Nora was designing and making paper dresses that she clipped on to card dolls at a very early age.

• At six, she used a small sewing machine (her birthday present from her parents) to sew her designs for her dolls.
• In Achimota Primary School, Nora was already making her own clothes.
• In Form 3, Achimota Secondary School, Nora was sewing for quite a number of people.
• After about seven years of designing and sewing clothes for various people with the help of apprentices, Nora registered her business in March 1980.

• Nora originally registered her fashion design business as "Sleek Fashion", a sole proprietorship.
• This business is now a limited liability company known as "Sleek Fashion Limited";
• Prior to that Nora had already established a design school and a workshop from which uniforms were made for the former Dimples Inn and custom designs for customers from all walks of life.
• Nora has established a fashion design school which has trained several hundred students to date. Most of these students have been able to set up their own garment businesses.
• Sleek Fashion Limited was, in August 2000, selected alongside other similar companies, to be provided with technical and marketing assistance to enable them to play lead production roles in the Presidential Special Initiative (PSI) garment export drive, targeting the US and European countries.

• Nora Bannerman-Abbott founded Sleek Garment Export Limited, (SGEL) and duly registered the company in September 2002, under the Companies Code, 1963 (Act 179) as a private limited liability company to take advantage of the Presidential Special Initiative (PSI) Export Action Plan. The national implementation strategy for the PSI involves provision of technical, marketing and financial assistance to SGEL and other selected Ghanaian companies with the object of creating a critical mass of high-growth oriented, internationally competitive garment exporting companies in Ghana.
• The company is registered with 50,000,000 ordinary shares of no par value, of which 5,000,000 shares have been issued
• Sleek Garment Export Limited, after undergoing an extensive Capacity Assessment and Performance Audit, conducted by an International Vendor Assessor recruited from Woolworth´s of South Africa, was rated as 61% export ready at inception
• SGEL was in early 2003 rated among the best 5 of the PSI Garment Companies
• SGEL to export to US, European and African countries
• SGEL has since last September exported Khaki Trousers to the U.K.
• And supplied a South African Company with local representation and which has several Clothing Outlets in Africa, with Ladies and Men´s Wear.
• SGEL has also exported a wide range of Men´s and Ladies Wear to Sierra Leone.

• Achimota Primary and Secondary Schools, Ghana - GCE O and A Level.
• Accra Polytechnic, Ghana - C.S.I.A. Intermediate Level (Business Administration).
• Illinois State University, U.S.A.- Modern Textile Firm Management and Marketing.

• Nora Bannerman-Abbott (Mrs.) has notable achievements as an entrepreneur, namely:
• Chief Executive Officer of Sleek Garment Export Limited
• Managing Director of Sleek Fashions Limited
• An accomplished Fashion Designer with over 20 years experience
• A key player in all Beauty Pageants held in Ghana from 1986 to date
• A consultant to Ghana Textile Products Limited (GTP)
• Involved in the promotion of fabrics of Akosombo Textiles Limited (ATL)
• Credited with pioneering the use of machine woven Kente to make clothing for export to the USA
• Currently runs a Fashion Design and Sewing School
• Currently runs a successful Health Shop
• A member of the National Implementation Committee on AGOA

Philanthropist:

• Executive Director of "Hope for the Rural Dweller", a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO)
• Executive Director of Sleek Fashion Institute, a NGO
• Patron of All Africa Bible Institute, Ghana

The name Nora Bannerman has come to be associated with the best in fashion design in Ghanaian circles. In such a fashion vibrant society as Ghana, being on top means that one must be really good.

Nora has proven time and time again that she is really good. For more than a decade, she has been the last word in the clothing of winners of the nation wide Miss Ghana beauty contests

• Miss Ghana 86
• Miss Ghana 88 for the Miss University contest
• Miss Ghana 89
• Miss Ghana 90
• Miss Ghana 94
• Miss Ecowas 95
• Miss Model Africa
• Miss Ghana Runner-up 2000
• Miss Universe (Ghana) Runner-up 2001
• Regional Beauties for each local beauty pageant to date

Nora has also been making outfits for the winners of Ghana´s highest arts awards (The Flagstar). All these activities form only a small fraction of the work she does as a fashion designer, dreaming up various designs and as a clothier, bringing her dreams to reality. The clothes she makes for clients, and her own clothes at public functions, shows and exhibitions, have all contributed to the soaring image that she now enjoys.

Nora designs and makes clothes for wives of some African Heads of State as well as diplomats and dignitaries from Ghana, Côte d´Ivoire, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, America, Germany, France, Britain and Switzerland.

Nora designed and made clothes out of Ghana Textile Products (GTP) wax prints for guides and liaison officers of the 10th Ministerial Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement.

