Hemma creates fresh, elegant collections using authentic hand-woven Kente, a textile rich in African royal tradition. Kente began to flourish in West Africa in the 17th century and still remains prominent representing social prestige, luxury, and cultural sophistication. Each garment is uniquely handmade from intricately hand-woven Kente imported from Ghana. By incorporating the same techniques used to dress Ghanaian nobility for centuries, Hemma allows each client to exude royalty. By investing in quality pieces that last a lifetime, the lives of Ghanaian school children are also impacted. A percentage of all proceeds will be donated to a West African middle school where the designers instructed classes.
Showing posts with label study abroad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label study abroad. Show all posts

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Ghana Flashback: Lets Get Crunk!

I know the term is very outdated, but this is a Ghana Flashback. Edna and I studied hard even while studying abroad. It seemed at times we were the only ones in the program who actually did work! Every weekend we were determined to have fun. Baze was one of our favorite local spots. Somehow we would end up there every weekend with our friends from Ashesi University. One of our close friends always used the term crunk and it just became part of our normal vocabulary. When we came back, we were forced to reject it from our speech, but I still have fond memories of it nonetheless!!!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

The Origins

The idea for hemma came about when we studied abroad in Ghana. We were there during the our junior year in the Spring of 07. This was a major turning point in both of our lives because we were able to become so detached from our lives in New York and fully immerse ourselves in the Ghanaian lifestyle. We were both worried when we first got there and weren't sure if we could last an entire semester. But by the time we left, we cried our eyes out because we didn't want to leave Ghana behind. Through hemma we've found a way to bring some of Ghana back with us and share it with New York. We fell into the idea of creating a clothing line, it started off unintentionally. While in Ghana we loved the wide array of West African fabrics and garment designs, so we started designing clothes for ourselves. Between Cindy and I we made dozens of pieces, including garments made out of Kente fabric. Everyone in Ghana and the NYU program loved it. When we came back to NY we got the same reception. A lightbulb clicked for us. We decided that we wanted to share the clothing that we loved so much by starting hemma.