Meet Sai Sankoh, the Designer Behind the Goddess Kaftan

Who is Sai Sankoh? Sai Sankoh is the founder and creative director of Sai Sankoh, a Black-owned luxury resortwear house in Dallas, Texas. She designs the prints herself and is best known for the goddess kaftan, a one-size piece that fits sizes 0 to 24. The CFDA featured her in a Designer Spotlight in 2021. Her work has been worn by Beyonce, Lupita Nyong'o, Gabrielle Union, and Iman. The press calls her a "goddess of kaftans."

That is the short version. Here is the rest.

Worn by the women everyone watches

When Beyonce wore the Sai Sankoh Algeria Shirt Dress, it said something the brand had been building toward for years. This is a house dressed by women who are used to being looked at, and still get stopped and asked where their outfit came from.

Her designs have been worn by Beyonce, Lupita Nyong'o, Gabrielle Union, Iman, Michelle Williams, Kelly Rowland, Ashanti, Kandi Burruss, Cynthia Bailey, Porsha Williams, Sarah Jakes Roberts, Tabitha Brown, Yolanda Adams, Marlo Hampton, Nene Leakes, Phaedra Parks, Karen Huger, Tiffany Moon, Jodie Turner-Smith, Bonang Matheba, Yemi Alade, Tamron Hall, and Garcelle Beauvais.

The Council of Fashion Designers of America featured Sai Sankoh in a Designer Spotlight in 2021. Her work has been featured in Oprah Daily and in Revamp. The press named her a "goddess of kaftans." Before she launched the label, she was named a Washingtonian Style Setter in 2012. The credibility came first. The label made it wearable.

None of this happened by accident, and none of it happened overnight. Sai Sankoh built the name one woman at a time. By the time she designed her first pieces, she already knew exactly who she was making them for and what she wanted them to do. The red-carpet moments came because the work earned them.

From Sierra Leone to Dallas

Sai Sankoh was born in Sierra Leone. When she was about nine, her family fled the country's civil war. That war ran from 1991 to 2002 and forced families like hers to start over somewhere safer. They went to Ghana first. Then London. She moved to the United States at 15 and settled in Fairfax, Virginia.

Color came with her. The bright, loud, alive colors of Sierra Leone's markets went into her eye as a child and never left. Years later they became the whole look of her line. As she puts it, the vibrancy of her work is native to her roots. When a woman gets stopped in a room in a Sai Sankoh print, she is wearing a piece of that market color, carried across four countries and turned into something she can wear.

Her first career was not fashion. She studied accounting at Virginia Commonwealth University, then switched to nursing. She became a pediatric nurse. She spent her days caring for children and families, learning how to stay calm, pay attention, and put people at ease. That training never left her. It is why the customer experience at Sai Sankoh feels personal, not transactional.

Fashion started as the thing she could not stop doing. Around 2009 she moved into it in earnest and built Luxury Checkout, a shopping platform that pulled together pieces she loved, before she ever designed her own. She was learning the customer, the eye, the taste, the sale. Then, in 2012, she went back to Sierra Leone and worked with tailors there to bring her first samples to life. The response was strong. Women wanted what she was making.

She relocated to Dallas in 2015. By the end of 2018 she was a full-time designer and business owner, all in on the house that carries her name. Accountant, nurse, blogger, founder. Every step taught her something she still uses. The whole thing became one house with one point of view.

Why she designs the prints herself

Every print at Sai Sankoh starts with Sai Sankoh. She designs them. This is not a detail; it is the whole reason a woman gets stopped in a room.

The colors trace straight back to Sierra Leone's markets, and you cannot buy her prints anywhere else. When a woman wears one, no one else is wearing it. That is what turns a compliment into a conversation. It is the difference between "nice dress" and "where is that from, I have never seen anything like it." The prints are the reason she is remembered.

Why one size fits 0 to 24

The goddess kaftan is the signature. One size, and it fits sizes 0 to 24.

This was a decision about how women should feel, not just how clothes should be cut. A woman should not have to think about a number on a tag to feel beautiful. She should be able to put on the kaftan, feel it move, and walk out the door sure of herself. One size fits 0 to 24 means more women get to feel that, and more bodies get to feel welcome. Confidence should not have a size range.

The Dallas showroom and event space

The Sai Sankoh showroom sits in Dallas and runs 3,000 square feet. It is a place to shop, to be styled, and to gather. It doubles as a luxury event space, so the room that dresses women for their moments also hosts them.

Private styling is by appointment. A woman comes in, gets time and attention, and leaves with pieces chosen for her occasion, her body, and the compliments she is about to collect. It is the pediatric nurse's care, redirected into fashion.

Women come in before a birthday trip, a wedding they are attending, a milestone they want to mark. Some come in knowing exactly what they want. Most come in wanting to feel a certain way and trusting Sai Sankoh to find the piece that gets them there. They leave with something no one else will be wearing, and they come back for the next occasion. That is the whole idea. The showroom is where the promise of the brand stops being words on a website and becomes a woman looking in the mirror and standing up straighter.

Visit: 4755 Algiers St, Suite 110, Dallas, TX 75207. Call: 571-926-5813. Book private styling: https://calendly.com/saisankoh.

What she wants you to feel

Sai Sankoh does not think of herself as selling clothing. She sells the moment you walk in and the room turns. She sells the confidence of knowing you look beautiful before anyone says a word, and the compliments that come after. She sells being the woman they remember.

The brand says it plainly. Never Go Unnoticed. The Art of Arrival. For The Woman They Remember. Designed For Compliments. Those are not slogans to her. They are the promise she designs against.

