Interview With Sharon Perlinger

Sharon Perlinger is a James Town Royal who has spent twenty years of her life in Austria. She comes across as a model, even a movie star. There is a poise about her that enthralls those around her. She lives in an amazing edifice located in East Legon part of Accra. OVATION spoke to her about love, religion, style and travels.

Where were you born

I was born in Ghana, James Town. When was that
That was in April, a few years ago. A lady's secret is her age

Can you tell us a little bit about your background, family and how you grew up

I grew up mostly in Kumasi. I went to school in Kumasi; I started in Primary and from there to Accra Girls Secondary School. I then left for Europe to do my secretarial course but before that I did a little of my secretarial course in YWCA where I met my first fianc�, who died in a car crash. He was half Lebanese and half Ghanaian. We had a girl together. I later got married to an Austrian. I was introduced to him sometime in April and by December we got married. We were married for about 15 years and got divorced. I had another girl with him so in all, I have two girls. I lived in Austria for about 23 years.

Did you attend a modeling or fashion school as well

Yes I did fashion. When I was in Austria, I had one of the nicest modeling schools in Austria; it was called Isher Modisgesher and I ran it for about five years. I was at the time building this house and since fashion involves a lot of money, I had to put it on hold for a while to concentrate on building the house. Unfortunately, the architects misused a lot of my money so I had to leave Austria to come back to Ghana to finish my house. But I had a very successful fashion institution in Austria for about five years.

What exactly were you doing there in Austria

I was doing fashion shows with Vestige, especially for evening wears. I was one of the few black ladies in Austria who was noticed. Anytime I had a fashion show, it was on the Austrian Television and they always classified me with the Princess of Monaco because I am also a princess. So anytime they talked about my fashion show, they would refer to me as a princess from Africa.

Would you attribute your success in fashion to your training in fashion/modeling or did it have anything to do with family heritage

Yes, my mother was a very elegant lady and my daddy had a lot of children. He had 10 with my mother and 10 outside the family. It was a big family and my mummy was really a mother. She taught us how to cook and take care of the home although we had all the necessary help around. She wanted us to become women when we grew up. I believe I am a woman of the house no matter how it is, I am a good housewife. I am not bragging, but this is what I do best. I am also good at business but not like a mother. Taking care of the home, family, and entertaining people; that's me and I think my family and friends would agree to that.

You were into fashion in Austria, what do you do in Ghana

At the moment I have started some projects. I am also doing the star scape project. Before coming to Ghana, I was doing some charity in Austria. I was in a society that helped the Eastern Bloc when there was war in Yugoslavia; we did some charity work to help the people there. I was the only African lady among them and I was doing so well. So when I came to Ghana, I said to myself, I did all these things there, so why don't I do something like that for my country? So I set up my philanthropist work, I started cooking and hosting soup kitchens for orphanages and hospitals.