born in Lagos, to Andrew and Onyi Iyamah both of Ika(Agbor) origin. She is the fourth of four children. She attended Grange School in Lagos. Acknowledging her talent at an early stage of 12 years old, the designer developed tailoring skills acquired through lessons that assisted her in completing the first few creations of the Andrea Iyamah brand.

She holds a bachelor's degree in Communication and Multimedia from McMaster University. She began her fashion brand Ontario Canada during her study at McMaster University at the age of 17, she founded the fashion brand with the help and support of her family and close friends.

Career
Dumebi Iyamah started building her fashion brand "Andrea Iyamah" at an early age of 17. The headquarters of "Andrea Iyamah" is in metropolitan city of Toronto, with flagship store in Lagos Nigeria which was launched in 2017 and major stockists around the world. Dumebi Iyamah keen eye for fashion, art, music, and business was a direct influence from her father and mother. At the early days of blogging, she shared her works of art including fashion sketches, portrait drawings, and photography with the digital audience. One day, she decided to take her sketches from paper to hanger and design and hand sew a few pieces. That blog post in 2011 got so much attention "Andrea Iyamah" was inevitably born. She worked on her designs and supply chain process throughout her undergraduate studies. Starting our designing custom couture from clients, she refined the brand to diversify into three main streams, custom bridal, ready-to-wear and swim/resort wear. Officially launching a full swim collection in 2013, her work has garnered attention from press such as VOGUE, ELLE, ESSENCE, Refinery29, HUFFPOST, COSMOPOLITAN and much more. She has staged several fashion shows in Africa, Europe, France, and the United States with major celebrities such as Ciara, Gabrielle Union, Genevieve Nnaji among others wearing her designs.

Personal life
Dumebi Iyamah is the last child of four children born to Andrew and Onyi Iyamah. Born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, her early years were filled with love, culture and a strong sense of community. Art was major part of her childhood. Her father was an engineer by education, but also a traveller and music lover. Her mother was a beautician who owned a hair salon, clothing boutique and also had tailors who made bespoke clothing she wanted to wear. At the time she was born, both parents were entrepreneurs, owning their businesses. With a father who loved to travel and a mother who stocked her boutique from Parisian stores, it was almost inevitable that she would eventually develop a brand inspired by African culture with a vibrant resort and swim line. At the tender age of 7, she lost her father in an unexpected turn of events and was raised by her mother.