Samata, also known as Samata Pattinson, is a fashion entrepreneur, director, producer and presenter. The British-born Ghanaian fashion designer, author and journalist is also best known for her role as Global Campaign Director for Suzy Amis Cameron's Red Carpet Green Dress campaign showcasing ethical fashion on the Oscars red carpet. Samata has written for Guardian, Vogue and Huffington Post, covering sustainable fashion. She is an award-winning womenswear designer whose work in the fields of fashion and sustainability have received coverage from BBC Radio 1Xtra, Essence, ITV's This Morning, E! Entertainment, Women's Wear Daily, ELLE, InStyle, Essence, Refinery 29 and Red Magazine.
Early life and education
Born in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, Samata is the middle daughter of Ghanaian parents. Her paternal grandfather was the tribal Chief Yo Naa Abdulai III of the Dagombapeople. Samata attended Perse School For Girls Secondary School and Sixth Form College. Eight months after starting an undergraduate degree in TherapeuticRadiography at City University, she switched degrees to study Economics, Finance and Management at QMUL.
Fashion career
Samata began her fashion career as a PR Director for exclusive Kings Road boutique Elival and a self-taught. In 2005 Samata launched Samata's Muse working with Ken Livingstone on the Festival of Youth Arts Fashion in Piccadilly Circus, going on to become the first British female to show during Nolcha Fashion Week, New York. While designing her eponymous womenswear clothing label, the brand was worn by Dawn Angeliqué Richard, Alesha Dixon and Jennifer Lopez. Samata has been invited to Number 10 Downing Street by both Gordon Brown and the Cameron administration for her work in the fashion industry. Samata was announced as the winner of Suzy Amis Cameron's Red Carpet Green Dress contest, an international design initiative to create designs made of sustainable for the Oscars' red carpet. Samata was later named Global Campaign Director of the initiative going on to direct campaigns with Gina Rodriguez, Jake McDorman, Naomie Harris, Olga Kurylenko, Kellan Lutz and Missi Pyle as talent, working with Ekocycle and Vivienne Westwood. Samata presents at the Red Carpet Green Dress Pre-Oscar celebrations in Hollywood each year.
Fashion journalism and broadcasting
From 2007 and until its closure, Samata was Fashion Editor of The Talent Magazine, presenting at the Channel 4 Magazine launch, and styling actor Nicholas Holt for the first cover issue. Samata's journalism work extends to articles for The Guardian, Vuelio, Fashion Capital and Vogue UK, most notably on the subject of sustainable fashion and fashion enterprise. Her London Fashion Week coverage for the Guardian coined the phrase 'Eco-Ghosting'. Samata's interviewees include Suzy Amis Cameron, Missi Pyle, Dame Vivienne Westwood, Georgina Chapman, Keren Craig, J W Anderson, Christopher Bailey and Paul Costelloe. Samata has been interviewed by Berkeley College and Radio 1 Xtra DJ Gemma Cairney for the Brits 'Gossip and Fashion Friday' section. In 2016 she narrated, co-directed and co-produced short doc with Suzy Amis Cameron.
Published work
After signing a publishing deal with Bloomsbury Publishing, the Fashion Designer's Resource Book was published by Bloomsbury Publishing in February 2013. Samata has been interviewed by the U.S Department of StateBureau of International Information Programs, ELLE and InStyle about her book. Samata used to write poetry and in 2006 was invited to perform spoken word at the Tate Modern for the Surrealism and Minimalism Festival. Samata's first fiction manuscript, a young adult dystopian, is currently under edit.
In 2006, Samata recorded a spoken word charity single for music project entitled Enfants Soldats. Her spoken-word piece "My Right to Be a Child" raised awareness about child soldiers. On December 2007, Samata organised a fashion show as part of a fundraising concert in Freetown, Sierra Leone for a public sanitation project. She worked with SWAY, Dawn Richards, and WFP initiative CatWALK the World. On September 2009, Samata designed costumes for the ITV News team as part of the 'Newsroom's Got Talent' fundraiser benefitting Leonard Cheshire Disability and Helen & Douglas House Hospice for Children and Young Adults. The designer exclusively dressed the likes of Romilly Weeks, journalist Steve Scott and Katie Derham for a Grease tribute performance, in addition to donating a gown. A keen philanthropist, Samata raises funds for America's soon-to-be first plant-based school, MUSE School CA, founded by Suzy Amis Cameron and James Cameron, and is an advocate for international organisation Women for Women.