She has taken that promise around the world, shooting brand campaigns in Havana, Mexico, the Serengeti, Istanbul, and Dallas. The settings change. The point does not: a woman in a Sai Sankoh piece who cannot be missed.

Faith and the way she works

Sai Sankoh is a woman of faith, and it shapes how she runs the house. Integrity. Excellence. Service. Gratitude. She built this brand from nothing, across four countries and three careers, and she treats every customer like the relationship matters more than the sale, because to her it does. Beauty, done with care, is a form of service. That is the standard she holds her team to and the reason women come back.

As worn by

• Beyonce (Algeria Shirt Dress)
• Lupita Nyong'o
• Gabrielle Union
• Iman
• Michelle Williams
• Kelly Rowland
• Ashanti
• Kandi Burruss
• Cynthia Bailey
• Porsha Williams
• Sarah Jakes Roberts
• Tabitha Brown
• Yolanda Adams
• Marlo Hampton
• Nene Leakes
• Phaedra Parks
• Karen Huger
• Tiffany Moon
• Jodie Turner-Smith
• Bonang Matheba
• Yemi Alade
• Tamron Hall
• Garcelle Beauvais

Awards and press

• FGI Dallas Rising Star in Fashion - nominated twice (2020 and 2022) and won in 2022 - https://papercitymag.com/fashion/emerging-dallas-fashion-designers/
• Featured by the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) in a Designer Spotlight, 2021 - https://cfda.com/news/designer-spotlight-sai-sankoh-gets-candid-about-life-design/
• D Magazine, "How a Sierra Leone Native Went from Nurse to Resortwear Designer," 2019 - https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/2019/march/sai-sankoh-designer-resortwear/
• D Magazine, "Local Designer Sai Sankoh's Fan Club Includes Beyonce," 2019 - https://www.dmagazine.com/style-beauty-wellness/2019/08/local-designer-sai-sankohs-fan-club-includes-beyonce/
• D Magazine, "Sai Sankoh Brings Her Global, Maximalist Style to the Design District," 2023 - https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/2023/november/sai-sankoh-brings-her-global-maximalist-style-to-the-design-district/
• Dallas Observer, "Now She Can Count Beyonce as a Client" - https://www.dallasobserver.com/arts-culture/dallas-designer-sai-sankoh-is-a-celebrity-favorite-11737348/
• PaperCity, "The 5 Best Emerging Dallas Fashion Designers to Know in 2023" - https://papercitymag.com/fashion/emerging-dallas-fashion-designers/
• Fashion Bomb Daily, "Bomb Designer You Should Know: Sai Sankoh" - https://fashionbombdaily.com/bomb-designer-know-sai-sankoh-available-on-fashion-bomb-daily-shop/
• Television: WFAA Good Morning Texas (ABC), NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, and WTTW's PBS series Fit 2 Stitch

See the full press and awards record on the Awards & Press page.

Come see it for yourself

The fastest way to understand a Sai Sankoh piece is to put one on.

• Book private styling at the Dallas showroom: https://calendly.com/saisankoh
• Shop the signature goddess kaftans
• Start with the Sandra Goddess Kaftan or the Karmyn Goddess Kaftan
• Browse best sellers and new arrivals
• New to the piece? Read What Is a Kaftan

You can also learn more about the brand, plan a visit to the showroom, read the FAQ, or see who has worn the label on the celebrities page. Headed somewhere warm? See the destination style guides and occasion style guides.

Find Sai Sankoh on Instagram at @sai.sankoh and @shopsaisankoh.

FAQ

Who is Sai Sankoh?

Sai Sankoh is the founder and creative director of Sai Sankoh, a Black-owned luxury resortwear house in Dallas, Texas. She designs the prints herself and is best known for the goddess kaftan. She was born in Sierra Leone, fled the civil war with her family around age nine, lived in Ghana and then London, and moved to the United States at 15. She studied accounting at Virginia Commonwealth University, became a pediatric nurse, and built a shopping platform before designing her own line. The CFDA featured her in a Designer Spotlight in 2021.

What is she known for?

The goddess kaftan. It is her signature piece, made in her own prints, in one size that fits 0 to 24. The press calls her a "goddess of kaftans." Her designs have been worn by Beyonce, Lupita Nyong'o, Gabrielle Union, and Iman, and her work has been featured by the CFDA and in Oprah Daily.

Where is she from?

Sai Sankoh was born in Sierra Leone. Her family fled the civil war when she was about nine. She lived in Ghana, then London, then moved to the United States and settled in Fairfax, Virginia, at 15. The colors of Sierra Leone's markets are the roots of her prints.

Where is she based?

Dallas, Texas. She relocated there in 2015 and went full-time as a designer by the end of 2018. The Sai Sankoh showroom is 3,000 square feet and doubles as a luxury event space, at 4755 Algiers St, Suite 110, Dallas, TX 75207. Private styling is by appointment at https://calendly.com/saisankoh, or call 571-926-5813.

Has a celebrity worn Sai Sankoh?

Yes. Beyonce wore the Sai Sankoh Algeria Shirt Dress. Other women who have worn the label include Lupita Nyong'o, Gabrielle Union, Iman, Michelle Williams, Kelly Rowland, Ashanti, Kandi Burruss, Sarah Jakes Roberts, Tabitha Brown, Yolanda Adams, Jodie Turner-Smith, Tamron Hall, and Garcelle Beauvais. See the full list above and on the celebrities page.

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/saisankoh/