AAKS as featured in the Business of fashion (BOF)

A big thank you to Lolita Maesela for the feature article she wrote about AAKS for Business of Fashion, called “A Wave of Designers Is Changing the Conversation Around Cultural Appropriation”.

The articles features AAKS and our work creating sustainable bags using traditional Ghanaian weaving techniques.

On Business of Fashion’s Instagram, they shared the following excerpt:

"Akosua Afriyie-Kumi’s handbag brand @A.A.K.S has scored coveted space on the floors of major department stores like Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s. But for the Ghanaian designer, the label’s real achievement is its work to preserve and promote a 1,000-year-old weaving tradition.⁠ ⁠

The brand’s hand-woven Raffia bags are painstakingly pieced together by female artisans in Ghanaian villages. The straw-like material is sourced from local farmers who strip leaves from raffia palm trees and then dry, twist and dye the material by hand. The brand provides training for weavers and pays above market rate to ensure local artisans are able to earn a living from their work. Afriyie-Kumi sees her role as both supporting traditional craft and promoting it on an international stage.⁠ ⁠

AAKS’ efforts are part of a wider movement driven by a diverse young generation of designers with ambitions to embed sustainability into the way they do business. In addition to emphasising eco-conscious design and production, and social welfare in their supply chains, many are also drawing on their heritage to seek out and support indigenous artisans and craft — communities that are also often most at risk from climate change. This form of cultural sustainability reflects a growing mindfulness of fashion’s history of appropriation."⁠ ⁠

Read Lolita’s full article for BOF on businessoffashion.com.