As I pushed the shop door open, the bell chimed announcing to the duty staff that customers had arrived
As I pushed the shop door open, the bell chimed announcing to the duty staff that customers had arrived. The three of us - my sister Tawonga, my now wife Emily, and I - entered and briefly waited for someone to appear
A curtain behind the counter separated the front and back ends of the shop. We looked around admiringly. It was small and smart. A few seconds later a lady emerged from behind the curtain. She greeted us with a broad smile. She had a happy-to-see-you, ready-to-help sort of disposition. We started to chat.
This was an African clothes shop in south London. Tawonga had escorted Emily and I to look for attires for our wedding reception. As the lady spoke we all paid close attention. "Who's this dress by?" one of us asked. "It's by Kutowa Designs. They are from Zambia." "And this one?" "It's from Ghana. We recently started taking stock from a designer there." As someone who's not much of a fashionista (feel free to laugh!), I was fascinated. The work of Zambian designers was being stocked in London shops, one of the world's leading fashion hubs. I'd heard of Kutowa Designs before so it was nice to see some of their work here. She then showed us other designs; one from Kenya, another from Angola and another from Sierra Leone.