Dive into Naima’s colorful Ghanaian adventure on the latest Designer’s Plants and Coffee podcast
Get inspired to explore new horizons with an open heart and curious mind
Tune in for a captivating journey through Ghana’s fashion, history, and culture that will leave you planning your next adventure!
Welcome to the Designers Plants & Coffee podcast, where we discuss how to succeed as a designer while staying true to yourself, finding peace in the process, and making money doing what we love. Subscribe on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast. Hey, Naima. Welcome back from Ghana. How was your trip?
It was wonderful. It was hot.
So how’s the fashion there?
I don’t think African fashion is due diligence. When you think of high fashion, what do you think of? Italy, Paris, New York. But African designers, to me, are in a class of their own. I mean, you will literally see people walking around in the streets with a sewing machine on their shoulder. And they call themselves street tailors. And you can walk up to them and you can say, Hey, my brother, I need my pants fixed. And they’ll sit it down somewhere and hem your pants for you. No, nothing elaborate. They’re not going to make me a suit. But if I rip my pants at work and I run into one of these gentlemen on the street, they can just go ahead and sew my pants up for me.
So it’s battery-operated sewing machines?
It’s I like the old-school sewing machines where it’s like a treaddle machine and they don’t really need the electricity for it. It’s amazing. They don’t get enough credit. There’s a suit behind me. I’ll take a better picture of it. Designer comes, she came to the hotel, she took our measurements, We showed her a picture. She did a light sketch, and two days later, I had an entire suit. It’s just amazing, the creativity. They make their own patterns for everything.
You went to a dyeing factory, right?
I took a batik dyeing class. It’s a It’s essentially like tie dye, but more elaborate. And this is how wax batiks are made. So you get these blocks. They’re pretty much styrofoam, and they cut shapes into these blocks. There’s a huge pan of hot wax, and they dip your sponge, and they damp your fabric, and then they dye. And that’s how you get these elaborate processes. And if you want design on design on design, you can dip it, let it dry, put another stamp, add a different color. I mean, we did very simple, very basic one, two pattern designs, but just to see that process, and these men are dripping and sweat, and it’s 100 degrees, and they are nonstop. A couple of them, I was like, Can I get you some water?
What else were the highlights of your Ghana trip?
So we went to Accra, which is capital city. We went to Cape Coast. That’s the launch pad for slavery and slave ship. We went to the Ancestry River. They call it the Last Bath. So when you walk into this river, this is where the slaves got their last bath before they got on packed sardines into these boats to be shipped around the world. Those were really the highlights. And of course, fabric shopping. There is a major African textile design they’re called GTP. We didn’t really see the process of how they do it, but it was pretty much just like, Hey, this is where we get all the fabric. For me, it’s a great starter country. If you want to go to Africa and you’re a little bit nervous about some of the more talked about countries. Ghana is a great central starter country. Everybody speaks English. One of the things you have to really get used to. Traffic is nightmarish. Traffic is New York, LA, DC, Beltway at Rush hour, all combined into one place. Yeah.
It’s like when you travel overseas and you see the way that other people drive, it’s not for the faint of heart. I should just put it that way because I drive in New York City, and everybody’s like, I I don’t like driving in New York City, but it’s like, no, this is nothing compared to when you go overseas.
In Ghana, to go two miles might take 40 minutes.
It’s definitely a different way of existing.
They have their share of common and scammers. Americans are targets everywhere. Americans are going to be targets because they have this idea that Americans have money. So when you pull up, like when we pulled up to the castle at Cape Cod, they’re outside. They always tell you, don’t give the children money. They’ll snatch your purse and you’ll get back on the bus and not know where your money is. Don’t tell them your name because they’ll write your name on a souvenir and say, well, you told me your name, so you have to buy it. Just little tidbits that should be common sense. But since they’re using the kids, it tugs at your heartstrings. Because what I think they don’t realize is all Americans don’t have money.
I traveled to India. I was told that it doesn’t matter how much money you think you have, you’re there. So you obviously have enough money to be there. So you’re rich to them.
Because they don’t take vacations, and they don’t bring their whole family, and they don’t go out to eat every night. Going out to eat is a special occasion.
So is there anything else that you would like to add before we wrap up this episode?
I will say, don’t be afraid of going to an African country, right? A lot of people… I think Africa has a stigma against it, but I’m just as comfortable in Africa. Actually, probably more more comfortable in Africa than I am in some parts of Europe. I think the greatest thing is when you land, it’s just a sea of black people. You get to the airport and there’s no white people. If you’ve traveled, it’s something you’ve never seen. And I always tell people this, and this is another thing I say, no matter where you’re going, don’t go into someone else’s house and act a fool. They target Americans. So if you know you’re a target, don’t do things that make you a target. If they tell you, don’t curse in the town square, don’t go calling people MFers loudly in the town square, because it’s going to get you arrested, because they think you have money.
That’s it for today. I am Zahia from Region Design Lab.
I’m LaTisha Winston of Keeping You In Stitches, along with… Emma from Fearless Threads, your Ghana Travel Advisor for the moment.
See you next time.
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