Aaks Raffia Crossbody Bag
Aaks Raffia Crossbody Bag
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SizeLarge: 9.4h x 8.6w x 4.3"d Small: 5h x 8.2"w x 2.75"d
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OriginGhana
- If for any reason you are not satisfied with your purchase, you may return merchandise within 90 days for a refund in the form of original payment. Learn More.
$7.95 Flat standard shipping fee available. Learn More.
-
SizeLarge: 9.4h x 8.6w x 4.3"d Small: 5h x 8.2"w x 2.75"d
-
OriginGhana
- If for any reason you are not satisfied with your purchase, you may return merchandise within 90 days for a refund in the form of original payment. Learn More.
$7.95 Flat standard shipping fee available. Learn More.
You will earn Rewards points.
“After much research I settled on raffia for my designs, because of its softness and strength—even though it’s the most difficult fiber to find in Ghana. I traveled throughout the country until I found it serendipitously at our family farm in Southern Ghana. It was being grown minimally and then sold to string-bead vendors and farmers. I love raffia because it’s a natural fiber that’s renewable and also biodegradable.”
“Weaving is a dying art in Ghana, unfortunately. It's been relegated to a small-scale industry with few communities in the North weaving baskets and bags using straw. I hope that our brand will go some way towards contributing to the revival and sustenance of weaving as a thriving art.”
“Growing up in Ghana, I’ve always been around color—Africa is quite colorful. People walk down the road wearing clashing colors and clashing prints. It’s that juxtaposition of varied colors that I find a lot of inspiration from. Also, it’s sunny throughout the year in Ghana, so the colors are very bright. If you wear black in Ghana, everybody thinks you’re going to a funeral.”
After studying fashion in London for eight years, Akosua Afriyie-Kumi returned to her native Ghana to launch her woven-raffia accessories brand, Aaks, in 2014. Afriyie-Kumi’s goal is to pay homage to her favorite weaving techniques while creating sustainable jobs within Africa. She is connected to every stage of the process, ensuring that the designs maintain the spirit of their ancestral counterparts. In Ghana, Afriyie-Kumi designs bags in her studio in the South while the workers are located in the North, where she travels to meet with them. “We work together and I ask them for their opinions and learn from them because they’ve been weaving baskets for years,” says Afriyie-Kumi.
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At MoMA Design Store, all of the designs we sell are curator-approved and authentic. We ensure the integrity of our products through research and by working closely with the designers. Our products embody the spirit of good design objects in MoMA's collection. Some of them are actual designs represented in the Museum's collection.