Catherine Addai is the Ghanaian designer and creative director behind the fashion label, KAELA KAY. Like many designers, Addai is a self-taught seamstress and fashion designer whom started off from a young age custom sewing seamstress and custom designing clothes in 2006 as a means of learning the fashion industry, expressing her creativity and having fun.
Taking her personal style, her Ghanaian roots and her passion for fashion all the while maintaining a corporate job, Catherine Addai started KAELA KAY in January of 2012. A year and a half later, KAELA KAY is already gaining a positive name within the fashion industry.
“My personal style is always on the side of classy, modern, and semi-conservative but sexy, and sometimes funky – depending on the day . This is wholly reflected in the KAELA KAY brand. The designs are meant to be modern, make women feel unique, beautiful, classy and sexy. I want KAELA KAY clothing to be distinctive and easily and positively recognizable. My inspirations for the clothes are based on past fashions (my mother), current fashions and future fashions. My fashion inspirations also come from prints, colors and the desire to create clothing that everyone at any stage in their fashion life can identify with and appreciate. “
1:Why is your brand, product, or service important to consumers’ lives?
KAELA KAY is designed for no particular woman, but created for all women. The KAELA KAY woman likes to stand out in a crowd; she is refined yet bold; she is feminine yet strong; she walks tall with her shoulders back and knows what she wants in life; she is elegant and always looks fabulously beautiful; and her style is totally, unconventionally, modern.
2: How do you integrate culture, innovation, or sustainability within your company?
Having been a custom clothing designer/seamstress for several years, I gained great knowledge about the female form , about women’s fashion expectations and what they wanted to see and wear. I parlayed this into KAELA KAY and use that knowledge to infuse and create clothing that speaks to all women. I enjoy marrying different fabrics and prints together and tend to include this concept in KAELA KAY clothing. KAELA KAY is innovative in the styles, the fabrics and color combinations that are represented in the clothing- but still keeping the underlying fashion sense of KAELA KAY which is to create beautiful , classy and modern clothing. Signature creative details, such as exposed zippers, piping and fabric/print blocking have become synonymous with KAELA KAY clothing and help to make the brand immediately recognizable. KAELA KAY clothing is so versatile that it can be worn to work, church , a weekday evening event or a weekend evening event- the clothes work for any occasion .
As for sustainability, all of the Ntoma/Ankara print fabrics used in KAELA KAY clothing are sourced directly from Africa or from a fabric supplier who brings the Ntoma/Ankara fabrics from Africa. This ensures that KAELA KAY does its part in promoting African culture/heritage and supports African business and trade.
3:Why are you so unique?
The premise of KAELA KAY is to offer creative, beautiful , and modern clothes- with an African twist. KAELA KAY strives to ensure that there is always a touch of Africa represented in the clothing by mixing Ntoma/Ankara print fabrics into the clothes. Whether it is attire, an accessory, a hand bag or a piece from our men’s collection, there is always a symbolism of modern Africa.
To shop KAELA KAY: www.kaelakay.com
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