重新思考这个世界的15位年轻创始人（五）阿米拉和时尚电商平台

　　15 Young Founders Rethinking Everything (5)
　　重新思考这个世界的15位年轻创始人 （五）
　　阿米拉·热苏尔和The Folklore Group时尚电商平台
　　从留学南非、去殖民化思考，到创立公司、搭建文化桥梁
　　Amira Rasool, 26; The Folklore Group
　　26岁的阿米拉·热苏尔创建了时尚电子商务平台The Folklore Group。
　　＂Our African-based brands tend to have more sustainable practices.＂
　　她说：＂我们的非洲品牌往往会采用更可持续的做法。＂
　　After college at Rutgers University, Amira Rasool got her master＂s in philosophy at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.
　　阿米拉在美国罗格斯大学读完本科，之后去南非开普敦大学攻读哲学并获得硕士学位。
　　While she was there, she thought a lot about decolonization. ＂When African countries were colonized, they were told their customs were wrong,＂ she says. But on this side of history, she thought there was a lot to admire about those customs.
　　在南非时，她对去殖民化思考了很多。当非洲国家被殖民的时候，殖民者灌输土著说他们的习俗有问题，但她认为，从历史的角度去看，这些习俗有很多值得钦佩的地方。
　　In 2018, that thinking prompted Rasool to found The Folklore Group, a Techstars-backed e-commerce distribution platform that brings fashion and lifestyle products from African nations to the rest of the world.
　　阿米拉的这种想法促使她在2018年创立了The Folklore Group公司。这是一个由知名创业孵化器Techstars支持的电子商务平台。该平台是连接非洲与世界的桥梁，将非洲国家的时尚和与其生活方式相关的产品带到世界其他地方。
　　Although the idea received praise and investor interest (just this April, she announced a $1.7 million pre-seed funding round), the actual logistics proved to be complicated.
　　平台的搭建受到好评和投资者的兴趣。就在今年4月，她获得了170万美元的种子前融资。不过她也发现平台背后的物流很复杂。
　　First, there was the matter of simply getting The Folklore＂s brands out of Africa — and paying their creators. No payment system was available continentwide, but The Folklore is working with a vendor who is helping to facilitate payments for brands on their platform.
　　首先，最起码得把品牌带出非洲，并付钱给这些品牌的创造者。而整个非洲大陆都没有现成的支付系统。公司目前正在与一家供应商合作，建立支付系统。
　　African designers couldn＂t get professional photographs of products, so The Folklore showed them how.
　　另外，非洲的产品设计师往往缺乏专业摄影人员，无法拍出专业的产品照片，公司在这方面也在提供帮助。
　　Then, because shipping small-batch quantities was pricey, Rasool figured out bulk shipping and distribution. To keep up with demand, this spring the brand pivoted from direct-to-consumer to wholesale.
　　然后，由于产品通常批量小，而小批量运输成本很高，阿米拉便想到了批量发货和配送。为了跟上需求，今年春天，他们把经营从直销转向批发。
　　Now, Rasool says, she＂s working to bridge a different culture — that of consumer expectations.
　　阿米拉说，她正在努力搭建这种文化桥梁，把产品带给对不同文化充满期待的消费者。
　　＂Our customers in the West are used to a certain speed and accessibility, but our African-based brands tend to have more sustainable practices,＂ she says.
　　我们在西方的客户通常习惯于快速获得产品、体验产品，但我们的非洲品牌与这个习惯不同，他们的做法更具可持续性。
　　＂They usually engage in slow fashion, produce smaller batches, and are careful about where they source. So we＂ve tried to show consumers there is value in adjusting their personal behavior to be more sustainable. Plus, there＂s a positive impact on others they can be proud of.＂ — Kim Kavin
　　他们通常从事慢时尚，小批量生产，并注重自己的声誉。因此，我们试图向消费者展示其可持续性的价值，以及他们的积极影响。记者 金·凯文