{"id":62678,"date":"2020-01-15T11:59:38","date_gmt":"2020-01-15T16:59:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=62678"},"modified":"2025-10-09T14:19:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T18:19:23","slug":"entrepreneur-eyes-sustainable-fashion","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/entrepreneur-eyes-sustainable-fashion\/","title":{"rendered":"Carleton Entrepreneur Eyes Global Sustainable Fashion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Carleton Entrepreneur Eyes Global Sustainable Fashion\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

Nana Osei was already working toward his dream of owning a business while doing a Bachelor of Environmental Studies<\/a> at Carleton University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, as co-founder and CEO of B\u00f4hten<\/a>, an eco-luxury eyewear line, he uses reclaimed material in his effort to make green products high-end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Nana
Nana Osei<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Osei was born in the United Kingdom before moving to Ghana. He later grew up in New York, then made his way to Ottawa, where B\u00f4hten was born in the final year of his undergraduate degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He took a distinctly personal approach to B\u00f4hten, connecting his morals with his business acumen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always found ways to incorporate sustainability into lifestyle,\u201d Osei says.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Nana<\/figure>\n\n\n

Incorporating Sustainable Fashion into Lifestyle<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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The concept of sustainable glasses grabbed his attention when he went to visit family in Kwahu, Ghana, the highest habitable place in the country. There, he realized that he had family in the wood and timber industry, sparking the idea of sustainable wooden glasses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In summer 2012, he joined the Carleton Entrepreneurs program offering access to market-specific expertise while supporting student startups. By the end of the year, Osei had partnered with four other students from different disciplines to learn from their own perspective and build B\u00f4hten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat program opened up the doors,\u201d Osei says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though it was a slow burn, Tony Bailetti, director of Carleton\u2019s Technology Innovation Management<\/a> (TIM) master\u2019s program, had connections with companies in Ottawa that Osei was able to pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Osei graduated in 2013, he launched the business at Ottawa Fashion Week. And, in 2014, he was featured on Dragon\u2019s Den, Season 8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was really just in the right place at the right time, finally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, Osei has managed to secure financing and supply chains in Ghana, turning his small startup into a company ready to become a global leader in eyewear manufacturing in Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Learning to Overcome the Fear of Failure<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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While the company\u2019s commitment to sustainability comes first, it has also become a Canadian fashion leader. By using locally accessible materials with a low footprint, the firm has expanded into custom fit glasses in modern styles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B\u00f4hten has come a long way from Carleton\u2019s classrooms. Still inspired by his Ghanaian roots, the brand has graced the pages of Elle magazine, GQ and Vogue Italy, among some of the biggest fashion magazines around the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCarleton University was crucial for B\u00f4hten, because that\u2019s where we formed the foundation of it,\u201d Osei says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best advice he can give to entrepreneurs at Carleton is to see failing as an important part of learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you overcome the idea that you\u2019re going to make mistakes or fail, you\u2019ll be fine,\u201d he says. \u201cBecause then you can finally get out there and try.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nana Osei was already working toward his dream of owning a business while doing a Bachelor of Environmental Studies at Carleton University. Now, as co-founder and CEO of B\u00f4hten, an eco-luxury eyewear line, he uses reclaimed material in his effort to make green products high-end. Osei was born in the United Kingdom before moving to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":62692,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[17],"cu_story_tag":[1924,1920,1922],"class_list":["post-62678","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-alumni","cu_story_tag-advancement","cu_story_tag-faculty-of-arts-and-social-sciences","cu_story_tag-sprott-school-of-business"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/62678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/62678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97483,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/62678\/revisions\/97483"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=62678"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=62678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}