How Kua helped Anansewa get married :)

My love for fashion reflects only one facet of my love for the arts in general.  It’s wonderful that fashion is at the forefront of young Africa’s efforts to express itself artistically (and yes, our Nigerian sisters are sure teaching us how to wrap a mean gele), however, Africa has a lot more to offer in he form of other artistic expressions such as literary works, culinary art, and the film industry.

That’s why a recent project started by a Ghanaian student from Bryn Mawr College makes me so happy (Big-ups to liberal art college students and alums! This young lady, with the help of an alum from her school, established the Baobab Prize, an initiative “designed to encourage the writing of African literature for young readers.” In this diva’s own words, “without access to books by and about Africans, young people grow up not knowing much about the diverse cultures of their vast continent. And especially when all they read is Western literature, they have very little reason to feel proud of their national identities and continental heritage.” And she is so right!

While some are encouraging the writing of African literature on one hand, I don’t know about you, but I know many a girl (and guy, infact) who can cook up some thunderous African cuisine. Ghanaian food is amazing! And so is a lot of other African food that I’ve tasted! I’ve thought to myself several times sitting at some beautiful Asian or Middle Eastern restaurant; will abolo and one-man thousand become the sushi of some era? Watch out for KuaKuisine’s launch on a street corner near you! (Just kidding!) But on the real, we’re selling Ghanaian food short (and African food in general). We’re definitely not setting up our cuisine on the world stage as attractively as we could. Any great cooks here up for this challenge?

And Ghanaians know how to tell a good story! I’ve been searching frantically for Kwaw Ansah’s Love Brewed in an African Pot and Heritage Africa film productions of the late ‘80’s and early ‘90’s. Ansah’s movies were highly acclaimed by The New York Timesamong several other international publications. I credit the current “Ghollywood” film industry for improvements in the films that are being produced recently, but I can’t deny that we’ve hardly seen any classics in the past couple of decades.

But where the film industry has failed to shine as bright, literary works have certainly provided some illumination. I recently reread Efua Sutherland’s The Marriage of Anansewa, and giggled myself into near hysteria. The book recounts your typical Ananse story: the ‘Spider-Man’ spins himself into a web of deceit, parading his daughter as some kind of African Cinderella, except to not one or two, but four different Prince Charmings, or shall I say ‘Chief Charmings’? In his cunning, Ananse takes money and other favors from all four chiefs who intend to marry his daughter, knowing that none of them can claim Anansewa until they have performed the traditional engagement rites, presenting the head-drink to the bride’s family along with other customary gifts. In the end, Ananse must pretend that Anansewa is dead in order to get rid of three of the chiefs, but Chief Who-is-Chief’s amazing love for Anansewa ‘resurrects’ her just in time for a beautiful royal wedding. And of course, Chief Who-is-Chief went all out, presenting at Anansewa’s traditional wedding ceremony the head-drink, a beautiful ring and as you would have it, beautiful, beautiful fabrics: “dumas, white kente, silk kente, velvet [and] brocade”. You know, a little birdie told me that the chief actually threw in a couple of Kua’s straw purses, and that’s what really closed the deal! With Kua in the picture, you know this folktale definitely ended happily ever after!

Creativity comes in all shapes, and whatever your innate talent might be: writing, designing or cooking, I hope that Kua inspires you to keep those creative juices flowing. And ladies, be sure to visit Kua’s website and grab a clutch soon, you might be clutching at some sexy Chief’s heartstrings in the process! Stay beautiful and authentic!

R ü b y ♦

Bintu!

Need I say more? Take a look at her!

And my inspiration?

Nature…

Fruits…

Watermelon.

.

R ü b y ♦

Our online shop is open – please come in!

www.kuadesigns.com is where you can find us if you want to take one of our stylish girls home. If your favorite girl is not available or you have any questions, please feel free to send an email.

Happy clutching!

