As a child of Ghanaian immigrants, Dee Poku spent her childhood deciphering how people dressed in London. It was a culture influenced by unwritten social codes, and this turned her into a sharp observer of fashion. As she developed her own taste, she blended these insights with an embrace of her own cultural heritage. She felt lucky to be surrounded by the vibrant aesthetic of West Africa, as her mother and aunts wore colorful tailored dresses made from kente fabric. 

When Poku entered the corporate world—eventually overseeing international marketing at Paramount Pictures—her keen eye turned into a strategic advantage. She remembers walking into a boardroom in Brussels for a high stakes meeting where no one looked like her. Her outfit—a tailored suit, heels, and a bold red lip —became a form of armor. She also leaned into her Ghanaian roots through a fearless approach to color, often turning to rich mustard yellows and vivid reds.  “I wanted to walk into the room and for them to see an authority figure,” Poku explains. “The quickest and easiest way to do that was in what I wore.” 

Now the founder and CEO of The Wie Suite , a global membership network for executive women, Poku has watched corporate dress codes shift toward the casual. Yet over the years, she has realized that relaxed attire simply doesn’t suit her. Instead, she has built a uniform of functional but elevated staples: a floor-length denim skirt paired with heels, knee-length culottes, and a crisp blazer thrown over tailored trousers.

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