00:00Kauri's once powered whole economies, literally money, beauty and belief across the African continent.
00:07Today, designer Oluwa Nifemi Bongawole is turning Kauri's into bold, modern luxury.
00:14Oluwa Nifemi Bongawole Oh my Kauri's, we believe that we should wear our culture,
00:18that's one of our taglines, wear your culture. A lot of people don't know, but Kauri's are
00:23actually animals. What we call the Kauri shells are the skeletons of the animals,
00:28the way you have snails and the shells of snails. A lot of people know them to be used as
00:33currency.
00:35They were also a very, very strong symbol of fertility and femininity. The front of the Kauri
00:41looks like a woman's vulva but the back looks like a pregnant woman's belly and this is why the Kauri
00:48shell is a huge symbol of femininity and fertility and it has always been. Kauri shells have been
00:54really, really spiritualized. It's kind of also the same way a lot of people have demonized
01:01orishas, African deities and African gods and goddesses. With the inception of colonization
01:08and a lot of Africans being more religious or adapting more western religions, Kauri shells have
01:15also been attached to that demonic view in a kind of way and it's a very huge misconception. So that's
01:22why I wanted to create pieces that not only make you feel so African but also make you feel so
01:29beautiful, so proud and so happy to be an African. For some, Kauri's became misunderstood or labeled
01:38negatively but Oluwa Nifemi is flipping the narrative. She reimagines one of Africa's oldest symbols.
01:45Every shell is hand-selected and placed with intention. Beauty with a story.
01:51African culture was always a thing in my house and it was just very natural to me when I saw
01:57Kauri's.
01:57I remember I went to the market and I went to buy Kauri shells that same week and I made
02:03my first Kauri
02:04waistbed and a bracelet and I wore those pieces down. Not long after I dropped out of medical school and
02:11I just
02:12decided to start making Kauri pieces. I didn't know that it was even going to amount to anything.
02:19So the creative process for me starts in my mind. I also start to my body how I feel and
02:25then I come
02:25and I make a sketch. The sketch for me is a way of just bringing my piece to life and
02:30then we start
02:31executing. I was able to find people that source directly from the ocean. I was able to find people
02:37that will help me process the Kauri's. We have different kinds of Kauri's that we use. These are
02:43the most common kinds of Kauri's. They are found in very large quantity. This is the Tiger Kauri. This
02:51one typically comes in much larger sizes. These are the next kind of Kauri's we have. These ones are
02:57a hundred percent stainless steel. We had a lot of demand for gold Kauri's. When we get the shells, the
03:02first
03:02thing we do is to clean them. Then once they are fully dry, we just start creating magic. Kauri's are
03:08more technical because the anatomy of the Kauri shell is so intricate and so special. So for the
03:17Marimi collection, I wanted to do something different and I decided to do a checkered kind
03:23of pattern. I wanted to make something that was the actual outfit that was like the main character.
03:28So Marimi tells a story of courage. She's very unapologetic. She's courageous. She's brave,
03:36whilst also maintaining her beautiful femininity. The magic starts long before the photoshoot. From
03:44raw shells to fashion stories, each piece carries history. Oluwani Femi's pieces are now being used in
03:51editorials and music videos. How did she feel seeing something rooted in heritage enter glamorous spaces?
03:59Beyond the beauty of how our products look, I really want them to see how much intentionality goes into
04:05creating something as unique and authentic as this. We want to tell a story of Africans, not just as
04:13Africans, but as fashionable Africans. Africans that can stand anywhere on the global stage and be
04:19identified as Africans and also be identified as gorgeous and elegant. Kauri's went from dismissed to
04:26high fashion, even showing up in Beyonce's round skinned girl video. In today's world, African fashion
04:33has evolved so much and it's so beautiful to see. And that's one of the things that I'm so passionate
04:38about. Wearing the things that our ancestors treasured, honoring our roots. I feel like when we honor our
04:45roots, we create our future. And I feel like the future of fashion is Kauri shells and is authentic,
04:51unapologetic African fashion. Oluwan Nifemi is turning Kauri's into bold fashion statements that reclaim history,
04:59identity, identity, identity, and pride.
05:01Oluwan Nifemi has been maintained!
Comments