Dabiya

DABIYA means “IT SHALL BE WELL” in the founder’s local dialect,Tchamba, spoken by a small percentage of people in the northern regions of Ghana and Togo. This season’s collection was inspired by the brand’s processes that can make the world a better place. Fabric waste has always been a massive problem in the fashion industry. Tons of fabrics are ever so often brought down to Africa from the western markets and this makes up the enormous waste in landfills and water bodies.

Jafaru has always believed strongly in protecting environment and improving the brand’s value chain.A large percentage of fabric used for the brand’s collections over the years are deadstock from manufacturers in the west that are being dumped here in Ghana. This is not because Larry Jay is happy international fabric mills are overproducing. It is rather in line with the brand’s ethos of reducing as much waste as possible in its environments and the fashion production cycle at large.

These deadstocks are repurposed into the brand’s artisanal fabrics with the help of their craftsmen in the city who employ vintage hand tiedye and batik techniques. It also plays a vital role in their up-cycling initiative and empowering indigenous artisanal skills.

For the second time, the brand worked with handwoven fabrics made by a team of weavers Jafaru scouted up north over a year ago, his intentions being to sustainably protect and preserve culture from his northern heritage. These handwoven fabrics have been complemented with the brand’s tiedye and batik staple and accessorized with arty satchels made from dyed natural Jute fibers.

The collection played with hues of turquoise and greens which is universally associated with nature and symbolizes individuality, growth and rebirth. Shades of reds and pink which symbolize energy and love and a clarion call of caution that we will lose the world if we don’t reduce waste as brands and consumers. It also sports shades of pale brown and earthy beige, a nod to minimalism detailed with the brand’s signature indigo. The cuts and shapes in this collection are clean and minimal, densely influenced by Jafaru’s indigenous West African and islamic background.