Maasai Shield

The Maasai design was part of our Ananse collection launched in Summer 2013. Initially, the design was born out of the desire to create a midi dress to complement the status of our Queens (female customers). As our first attempt to create a form fitting dress, we wanted to make a bold statement.

We traced back to an idea discussed a few years ago about using the Maasai culture as a source of inspiration for a design. Evident from our research that most designers inspired by the Maasai culture utilized the shuka (famous Maasai cloth) for their designs, we needed a game changer! We began to look beyond the shuka for artistic inspiration.

As a proud ‘Warrior Group’ located in Kenya and Tanzania, we were drawn to a consistent symmetric pattern in their most common battle shield. This symmetric pattern became the inspiration for our Maasai design. Recognizing that the term ‘Warrior’ is mostly attributed to the Maasai man, we realized an opportunity through our design to give not only a voice to the Maasai woman, but all women. The strength of a male Maasai warrior is reflected in the image of the woman, who stands beside him, because it takes a warrior to understand and appreciate another.

Through our Maasai design; we honor strength and dominance of women globally. In addition, the design reveals the hidden reality that women are not only beautiful, but also extraordinary and powerful beyond measure. Products from the Maasai design include colorful fitted midi dresses and pencil skirts.