{{Short description|Ghanaian-Canadian fashion designer}} '''Catherine Addai''' is a Ghanaian-Canadian fashion designer and founder of the women's clothing brand Kaela Kay.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Levy |first=Joel |date=2021-12-20 |title=Homegrown Business: Catherine Addai of KAELA KAY |url=https://torontoguardian.com/2021/12/toronto-business-kaela-kay/ |access-date=2022-06-20 |website=Toronto Guardian |language=en-CA}}</ref>
== Career == Addai has a degree in health informatics. She worked as a decision support consultant while working on her fashion line. She launched the label in 2013 while on maternity leave with her daughter Makaela.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Digital Series Celebrates Ghanaian-Canadian Fashion Designer |url=https://www.modernghana.com/lifestyle/13944/digital-series-celebrates-ghanaian-canadian-fashio.html |access-date=2022-06-20 |website=Modern Ghana |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Ghana-born Catherine Addai on turning her passion into a successful clothing company with "hustle and heart" |url=https://canadianimmigrant.ca/people/ghana-born-catherine-addai-on-turning-her-passion-into-a-successful-clothing-company-with-simply-hustle-and-heart |access-date=2022-06-20 |website=Canadian Immigrant |language=en-US}}</ref>
Early in her journey, clothing alterations and fittings were completed in Addai's basement in Mississauga.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Post |first=Colin McClelland, Special to Financial |date=2020-10-30 |title=Adapt, endure and expand: How Black entrepreneurs are handling the challenges posed by the pandemic |language=en |work=Financial Post |url=https://financialpost.com/entrepreneur/adapt-endure-and-expand-how-black-entrepreneurs-are-handling-the-challenges-posed-by-the-pandemic |access-date=2022-06-20}}</ref> With no formal training in design, fashion, she hired seamstresses from Toronto to help her learn the trade.<ref name=":0" /> She quit her consulting job in 2017 to work on her brand full-time. In 2019, Addai opened up her first brick-and-mortar boutique in North York.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Jonah |first=Sabrina |date=October 20, 2019 |title='Modern, eclectic, chic': Toronto fashion designer marries high-fashion with African heritage |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-designer-addai-1.5327626 |access-date=June 20, 2022 |website=CBC News}}</ref> The brand is named after one of her daughters.<ref name=":2" />
She works primarily with Ankara fabric, a West African fabric method of dying cotton material, and experienced some "cultural resistance" to her designs initially.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /> Celebrities including Busy Philipps and Tracy Moore have worn her designs, exposing them to a wider audience.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 16, 2022 |title=20 Black-Owned Businesses To Support in Toronto & The GTA |url=https://www.styledemocracy.com/black-owned-businesses-to-shop-in-the-gta/ |access-date=June 20, 2022 |website=Style Democracy}}</ref>
In 2019, Addai was one of six female Canadian entrepreneurs highlighted in a digital video series ''Startup and Slay''.<ref name=":3" />
== Awards == In 2018, Addai was given the People's Choice Award for Fashion Designer of the Year from ByBlacks.com.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Administrator |title=2018 ByBlacks.com PCA Winners List |url=https://byblacks.com/peopleschoiceawards/2018-byblacks-com-pca-winners-list |access-date=2022-06-20 |website=byblacks.com |language=en-gb}}</ref> Addai was also named African Fashion Industry Awards Ladies Wear Designer of the Year three separate times.<ref name=":3" />
== Personal life == Addai was born in Ghana, lived in Amsterdam until she was three and moved to Canada when she was seven.<ref name=":1" /> Now based in Toronto, she is a wife and mother to three young children.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shannon |first=Michaella |date=March 7, 2022 |title=11 women share the pearl of wisdom they're reflecting on in this moment |url=https://www.cbc.ca/life/culture/11-women-share-the-pearl-of-wisdom-they-re-reflecting-on-in-this-moment-1.6371710 |access-date=June 20, 2022 |website=CBC News}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Addai, Catherine}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:Canadian people of Ghanaian descent Category:Canadian fashion designers Category:Canadian women fashion designers