When Maurice Gattis traveled to Ghana with his mother in 2021, he was a professor of social work at VCU. These days, he has a second job: choosing fabrics and designing clothing for his new fashion line, Fort Mosé 1738.

The genesis of the clothing line was purely accidental. Some friends who’d visited Africa before him had mentioned that he should have some clothing made while there. “During one of our taxi rides with the driver Nathaniel, I mentioned that I wanted custom clothes made and he told me that his wife makes clothes,” Gattis says. “She made several shirts for me before I returned home.”

Nathaniel’s wife Faustina, along with several Ghanian colleagues, fashion custom-made clothes in vividly colored African fabrics including Kente cloth. Gattis sees each pattern and color design as having a unique personality and story to tell. “The colors are so vibrant that I felt bold and confident, and at the same time, like they’re everyday clothing items, although they’re unlike anything I’d ever worn before,” he says. “I also receive a lot of compliments from people I don’t know when I wear them.”

It wasn’t long into the vacation before Nathaniel approached Gattis with the idea of designing a clothing line. All that was required was hiring a lawyer to set up the LLC, given that the manufacturing component was already in place. Most importantly, it was a chance to shine a light on the artistry of African culture.

When it came to naming his new clothing line, Gattis thought back to a previous vacation with his mother in Florida. They’d toured Fort Mosé, the first free Black settlement that was legally sanctioned in what was to become the United States. He recalled how the fort captured his imagination, spurring questions about the residents and their descendants.

His own family is multigenerational American with no knowledge of where their ancestors originated because of the nature of the transatlantic slave trade. “I would like to use the profits to invest in building more manufacturing facilities for the line in Ghana,” he says. “I also want to support the efforts to reconstruct and maintain Fort Mosé in Florida.”

With the business set up, a name chosen, and a willing cadre of clothing makers in Ghana, it fell to Gattis to choose the fabrics and create the designs for the line. “I don’t have a design background,” he says. “But I’ve always really liked clothing because they’re practical and a way to express yourself in myriad ways. The color palettes made me feel unique in the context that I operate in daily.”

One of the biggest hurdles getting the company off the ground has been getting distribution in retail stores. Fort Mosé 1738 has recently started working with a wholesale company called The Folklore which has a network of retailers they can connect with. The entire line is available on the company’s website and generally takes up to four weeks to be delivered.

Gattis’ greatest satisfaction derives from having taken a chance to work with a highly skilled family on an adventure to do something completely out of his comfort zone. The bonus is how well received it’s been. “I never imagined that I would have shown two collections during consecutive Washington, D.C. Fashion Weeks,” he says with pride. “It’s also fulfilling that the line educates people about the first free Black community in America, Fort Mosé, while providing practical and stylish clothes.”

The target customer is anyone who loves bold and vibrant colors in modern silhouettes with an appreciation for original hand-woven textiles such as Kente from Ghana. Gattis thinks it will also appeal to those seeking handcrafted clothing.  “It’s made in small batches, so each item is unique and doesn’t come from an assembly line,” he says.

At the end of the day, Gattis feels like he’s making an impact in a different way than his life as an academic. “It allows me to help empower highly skilled artisans to use their talents to improve their economic well-being by introducing their work to a new market they wouldn’t otherwise have been able to reach,” he says, before turning his attention to the social work side of things and sounding very much like a professor. “We know financial stability is associated with better health and mental health outcomes.”

As for Gattis’ mother, who was part of the initial exposure to the life-changing clothes they bought on their Ghana vacation, she loves the compliments she receives when wearing her son’s clothing line. “She’s very excited that all this emerged from that trip.”

To learn more about Fort Mosé 1738,  visit their website here.