Born in 1984 and raised between the UK and Nigeria, Ade Hassan studied English and Economics at Duke University before completing a Master’s in Economic Development at SOAS in London. She went on to build a career in private equity, but it was a personal frustration that changed everything. As a working professional expected to wear sheer tights and neutral lingerie daily, she simply could not find nude in her skin tone. So she decided it was time to promote a different kind of nude.

In 2014, she founded Nubian Skin, a global lingerie and hosiery brand for women with darker skin tones, with no fashion background beyond a year of sewing and pattern-cutting classes she had taken in Paris. The brand’s launch photo went viral within weeks, going from 50 to over 20,000 Instagram followers in under a month after actress Kerry Washington shared it and the industry took notice. Nubian Skin has since been featured in major fashion publications, supplied the wardrobes of productions on the West End, Broadway, and in Hollywood, and was chosen to provide the underpinnings for Beyoncé’s Formation World Tour in 2016. Beyoncé, Jourdan Dunn, and Lizzo have all worn the brand organically.

Ade won the Great British Entrepreneur Award for Fashion in 2015 and was subsequently awarded an MBE for services to fashion.