00:00The following is brought to you by Plumps & Brightened Skin, New Lifter Plump & Glow Foundation, Maybelline, New York.
00:13It's 188 years since the abolition of slavery here in Trinidad and Tobago.
00:19And while many persons of African descent are looking forward to emancipation celebrations on August 1st,
00:25perhaps it's time that we started celebrating year-round.
00:28Joining us today is the African queen behind the brand Ache Cosmoteque, Mrs. Kei Ogunlade.
00:36Thank you so much for joining us.
00:38Thank you very much.
00:39Talk to me about the expression of the culture and the heritage through the fashion that you create.
00:45Okay. I try to direct my fashion through the eyes of somebody who can wear any day, any time.
00:57I try to direct it in the direction where people look at it and say, hey, I'm comfortable wearing this.
01:05So I do my designs African-Afro-centric because now we are living in a modern world.
01:14So we don't want just a long dashiki. People are very stylish now.
01:17I offer formal pieces. I do also for weddings because I do head wrap for weddings and bridal party.
01:27I do casual wear, t-shirts with a print, t-shirt with a piece of African print on the front.
01:35I do short pants.
01:37I do the little clutch bags that you hook on your hands and you can go downtown with.
01:43But we still find, of course, that you only see these types of wear for particular occasions.
01:49How do you feel about that?
01:52It bothers me a bit.
01:55Why?
01:57In a sense, yes or no.
01:59Why I would say yes, it bothers me, because we all try to be someone else instead of being ourselves.
02:10Because everybody else wear their clothes, everybody get into their culture, even the language.
02:16So I'm hoping that, to me, I honestly think that more and more persons are getting involved in wearing the
02:24clothing.
02:26More and more persons getting involved learning the language.
02:30More and more people understanding the food.
02:33With emancipation approaching, we can expect that a lot of people will be heading down to the cloth stores
02:38and buying some cloth to make something. What is your advice?
02:41Well, right now, we all know that we get in the prints, not the authentic thing.
02:46Now, we do have authentic fabric in this country.
02:50There are a lot of suppliers who do have the authentic pieces.
02:54Now, persons may not be able to afford the authentic pieces.
02:57But if you are buying the print, you can ask, most likely, the teller or the person who is dealing
03:06with you
03:07can tell you, hey, this is kinti.
03:09For example, this, what I have in mind is kinti material.
03:13So you can look for a fabric that gravitates to you.
03:18Not that, this looks really nice.
03:20Yes, this looks nice, but you still have to do a little research.
03:24Because sometimes fabrics, different types of fabric have different meanings.
03:28For example, the kinti material is woven by hand, and the material that is woven by hand
03:39tell different meanings, like they would move a certain type of material for weddings,
03:47persons who are getting married.
03:48They would move a certain type of fabric for people who, a family getting, a christian, a child.
03:56Then they would weave or weave a piece of material that is a family gathering.
04:04So things like that.
04:06So kinti material have different meanings.
04:09The weave and weave between these fabrics tells a story.
04:13For example, what you have on your head there is called a ghillie.
04:17That's the type of fabric.
04:19It's a very stiff fabric.
04:21I notice now that they're making it a little softer.
04:25There's a fabric, there's another type of fabric called the Ankara.
04:30There's another fabric that a lot of people come and do with the pleats.
04:37That's a different type of fabric.
04:40When I'm doing a head wrap, I think about the person, the chemistry,
04:48even though I'm not meeting the person for the first time,
04:50I think about the chemistry of the person.
04:53I honestly cannot do a head wrap with someone bringing a picture for me.
05:01Bringing a picture for me, it don't work.
05:05So I have to, it has to be a chemistry, your face, structure, how you feel, how you look.
05:14That is what I work with.
05:15So it's actually spiritual for me.
05:18What is your message to the African descendants,
05:21to the African population ahead of emancipation this year?
05:24What I would say, know yourself.
05:28Know who you are, know where you came from,
05:31know where you're at now, and know where you will be going.
05:33Very, very well said.
05:36And remember, emancipation is a journey, not a destination.
05:42I am Renessa Cutting, and this was Street Style.
05:44I'll see you all again next week, Thursday.
05:53The preceding was brought to you by Plumps and Brighten Skin,
05:56New Lifter Plump and Glow Foundation, Maybelline, New York.
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