From Excess to Balance

Category: Accessories

From Excess to Balance: The Marafa Tale Marafa Hell's Kitchen in Kilifi, Kenya is a breathtaking place that commands presence. Everything about it is organic yet structured, the colours are beautiful and walking through it draws out reverence for all. A local shared with me the history of the Giriama people. The indigenous community speaks of ancestors who lived in such abundance they bathed in milk. Wasteful and prideful, they enraged the Gods, who answered with seven days of rain that erased everything. What remained were the canyons we walk through today and a community that has since lived in harmony with the land. It is a cautionary tale and a tale of rebirth. We can always come back to balance. That story is the soul of this collection. The quilted leather bag draws its silhouette, surface pattern and colour palette; red, yellow and white directly from the canyon walls. The exterior is an art piece that carries the folklore with it and opens conversation. The interior is fully compartmentalized, designed so that everything has a place and the user never has to go searching. ( We have all experienced the minutes searching aimlessly in ones handbag, it is time to surpass it! ) The material choice follows the same logic as the tale. Leather offcuts and sustainably dyed cotton, given new life through circular design. This handbag aims to bring its user back to balance, hopefully through RLSD it will.