Being in Uganda (& away from my business)

Posted by Mary Bosibori on December 23, 2015

Living in Uganda, though near Kenya was a big challenge as I was away from Nairobi, the heart of the Adele Dejak brand and business. We all may have a rough idea of the difficulties that come with operating a business from the cloud. Glad to be home finally. Damage control and setting everything into perspective has been a long learning journey for me. In this post, I share my achievements as well as some of my favourite photos from the stay.

tricia rocks copy-min — I used the turban as its a typical African way of dressing.

Being in Uganda had its own advantages. I got to refocus on photography and research on styles and looks that I felt would resonate with my brand aesthetic.

Habida on Tricia 2 copy-min — My mother and grand mother always wore theirs high for special occasions

I also learned a lot about Ankole cow horn (whose origin is Uganda) techniques for making jewellery and I met amazing artisans who still make the designs and pieces.

If I hadn’t been in Uganda for the amount of time that I was, my design methods would’t have transitioned as they have. Being away forced me to fine tune the direction I wanted to move.

the use of the white tribal lines on the face was to give it a sense of rebranding Africa, taking the old traditions and 'rebranding Africa. — I used the Japanese Kimono to capture a completely different contrast to the jewellery.

comfort image-min-2 — The objective was to convey the mood that my pieces are eclectic and can be adorned by any nationality

Through reflections on the brand journey I realised I wanted to focus on the brand as a luxury one that captured the soul of my long passion with jewellery and fashion accessories.

It was also during my stay in Uganda that I designed the Swaady collection, named after Swaady Martin, who inspired me and we since became friends.

The Swaady/// AD LUX Collection pieces show a new dynamic side to the Adele Dejak brand. My objective for creating it was to showcase the African luxury movement as it draws on rich African heritage to create products which celebrate beauty and design in Africa and to welcome the African Renaissance.

ADE_1978_2-min — The use of the white tribal lines on the face was to give it a sense of rebranding Africa, taking the old traditions and ‘rebranding Africa.

I also started to incorporate 24kt gold leaf appliqué to the Ankole cow horn and I did a course in London to learn this skill. When I next visited Kenya I passed down this skill to Mutuku, my artisan.