< Back to all entries & Profiles
User KAMYSHA profile image

KAMYSHA MARTIN

Self Employed

lolahSoul

As a self-taught metalsmith and founder of lolahSoul Metal Clothing & Jewelry, I have spent the past twenty-five years refining my jewelry practice, only to embark, within the last few years, on an ambitious new path: creating wearable metal garments through my EVELUTION collection. At over fifty years of age, I fearlessly stepped beyond my comfort zone to design this line because that's where the magic happens...outside your comfort zone... and I hope my journey inspires others to do the same. My creative path began with handcrafted rings and necklaces, embracing raw textures and experimental patinas. The E.V.E. Jewelry Collection and EVELUTION Metal Clothing line each blend AfroFuturism, AfroFrequency, and the spirit of the Original AfroFemFatale into sculptural form. Honored with the 2024 Dali Museum Best in Show Award and the 2025 Artist of the Year Award from the Black Art and Film Festival, my work embodies risk, resilience, and reinvention. My legacy is this: "I don't think outside the box… I create new shapes." Leather is my newest shape. NKS'D Jazz is where my metalsmith instinct meets a material that breathes, ages, and carries memory in ways metal never can. The same philosophy that drives lolahSoul, structure with soul, precision with purpose, now speaks in leather. This is not a departure from my practice. It is an evolution of it.

Website
Lightbox zoom button
Lightbox zoom button
Lightbox zoom button
← →
x

NKSD: JAZZ

Category: Accessories

Competitions: Africa

NKS'D: Jazz by KAMYSHA - The Bass carries The Mood. Some people play music. Some people sing it. I carry it. Born into a family of musicians, I did not inherit the ability to play an instrument... I inherited a deep love of music. The understanding that music is not something you simply hear. It is something you feel. That a bassline does not just move through a room... it moves through you. That mood is not fixed. It is frequency. And frequency can be changed. I built my career in metal: metal jewelry, metal clothing, metal accessories - and the belief that what we put on our bodies carries meaning. NKS'D: Jazz is my first dance with leather. And it immediately felt like a song I already knew. A material that softens with time, deepens with wear, and carries memory. The structure of a Metalsmith. The soul of leather. NKS'D: Jazz is the first bag in the NKS'D collection - a line of structured leather bags where every design is named for a music genre and every design is an act of self-expression. The bag has two components. Each has a name. Each has a purpose. The Bass is the shell. Constructed from vertical strips of vegetable-tanned cowhide leather in graduating tones... warm earth at the edges deepening through slate, steel, and shadow at the center. The Bass is rigid, architectural, and unwavering. It holds its curved U-form without apology. It does not slouch. It does not perform. It simply holds. Like a bassline holds a composition together, The Bass is the foundation everything else rests on. Chrome rivets line the top rim where each strip meets the structural base... precise, intentional, a quiet nod to my metalsmith roots. Chrome architectural feet keep it grounded when set down. Twin silver ring handles allow it to be carried by hand or folded down and worn as an underarm clutch - structure adapting to the moment without losing its form. The Mood is the liner. An oversized, deliberately generous piece of soft supple cowhide leather that lives inside The Bass and exceeds it... draping beyond both sides of the shell. It billows. It cascades. It announces itself. The Mood is interchangeable. Because sometimes we dress for the mood we are in. And sometimes we dress for the mood we want to be in. The ability to change The Mood transforms one bag into an infinite number of expressions - without waste, without excess, without compromise. The Mood is secured within The Bass via chrome snap fasteners, designed for effortless exchange. The swap is not an afterthought. It is the experience. The Bass carries The Mood. That is not just a product description. It is a philosophy. The belief that what we carry is an extension of who we are... and that who we are is allowed to change, to shift, to improvise... as long as we remain true to ourselves. NKS'D: Jazz is made entirely from real cowhide leather. The Bass uses thick vegetable-tanned leather - one of the oldest, most sustainable tanning methods in the world, using natural plant tannins rather than chemicals. The Mood uses soft supple leather chosen for its drape, its touch, and its ability to carry color with depth. No synthetic materials. No fast fashion logic...one bag... infinite expressions. Nothing discarded and nothing wasted. This is not a bag for a woman who needs to be seen. It is a bag for a woman who simply cannot be ignored.

In association with Arts Thread

Working with our partners at Arts Thread to develop lifelong learning and career opportunities for students of fashion and design. Our partnership provides the opportunity to compete on a world stage, participate in industry led workshops, set up an outstanding portfolio and gain access to the resources that will kickstart careers in fashion and design.