Fashion Designer Loses Her Business After Her IG Gets Hacked
Ms. Kotomah, whose business Boresa Kotomah is based in London off Social Media.
She taught herself to sew and began designing clothes in 2018.
“Unfortunately, at the time I ran everything on Instagram, so when that was gone, that was the whole business gone,” she told BBC Radio 5 Live.
Due to interest on Twitter in her fashion styles, she started an Instagram account and gained 5,000 followers in seven months, after a photo of a dress she made went viral. Interested customers would send her a direct message on Instagram enquiring about prices, and commission her to make the dresses.
Ms. Kotomah would invoice her customers using PayPal and mobile app Invoice2go, and her reputation grew by word of mouth and through shares of her outfits on Instagram and Twitter.
“I woke up one morning and my account was deleted. I received an email from Instagram saying I had violated some terms and I had done certain things that I know I didn’t do,” she said. “My business at that time was my livelihood. That was what I was doing full-time. I’m self-employed. So if I’m not making money from working, I’m not making money at all so I was just thinking like, ‘What am I going to do?'”
Ms. Kotomah’s designs have been worn by actors, singers, social media influencers and music artists. Her clients include the likes of Maja Jama, Nush Cope, Ebonee Davis, Chidera Eggerue, AfroB, Labrinth, Lianne La havas, Wiz Kid and Mr. Eazi.
She set up a second Instagram profile, and eight months later she has been awarded the Young Freelancer of the Year award by the IPSE.