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“Part of our creative process is looking at the past and seeing how it informs the future,” said Shabaka backstage, winding between models in tie-neck dresses and cherub brocade suiting. Accessorized with floral shoes and the occasional bonnet, the collection set a scene. With a collection titled Sun Records, of course there were a few sartorial high notes that felt ideal for a warm-weather getaway, from a mesh maxidress with an artistic sunburst print to the marigold tiered-ruffle eyelet dress that closed the show. Those pieces and the magnetic energy of both designers were bright spots on a gloomy, snow-filled day. House of Aama explores the folkways of the Black experience by designing timeless garments with nostalgic references informed by historical research, archival analysis, and storytelling. We aim to evoke dialogue, social commentary and conversations around heritage, remembrance and shed light on nuanced histories.
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December 2018, House of Aama was offered the opportunity to participate in an art residency in New Orleans funded by the MONA Museum where they built an installation inspired by the BLOODROOT collection’s rising themes. The organization, recognized by the White House regardless of the leader’s political affiliation, works with members by providing training and leadership development programs. Extended offerings include networking opportunities for mayors to exchange information and engage with each other for advice.
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The clothes we wear, the fabrics we drape our bodies with, the items we select every morning, they’re more than stylistic choices or signifiers of identity or the subcultures we belong to. They have the potential of becoming heirlooms and familial artifacts. It felt just like a Friday night as models strutted through the sinuous (and tightly packed) corridors of the club. The first six models were ready to party in evening looks that were all various shades of blue, from a deep-royal-hued velvet gown that softly hugged the body to a light powder blue minidress with a voluminous skirt.
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As a child, she did not know what bloodroot was but later as an adult she learned that bloodroot is a rootsworker herb and that her family has a rootsworker legacy. Their creative direction is drawn from the Southern experiences of Southern Parlor ladies, Conjurer women and blues men and their intersections. “May there be peace, love, and perfection throughout all creation, oh God” were among the first words chanted over the soundtrack during the opening moments of House of Aama’s fall presentation. Since 2015, Rebecca Henry and Akua Shabaka, the mother-daughter duo behind the brand, have used their strong sense of spirituality and connection to their ancestral legacy to bring their designs to life. This time, the tradition continued at the Canary Club, a Lower East Side spot known for its jazz brunch.
Akua, the daughter of the duo is a 2019 graduate of Parsons The New School for Design in Manhattan, New York with a BBA in Strategic Design and Business Management. Akua was exposed early in life to her mom and dad’s entrepreneurial enterprises, artistic leanings and culturally based lifestyle (Akua’s dad, Jamaiel Shabaka is an avant garde jazz musician and drummer). Black Ivy-inspired cardigans, sailor-collared letterman jackets, and button-downs embossed with the brand’s logos and never-before-seen emblems welcomed viewers to a world of stylized leisurewear. These pieces drew comparisons to historically Black college campus photos from the ‘40s. “We’re still having fun with materials, still doing embroidery work, but also this time, we want people to feel like they’re part of like the Aama club. We were thinking a lot about the relationship between the aspirational and the accessible, [all] while staying honest to our storytelling,” Shabaka explains.
Faded sweatshirts, silk shirts, and a “tattoo” mesh were printed with hand-illustrated ships and anchors as well as African deities and scenes from “Camp Aama,” the fictional resort Henry and Shabaka dreamed up as they designed. Henry proudly pointed out that the tattoo motif, along with every other print, fabric, and illustration, was custom-developed by their team in Los Angeles. It’s a significant point of difference for their brand; in 2021, it’s much more common for a young designer to purchase pre-made textiles. By creating everything from scratch, Henry and Shabaka guarantee a more personal, idiosyncratic touch in a market where so many collections look signature.
Sonic and set components of the show were reflective of the collaboration between artists that defined the Jazz Age. Before the show, visitors could notice the intention of every team member, with each person working to maximize their use of space without sacrificing any of the inconspicuous charm of a typical speakeasy experience. It was bustling, but organized, emitting a thoughtful and resoundingly joyful noise.
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The intentional mother-daughter design duo has used its latest presentations to highlight the intangible matter that comprises Black spirituality and ancestry. Jute dresses and menswear separates, together with styles made out of raw woven silk with loosely interlaced panels brought in texture, as did spider-inspired motifs applied onto deep indigo denim in the shape of delicate crystal spider webs. “In the Caribbean, there’s an emphasis on how you present yourself and how you dress, and so we wanted to have the suiting elements against raw materials,” said Henry. After Afropunk, Rebecca and Akua decided to rebrand House of Aama and develop a collection for an older, sophisticated adult market. At Afropunk, they saw how many other designers were also utilizing African fabrics, so they decided that from then on they would take a more nuanced approach to expressing their cultural identity. There were certain stories they wanted to tell that didn’t involve just using Kente cloth, but might involve modern pieces and stories within that that pertain to Black people.
House of Aama is a culturally inspired lifestyle brand rooted in the ethos of the African continent and diaspora. The seed for House of Aama has been sowing for some time now and is manifesting in physical form due to the joint efforts of mother and daughter duo, Rebecca Henry and Akua Shabaka. Rebecca, the mother of the duo is an attorney in private practice by trade but artistically oriented in nature with sewing, quilting and art hobbies.
Ahead of the gala, mother and daughter got ready together, with makeup artist Maite Moreira from New York Makeup Academy and hairstylist Anthony Hernandez with CUTLER. Shabaka wore the orange debutante cocktail dress with hand beading, with a Ghanaian Akuaba doll tucked into the back of her gown. Henry wore the Chickenbone crop top and coordinating skirt; she will take a doll of the water deity Yemaja with her to the cocktails as well. “I think in the past, it’s been a challenge to reach out to agencies that have Black talent, but this season, I will go on record to say that the support has been there from agencies. I think they’ve seen the consistency, the hard work that we’ve been doing, and it translates to the art.” In the future, Cochrane and longtime styling lead Tiffany Williams picture an increasingly global imprint for the brand.
NYFW presentation coverage from Paper Mag and Fader, where they built the space and brought the story to life behind the BLOODROOT collection. Rebecca and Akua were motivated by a desire to form a relationship with African Artisans in the development of House of Aama products and also to provide a commercial platform for African wares. This collaborative project consisted of Unisex Men and Women’s shirts, pants and traditional woven Senegalese baskets.
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