What does it mean to grow a brand that grows with you? Kenyan designer Sharon Wendo’s Epica Jewellery has shown up on global runways and still, at its heart, it’s a story of personal transformation told through beads that continues to challenge how we see African fashion and craft.

In this episode, we talk about creativity as identity, and the journey behind the beauty: the burnout, the becomings, the business of staying true. We speak about building while still figuring things out and what it means to grow a brand that grows with you.

Fashion and textile designer, illustrator, and creative director Kwaku Kyere is renowned for his relentless creativity and bold, textural designs. Born in Accra, Kwaku's visionary approach propelled him to start Metakay. Today he joins Akoth Otieno to talk about the joys of process, luxury within the African fashion industry and what it means to build for longevity. You can follow Metakay https://www.instagram.com/metakay/?hl=en

For our first episode, we're joined by fashion designer Shahrazad Ess, the founder of Sahrazad, to discuss the importance of community, how her Moroccan heritage informs her work and and grief as a way of individualizing the self.

Follow Sahrazad: https://www.instagram.com/s.sahrazad/

If you'd like to support the show, make a donation of any amount at https://paystack.com/pay/impactchai

Graphics by Malombe Kelvin

Over a cup of tea, Impact Chai brings you insightful conversations with the creative industry's most inspiring figures-from makers, to artists, to innovators and everybody in between. If you want to know what moves them, what goes into their work, and their ways of being, this is the podcast for you.

Follow us on Instagram @impactchai

Support the podcast: https://buymeacoffee.com/akothotieno

Graphics: Malombe Kelvin

Writer & Copy Editor: Akoth Otieno