BLACK FRIDAY
After many years living in fast and sometimes frenetic London, moving back to Ghana was a reset. A way to relearn in how to Stop. Pause. Slow way down (not to a screeching halt, mind you). It was also a reaffirmation on sustainability, which is an unconscious lifestyle here. It's not uncommon to reuse our plastic bottles, re-wear our dresses until they have fallen apart (fancy, shiny retail therapy isn’t really a thing here - second hand clothes markets are the norm) and eating seasonally. Yes to fresh fruits all year round!
With this foreground I wanted to create a brand that impacts the world and my local community positively, because fashion shouldn't cost people or the planet. I want people to buy an AAKS woven bag not just for the sake of consuming material things, but with the intention that their purchase goes to support the preservation of traditional weaving Ghanaian practices, sustains local Ghanaian communities and protects the sustainability of African born design. I want people to know that their hard earned money is going towards a piece that they can keep forever, and know they have had a positive impact in the world.
For this reason, like many small businesses around the world focused on changing the conversation about fashion, consumerism and trying to gear the world to making more conscious and ethical buying decisions, AAKS is not participating in the Black Friday sales.