Marie Claire meets three of these girls to hear their stories and see how fashion has impacted their futures.
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Look at me, at my background.
There was no hope, no ambition.
I lost my mother just as I finished school in 2018.
After that, no one supported me, even though Id always been passionate about fashion.
Thats why finding the Fashion Expressions project was such a life-changing experience.
It is a celebrated, women-led fashion house.
She was very loved by all her team, and there was a sadness under the day’s excitement.
As her husband Rida explains, Pokua was a beautiful soul.
Pamela walks down the stairs from the Poqua Poqu studio.
She misses her late boss and hopes to keep her creative legacy alive.
This is the rationale behind the Fashion Expressions program.
But these girls are the ones you dont think about.
Sometimes, theyve lost their parents, and sometimes, theyve become teenage mothers.
Usually, they are victims of various kinds of abuse.
They made us proud.
There are so many talents wasted because of a lack of opportunities.
The north is also where you have a lot of polygamy.
If a girl is the fourth wife, the man doesnt necessarily have the resources to feed her children.
So its up to her to find alternative ways of providing for her kids.
Their openness and the fact that they travel alone mark them as prime targets for traffickers.
Poverty creates issues of exploitation for the girls.
They drop out of school, sometimes just because of period poverty.
For many families, if a girl is married or leaves somehow, its one less mouth to feed.
But the boy, you will push to go to school, thinking it will be more productive.
Which is not proven to be true, actually.
Cromwell Awadey reminisces: We all believed in their excellence.
But the girls surprised every one of us.
They made us proud.
There are so many talents wasted because of a lack of opportunities.
They just need someone to help them.
There is a real need for empowerment.
Emmily Naphambo enthuses, a huge smile on her face: The houses who can offer the internshipstheyknow Prada.
It opened their eyes.
And if Prada is doing it, why shouldnt she do it?
Happy and hopeful, Pamela’s life wasn’t always easy as a teenage mother.
But her dreams to one day own her own fashion house now seems within reach.
As a lady, I can also dress like this and show the world that fashion evolves.
You know, I found out about Fashion Expressions very late.
Someone told me that they were looking for girls to train in fashion.
I was always interested in clothes, but they had been doing that long before they found me.
I was the very last person in!
This is her energy, positivity, confidence, and ability never to give up.
Her mentor, Gifty Ghartey, the designer of GG Bespoke, confirms: Shes unstoppable.
The boys in the team call her a soldier.
But she also gives us so much joy, shes a great team member.
Melody had it hard.
She became a mother at 17, like so many girls in Ghana.
In Kpeve, Melody does a quick outfit change, while the village life continues.
If you hire them, they follow you around as you place your shopping on their head.
Its a physically demanding job with low prospects and high vulnerability to injury and sexual assault.
This is one of the places where International Needs Ghana goes to recruit girls for their training programs.
Some find community among the porters and dont want to leave.
But many do jump on the opportunity.
But having a knowledge and understanding of fashion was not required, because thats what we would teach them.
That was our approach.
This is how they ended up with a 100 percent completion rate for the course in Ghana.
This program changed my entire life.
It changed me emotionally and physically.
as they jump around.
Francisca is shy, but you might feel her resolve.
This program changed my entire life.
It changed me emotionally and physically.
When I look at my picture from when I first started, I look like a different person.
Pamela exclaims: I want to be a fashion designer.
I want the opportunity to work in the biggest fashion houses in the world.
To all my fellow girls who are feeling down because theres no hope, let me enlighten you.
I was also there.
A scene from Makola market, where unskilled women can find work as porters.
An exhausting dangerous job, especially for vulnerable young girls.
They all want to pay it forward.
She already has her first trainee, a young mother who brings her tiny daughter to learn from her.
As we drive away back to the city, I ask Melody what shes thinking.
Melody poses next to one of her menswear creations, wearing a suit she made especially for this shoot.
Q & A With Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada Group Head of CSR
How can fashion change lives?
Fashion is a powerful empowerment tool for women from underserved communities with challenging life experiences.
I am very proud of this result.
Do you feel luxury groups have a social responsibility?
I believe we are doing what is right and doing our part as an organization.
The more companies join forces to create programs that address social issues, the greater our impact can be.
What is next for the Fashion Expressions program?
Leave your ballet flats in your checked bag.
Uncle Harry for the gifting win.