Nora has designed and made uniforms for various Ghanaian institutions, such as Fan Airways, Shangri-La Hotel, Taysec (Taylor Woodrow), Dimples Inn, "Indutech 1986" and CEPS, as well as the production of Academic Gowns, Hoods and Hats for the Winneba University.

In 1994, Nora designed and made 10,000 garments for export to the U.S.

Her designs sell in West Africa, South Africa, USA, France, Germany and Switzerland.

Nora designs fabrics which are currently made into batik prints, but fabric designing is something that Nora has done alongside clothes designing and she continues to receive significant and substantial orders for her clothes and fabric designs.

• Twelve shows and exhibitions in the USA between 1991 and 1996
• Ghana Olympic Committee Fund Raising Shows in the USA and Britain during 1996
• Fashion shows in London
• Three years participation at the Pret-a-Porter Feminine in Paris, France
• Two years participation in the IGEDO Exhibition in Dusseldorf, Germany
• Clothes shows in Geneva, Switzerland
• Ghana International Trade Fairs since 1986
• Inter-Tourism Fairs
• Indutech 1986
• Gifex Export Fairs (won the Best Handcraft Exhibit award in 1991)
• In 1993, her company, Sleek Fashion, was nominated by the editorial office in Paris for an award in recognition of her works in the fashion and garment industry
• Numerous fashion shows in Accra
• Fashion show at the Mr Ghana and Ms Fitness 97 "Muscle Explosion" Contests
• Fashion show at the Miss Ghana "Embassy Double Do" Contest
• Designed and made clothes for the M´Net Face of Africa Finalists in 1998
• Designed and made clothes for the 19 Finalists of the Miss Ghana 2001 Pageant
• Fashion Show at the KORA Awards in Sun City, South Africa in Nov. 2001
• Exhibited at the "Ghana / Sierra Leone Business Week" Trade Show in Sierra Leone in Oct. 2002
• Exhibited at the Kagiso International Clothing & Textile Exhibition, Cape Town, South Africa, in 2001
• Designed and made clothes for the finalists of the Miss Legon 2003 Pageant, Accra
• Designed and made clothes for Delegates and Ministers - ECOWAS Ministerial Conference, Accra, 2003

Nora has given talks and illustrations on contemporary fashion and clothes on invitation from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Ghana National Television and Broadcasting Stations. She continuous to enjoy wide media coverage on GTV and TV3.

• GTV, Ghana
• GBC Radio Station
• TV3, Ghana
• Groove FM
• Joy FM
• Vibe FM
• ZOOM TV (Germany)
• 1A TV (Germany)
• Featured on NBC Super Channel (Germany)
• Featured on CNN
• Featured on the Internet Fashion Pages in 1997
• Featured in Business in Africa Magazine
• Featured in an In-Flight Magazine for Ghana Airways
• Featured in ELLE fashion magazine, Paris
• Featured in other Fashion Magazines in Africa, e.g. Femme Afrique
• Featured in Fashion Programme on Ghana´s TV3 (2000)
• Featured in Beauty & Health Show on Ghana´s TV3 (2001)
• Current Vice President of the Spinnet Textile and Garment Cluster (is a Pilot Member)
• Current Member, Ghana National Committee on AGOA
• Featured by "GHANA CLASSIFIED" in the Daily Graphic as Personality of the Year in 2001
• Voted Fitness Personality 2001
• Guest Presenter at 2001 Kora Awards in Sun City, South Africa
• Rated in a 2002 Book on Fashion in France as one of the Top 20 Designers from Africa
• Interviewed in 2002 on the TV3 Programme "Women of Distinction"

Nora has also addressed ladies clubs and associations and given numerous talks to Lady Chief Executives at Gimpa on proper dress sense.

Nora has also given career guidance talks at the invitation of various schools in Accra.

Nora is sought after for expert advice on Fashion and Garment Manufacture

"A fabulous lady with fabulous designs"
Jasmin Bell - "Miss Germany" 86

"She´s found a solution in mixing Kente with other fabrics to make it easier for persons of all classes to wear"
Uhuru Magazine

"For Nora, designing and making clothes do not stop at dresses, coats, shirts and trousers. The result of her designing head dresses to match her clothes is stunning"
The Mirror (Ghanaian newspaper)

"Like some of the other top international fashion designers, I have not had any formal training. I am successful because mine is a God-given talent, which knows no limit".

"I believe that being in a well designed and tailored outfit builds one´s confidence and increases one´s performance positively".

• SLEEK "N" HEALTHY LTD. - Nora has added a Health Shop to her business, because she believes that a healthy person is more appreciative of good fashion and clothes.
• EQUATOR LOGISTICS LIMITED - at which business her organisational skills and success at public relations come into play
• GOSPELSOUNDCHECK LTD. - Distributors and Retailers of Religious Books, CDs, DVDs and Gifts. Retailers of Musical Instruments.