Joyce Ababio

Joyce Yeboah Ababio is a Ghanaian fashion designer and educator, often described as one of the matriarchs of Ghanaian fashion. She is known for bringing kente into everyday clothing, for dressing successive First Ladies since 1992, and for training a generation of Ghanaian designers through the school she founded, JACCD Design Institute Africa.

Early life and education

She is the fifth child of Esther Tuyee and Stephen W. Yeboah, a politician who served in the Nkrumah government. She attended Datus School and Achimota School, then began studying medical technology at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota before transferring to Texas Woman's University, where she earned a degree in fashion design.

Career

Back in Ghana, she founded the Vogue Style School of Fashion and Design in 1995, which became the Joyce Ababio College of Creative Design (JACCD) in 2013 and is now JACCD Design Institute Africa. She has designed costumes for pageants including Miss Ghana and Miss World, and in 1995 she became the first Ghanaian designer to win the Best Formal Evening Wear award at Miss World.

Recognition

Her honours include the Ghana Fashion Awards Hall of Fame (2016), a Glitz Africa Fashion Week Lifetime Achievement Award (2013) and Ghana Fashion Awards prizes for education and mentoring (2012 and 2015). On 7 November 2026 she was one of seven pioneers honoured at the inaugural Black Star Fashion Week at the Royal Senchi Hotel, Akosombo.

Personal life

She has two children, Tracy and Charles.