We caught up with our Head of Design & Development, Gladys Macharia, to ask her a few questions about her inspiration behind our Spring Afridrilles
Could you tell me what inspired the spring collection?
The spring collection was inspired by early morning runs I take through Karura forest. Karura is one of the largest urban gazetted forests in the world. The forest contains nearly all the 605 species of wildlife found in Nairobi. Early mornings are my favorite a chance to reconnect with in the quite before the city wakes. The quite of the morning, fresh cold air, dew on leaves, birds chirping, smell of the forest - this is where the spring collection was dreamt up.
What inspired you to use this color palette for spring?
The colors I chose were:
Foliage - Spring Green
Mauve - Misty purple
Forget me not - Blue
Surrounded by foliage, leaves glistening in the morning sun creating prisms of light through the trees
Beautiful quite morning sky - forget me not - The cold and delicate hue of the early morning sky.
Mauve delicate wild flowers growing under the trees and in open fields
What inspired you to use elephants and palm leaves as our print this season?
One of my favorite places to visit in Nairobi is the Daphne Sheldrick orphanage in Nairobi. The most humbling experience, watching the Sheldrick team give care to orphaned baby elephants. If you have adopted an elephant you get to put your baby elephant to bed. I was lucky enough to attended the launch of the Daphane Sheldrick book "The unsung heroes" a beautiful book that tells the stories of incredible individuals who dedicate their lives to protecting the elephant in Kenya. Our shoe is a canvas of stories it was important to carry The elephant print on our shoe to celebrate mine of the most majestic creatures.
Palm leaves send me to my favorite spot in Kenya. A remote Swahili island on Kenya’s northeastern coast known as Lamu that dates back to the 14th century. Untouched beaches with roaming donkeys and wooden sailboats
Are there any details we should know about the spring collection?
The canvas is made locally, the leather is tanned in Kenya. All canvas panels are hand printed and all inks used are eco friendly.
What is your favorite piece from the spring collection?
hmmmm hard to choose, all the colors are so wearable and fun. I would have to say top picks would be the forget me not with blue palm print followed by foilage with gold palm print.