Nicole Knueppel is the founder of Butterflies & Feathers and one of the guiding forces behind the wider B&F vision across Germany and Ghana. Her work moves naturally between finance, entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and cultural storytelling, giving the brand a point of view that is both commercially grounded and socially purposeful.
Professional Foundation
Based between Ghana and Germany, Nicole brings experience in finance, project management, and entrepreneurship. She currently works as a Business Economist at Leu Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH. Before that, she served as Finance Manager at APRI, the Africa Policy Research Institute, where she developed further depth in financial oversight, operational structure, and mission-led strategy.
Education and Languages
Nicole holds a BA in International Business Studies from Harz University and a BA in Business Administration from École Supérieure de Commerce in La Rochelle. She is also pursuing an MSc in Charity Accounting and Financial Management at Bayes Business School in London. She speaks English, French, and German fluently, which continues to shape the cross-cultural way Butterflies & Feathers engages with collaborators, clients, and communities.
Building Butterflies & Feathers
In 2019, Nicole founded Butterflies & Feathers Ltd. together with the Butterflies & Feathers Foundation. From the beginning, the intention was to build more than a store. The project was designed as a house for Afrocentric fashion, original art, and carefully chosen collaborations, while also creating a structure through which commercial work could support people who have been pushed to the margins.
Foundation Work
Nicole's foundation work is deeply personal. In 2025, she restructured the Butterflies & Feathers Foundation in Germany together with 22 co-founding members. The foundation provides free legal representation to wrongfully convicted prison inmates in Ghana, with a long-term ambition to expand philanthropic work into the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria.
Creative Direction
Under Nicole's leadership, Butterflies & Feathers brings together fashion, art, and social consciousness in one house. The brand's voice is shaped by her belief that beauty, cultural identity, and responsible commerce do not need to exist separately. Each collection, artwork, and collaboration is approached with that same balance of refinement, emotional resonance, and purpose.
Looking Forward
Nicole continues to shape Butterflies & Feathers as both a creative platform and a long-view philanthropic project. The goal is to keep presenting work with depth and cultural integrity while building new routes of support, dignity, and opportunity through the foundation and the wider B&F ecosystem.