Author: Dagny Zenovia

Walk with me.

It was 2021. I had a notebook full of ideas and sketches. Spent hours with YouTube, webinars, and virtual coaches. Drove and got lost a couple of times to meet with manufacturers, fabric sellers, and printers in Accra, Ghana. I was excited and tired. I felt encouraged and apprehensive. Some days I would say, “Yes, this is progress.” Other days, I would say, “Is it silly of me to think this can work?”

As you might know, the collection I was trying to produce that year did not happen. I learned a lot, but I did feel disappointed in myself. I continued to study, pivot, and experiment.

In 2022, I curated a jewelry collection. It was a good learning experience to work with artisans, produce content, implement different marketing strategies, and manage the e-commerce site. I even had the chance to collaborate with a fellow content creator and pay her from the sales that were made. I was encouraged by this and tried to continue to trust the process. I enjoyed designing the packaging and experimenting until I got the one that I loved. But overall, it still did not feel like the full version of the real vision.

So, in 2023, I traveled to Italy for an eyewear tradeshow expo to explore other options I already had ideas for. This was inspiring and exciting, but it was part of my studying and preparing, instead of immediately producing. I tried to do a clothing collection again. This was also a good learning experience to see how the systems in Asia work. I was inspired to start creating ideas on how to implement or adapt those systems in Ghana or other African countries to manufacture with the textiles and materials that are from here. But, that collection only made it up to a prototype that was not exactly the quality I wanted. This ended with a lack of transparency and delivery on their part.

This is why I decided to cancel the clothing and book story in 2024. And, for the first time, I posted parts of this story online to share what had been going on behind the scenes. I used that time to focus on the jewelry that was still available. I also focused on myself to release control over how I thought the business or brand needed to be. Trying to be committed to the vision, but flexible with the methods. This was not easy and took a lot of concentration and consistency. Funnily enough, sharing my vulnerability at that time opened the doors to opportunities to collaborate in ways that supported and expanded my ideas more than ever before.

Fast forward to 2025. Our new collection is complete and ready! The brand has expanded to become an ambassador for Afrofuturism in fashion, events, film/animation, sustainability, culture, and education. The Bandele Muse Universe continues to align and evolve. The present is beautiful and the future is bright. I am so grateful.

Now, it’s time to take you on the next phase of this adventure.

Above is one of the pieces from the new collection that we showcased at our second event, Burgundy Play Plate.

For this collection, I focused on Afrofuturism, brocade, and commitment. Oh wow. That is A,B,C…easy as 1,2,3…so simple as… Ok, you get it.

Let me share with you a little bit of each. We will dive deeper into it in my next letters. Yes, this will be a series. Let’s go!

Afrofuturism / Africanfuturism / Afro speculative fiction

Afrofuturism is a cultural aesthetic and philosophy that combines elements of science fiction, fantasy, and technology with African diaspora culture and history. It expresses notions of Black identity, agency, and freedom through art, creative works, and activism that envisions liberated futures for Black life. Africanfuturism blends African culture, history, and mythology with technology to create optimistic, African-centered speculative worlds.

These terms are fluid and continue to evolve. I am excited to explore these with you as we create art and indulge in philosophies that enhance and improve our realities. As you might remember, I have been writing a story, my time-traveling story, that weaves together these aesthetics and philosophies. This year, I started to adapt that story for an animation series. That process enabled me to design the new clothing collection.

As I was designing the wardrobe for the characters, I thought this would be perfect to create for you in real life. What would fashion in Africa look like one thousand years from now? Would it be like Star Trek and Hunger Games? Not really, since those stories don’t occur in the same climate or carry the same cultures. Well, what if we look at fashion in Africa one thousand years ago? How much has changed over time? How much has remained the same? How could these traditions and evolutions influence our fashion in the future? I have developed my answers to this and designed a collection that speaks to this. We will discuss this more in my next letter.

Brocade

Brocade is a rich fabric that is woven with a raised pattern, often made with colored silks or gold and silver threads. Its origin dates back to ancient China. Brocade was one of the few luxury fabrics worn by nobility throughout China, Persia, India, Greece, Japan, Korea, and Byzantium. Now, in modern times, West Africa has developed its own style trends with brocade. From elaborate boubous to intricate corset gowns to bespoke kaftans, brocade is being used to create African fashion masterpieces. This inspired me to use brocade in this collection. As you will see later, while we explore futuristic fashion, the fabrics we use will be the main evolution factor. What if we had a boubou made of fabric that changes colors as you move? Or a smock that comes to life when you scan it with your phone? This is how the animation story and the collection connect. To bring fantasy and joy to the future we want to create now. We will indulge more in this later.

Commitment

Commitment is defined as the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, activity, etc. This is what I have had to pray and work on throughout this time. In the beginning, the concept of Afrofuturism made sense to me, but seemed to confuse others. The vision to build a brand that enables wholesome and sustainable industrialization and globalization resonated with me, but sounded naive to others. I have received friendly suggestions to keep things simple, add my logo to pre-made products to sell more easily, and jump on trends that others online claim are successful.

I feel this is where commitment determines your path. I could have done those things, but they do not align with the vision or cause. I know a brand cannot save the world. I understand creating beauty at this time can seem like an oxymoron compared to everything that wants to remove the beauty of this galaxy. I have learned how people might treat you based on their circumstances and not their values. But, I still care. I still believe we have a chance to appreciate our present and nurture our future. There are too many of us in this galaxy who want better for everyone and want things to change. Our beliefs and efforts cannot be in vain. So, why not create beauty while we continue on this adventure? Why not inspire inner-galactic reflections and expand time-traveling comfort zones while we grow and evolve?

I believe it is this commitment to faith and beauty that has kept me going through all of these pivots and experiments. I could not do this alone, but I had to do a lot of unlearning and relearning for the right people and blessings to find me.

So, with all that I have shared, what are you most looking forward to in this next phase? Share with me. Let’s continue the conversation.

As always, I look forward to you joining me on this adventure. Stay tuned.

And, if you want to see and hear more about this next phase, remember to subscribe to my newsletter. I will be sharing more of the details there.

Your beauty is also within the pivoting, studying, and experimenting. Don’t get confused with the silence or time. It takes patience for your roots to grow deeper as you level up.

Recently, I was reflecting about foundation. I feel it’s influenced individually, collectively, and by your environment.

Some of my many highlights as a kid was focused on mastery and understanding. For example, reading with my Mom consistently. So that by the time I started school, my reading and vocabulary were ahead of my class. Another example, learning and playing chess with my Dad. For me it was not about winning or losing. It was about mastery and understanding for the love of knowledge. Yes, I was only 8 or 9 years old at the time.

My Mom did her research and intentionally put me in Montessori school. I don’t know if the curriculum is still the same, but at that time, I learned to prioritize my love for masterying knowledge at my pace over short term accolades. There was no honor roll or multiple awards. I could examine one level or move ahead to higher levels at my speed. Parts of my learning was self-directed, with opportunities to develop independence, collaboration, initiative, and responsibility. My age or gender was never a restriction.

I feel that training (or conditioning) still influences my approach to reality.

And sometimes, our elders or guardians might second-guess the decisions they make for us. And we have to remember they are human, not gods or superheroes. But we should always remind them that the smallest things had the most significant and positive impact on us.

And other times, you might be around people who don’t have a similar foundation to you. That’s not good or bad, but that means we can’t follow the same speed or influences. We can learn from each other, but be careful not to get lost, confused, or fragmented.

For me, consistency or vision might look different next to another person. The foundation for my roots are already deep. With each level up transition, those roots have to grow deeper to sustain the height. That’s where the beauty continues.