R ü b y ♦

Kua and I, the complicated love triangle

The African print revolution must surely be getting into gear. Christian Louboutin, Diane Von Furstenberg and Oscar de La Renta are only a few top designers who have delved into the world of African prints and incorporated them into striking pieces within the past year. Clothing and accessories made from a variety of African fabric have infiltrated glossy women’s magazines, websites, and catwalks around the world. Yes. Finally. The beautifully detailed and boldly colorful fabrics from the motherland are getting their due in the world of fashion. Madonna, Fergie and Solange Knowles may have strutted the streets of LA recently in their African print outfits, but no doubt thousands of other divas (perhaps less well-known, but nonetheless divas in their own right) strut their own African print couture between the market stalls of Nairobi Kenya, in shopping malls in Cape Town, South Africa, and in crowded bars in New York City.

Born and raised in Tema, Ghana, the idea of the African wax print taking its place in today’s fashion is a back-to-my-roots experience for me. The production, import, and sale of wax prints as well as the construction of garments from these fabrics have formed the centerpiece of a huge industry of great economic and social importance in most parts of West Africa for the past century. Generally speaking, everyone in West Africa wears wax prints. And maybe the relative accessibility of these fabrics is what led me to the conclusion that African print clothing was nice enough, but missing an elusive cool factor. If you were my mother or aunt, or some other fifty-something year old with children, sure, you could rock that wax print, and I would probably think you looked absolutely great. But for an up and coming diva like me? No, not so much. Sure, I was required to wear a two-piece outfit made from wax print for Sunday church service at my all girls’ boarding school during my high school years, but my school’s mission was to shape its students into becoming my mother and her friends, literally. And sure, my mother had a couple of wax-print outfits made for me every now and then. But again, I would only wear them to church every now and then. On those rare occasions, I would feel cute, almost grown-up, wearing those mini wax-print outfits. But it just really wasn’t MY thing.

So now, way past my teenage years, but still a safe distance from my fifties, I wonder to myself how I ended up in the love triangle between my mother Kua, and the beautiful wax print that I was blinded to all those years. My conclusion? It’s all in the fabric. The rich colors, provoking patterns, and profound history behind the motifs and symbols printed on each cloth hold such irresistible allure. As with my teenage crushes and childish infatuations, I still remain great buddies with the “cool” Western styles that I have long gotten over. My love affair with the African print is definitely in full swing. I present to you some products of this entanglement, clutch purses featuring Kua’s favorite prints. The magic of these traditional prints will no doubt charm us all for a while to come, adorning us fashionably, while simultaneously Keeping.Us.Authentic.

R ü b y ♦

Letting the cat out of the bag!

Well, this has nothing to do with cats but it has everything to do with bags. Clutch purses to be precise. Yes!

I am developing a Ghanaian-inspired purse line that shows off one-of-a-kind clutch purses made with African wax print and other materials such as straw (elephant grass).

My mother is the inspiration behind this new line.    Not surprising, I named the line after her. And ‘Kua’ is her name. My decision for this line goes beyond the aesthetic satisfaction I get from the richness of African wax print. It is nostalgic, to say the least.

Watch this space for what’s to come!

o

R ü b y ♦

Daily dose of Fashion

I was just amazed when I bumped into this blog: http://fashionistastyle1.blogspot.com/

The self-described “sexy, sophisticated woman who is also completely clueless and incessantly insane” will have you coming back to her blog everyday just to see what she has on.  Yes, EVERYDAY, Londyn tells you what she is wearing and where she got her pieces from.  Enjoy!

Needless to say, it ridicules my notion that dressing up everyday is a chore after all, Londyn does it effortlessly.  Thanks for the inspiration Londyn!

R ü b y ♦

Slumdog Millionaire – A Must See!

