The highs: Championing design in Africa and celebrating our roots
Without a doubt, the highlight of 2011 was being invited to go to Johannesburg and participate in Design Network Africa (DNA). Not only were we happy to be honoured as an outstanding design company but being a member is also a great opportunity for us to meet and develop relationships with other amazing designers designers from across the continent.
Another highlight of 2011 was meeting Lulu Kitololo from Asilia in the early part of last year and collaborating with her! Our Afri-Love collection, launched in October 2011, was inspired by Lulu’s blog, Afri-love. Check out Adèle’s Afri-love interview.
The challenges
One of the challenges we experienced in 2011 was delays from suppliers due to issues such as power failures and unexpected unfortunate circumstances such as illness. As players in a wider industry, we experienced some of the challenges that many designers in Kenya face, as we discussed in a post about the strengths and weaknesses of the industry.
The aspirations
This year, we’re looking forward to developing the Adèle Dejak brand – introducing more people to our statement-making quality designs, proudly made in Africa. The impending launch of our online shop will help more fans access our jewellery, bags, belts and more, without having to make the trip to Kenya (although we recommend that too!).
We’re also excited about contributing to our community, both by continuing to be a part of the DNA family and also by setting up an Adèle Dejak Africa Arts foundation as there is so much to do to help those less privileged than ourselves.
Adèle also hopes to spend more time working on her painting which gives her so much satisfaction.
What are you looking forward to in 2012?
We hope that you’ll continue to journey with us in 2012. You can do so by:
- Subscribing to our mailing list (get updates on events, special offers, launch previews, giveaways and more).
Subscribe this week to catch our email round-up of 2011’s most popular blog posts. - Following us on Twitter
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