From the IMDB website, Slumdog Millionaire is about “A Mumbai teen who grew up in the slums, becomes a contestant on the Indian version of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” He is arrested under suspicion of cheating, and while being interrogated, events from his life history are shown which explain why he knows the answers.” http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1010048/

Going in, I didn’t know much about the movie… those end up being some of the best experiences because there’re no expectations. I was pleasantly surprised! I don’t want to give it away so I won’t go into any details…

Apart from the storyline, the quality of the picture and the great acting, I personally enjoyed the movie for how much parts of it reminded me of Ghana. I kept saying to myself “Oh my gosh, this part looks just like Ghana… I didn’t know India had this too… the street kids there do that too?… on and on and on” —the slums, the uncompleted buildings, the women washing clothes in a stream, kids being mischievous… all these bore such striking parallels to what I’ve seen in Ghana. It had me reminiscing about my last visit home – December 2007.

With each visit back home, I soak in more, I appreciate more and I miss it more – ‘home indeed is home’.

Anyway, I highly recommend this movie – enjoy!

Here is a user review that mirrors mine:

Author: katiemeyer1979 from Los Angeles, CA
An exhilarating realistic fairy tale that will make you feel like flying. I certainly felt it. Rewarding without being opportunistic. This tale of two orphan brothers in a slum of Bombay is a mixture of heart wrenching and uplifting emotions. I didn’t know anything about the film other that what I just mentioned and that was part of the enjoyment so I won’t talk about the film to allow you the same discovery I went through. Let me just say that this is Danny Boyle’s best film and the cast of unknowns is truly extraordinary. The last few minutes of the film will have you on the edge of your seat hoping against hope that what “is written” is really written.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1010048/usercomments

R ü b y ♦

Kids’ Jewelry Party

Last Christmas, while relaxing after stuffing my face at a friend’s place, the discussion somehow turned to me and my jewelry business/passion… one thing led to another and the next thing you know, we were planning a kids jewelry party – my 1st ever!

Thanks to Denene, all I had to provide was the jewelry – she rounded up 13 curious little girls in her living room one Saturday afternoon in January.

It was fun to see their happy faces and the pride they took in making their own jewelry! I provided 8 different designs to pick from – each girl got to pick 2 designs. The most popular was the blue/sapphire earring and necklace set—surprising, considering the fact that it was not pink

After playing in beads for a while, all the girls got to enjoy fruit punch and the all-so-yummy cupcakes Denene’s girls helped their mommy make

See them proudly showed off her handiwork – and as you can tell, they enjoyed her cupcake as well

No one can deny how much Sage (below) enjoyed her necklace and cupcake

Read more on Denene’s blog: http://mybrownbaby.blogspot.com/2009/01/isnt-she-lovely-plus-new-mbb-giveaway.html#comments

R ü b y ♦

The Salsa Bracelet!

There is that moment when you feel like you may be on to something… finishing my 1st Salsa bracelet was one of those moments

Luckily for me, most people agree. The Salsa bracelet without a doubt is one of my best sellers!

R ü b y ♦

o

Hello World!

Welcome!

Find out more about Kua Designs jewelry and purses and the designer behind these lines.  This could be fun

In an attempt to skip writing a “My Self” essay, I took a personality test and this is what it says I am:

–You enjoy having novel experiences and seeing things in new ways. I agree

–You are neither organized or disorganized. Oops! Hopefully, I’ll score higher next time

–You are extremely outgoing, social, and energetic. Most people will agree

–You tend to consider the feelings of others. I’d like to think so

–You probably remain calm, even in tense situations. Well, I try

There it is! So based on my ‘personality’:

–Expect me to talk about others things outside myself and my designs

–Don’t be surprised if I post a zillion entries in a day and none for a few weeks (remember, I am neither organized or disorganized)

–I will get extremely excited over some things and I will most likely show that excitement!

–I don’t see myself wasting my ‘space’ here talking negatively about other people/things. I’ll reserve that for late night calls to my girlfriends

–I will not be making a big deal about things… really, its not that serious.

This should be fun… really!

R ü b y ♦