{"id":9400,"date":"2014-01-23T05:00:46","date_gmt":"2014-01-23T09:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africafashionweek.com\/newyork\/?p=9400"},"modified":"2014-01-23T05:00:46","modified_gmt":"2014-01-23T09:00:46","slug":"q-africa-nzingah-designs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/africafashionweek.com\/magazine\/q-africa-nzingah-designs\/","title":{"rendered":"Q &amp; Africa &#124; Nzingah Designs"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"afric-442253243\" class=\"afric-before-content afric-entity-placement\"><amp-ad width=300 height=250\r\n    style=\"text-align:center;\" type=\"doubleclick\"\r\n    data-slot=\"\/21718337565\/AMP-Banner\">\r\n  <div placeholder><\/div>\r\n  <div fallback><\/div>\r\n<\/amp-ad>\r\n<\/div><p style=\"text-align: right;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/africafashionweek.com\/newyork\/media01\/2013\/12\/QandAfrica.jpg\" rel=\"mfp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-8954 alignleft lazyload\" alt=\"QandAfrica\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/africafashionweek.com\/newyork\/media01\/2013\/12\/QandAfrica.jpg\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" \/><\/a>\u201cWhere strength is beauty, and beauty is strength\u2026\u201d is the magical quote that greets you when you enter the <b>Nzingah Designs<\/b> website.\u00a0 <b>Nzingah<\/b> is the designer behind the brand and she is also a teacher, a visual artist, and a spoken word performer.\u00a0 She was born from Haitian parents in Florida and began her journey as an artist as soon as she could read.\u00a0 <b>Nzingah<\/b> says that her work as a jewelry designer is an extension of her work as a visual artist.\u00a0 Let\u2019s find out more about her and her brand.<\/p>\n<p><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><b><\/b><b>1.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b><b>What is your brand&#8217;s production process?<\/b><\/p><div id=\"afric-686586812\" class=\"afric-inbody afric-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;text-align: center;\"><!-- \/21718337565\/AFW300 -->\r\n<div id='div-gpt-ad-1609524218907-0' style='width: 300px; height: 250px;'>\r\n  <script>\r\n    googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1609524218907-0'); });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Most of the time, my production process begins with a sketch.\u00a0 I play with ideas in my sketchbook then I move forward to the creation process.\u00a0 There are also times my production begins with a specific bead or stone. The bead\/stone is the central idea and everything is built around it. A lot of my work is done with a metal clay tool that I have a certification to teach others how to use. When creating pieces with this tool, it may involve carving, molding, rolling, blending, drilling, drying, sanding, and firing (this takes between 30 minutes to 9 hours; I then finish it with burnishing and applying a patina). The completed pieces are then put together or paired with stones or glass. All of the work involved is solely done by me.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9407\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9407\" style=\"width: 717px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/africafashionweek.com\/newyork\/media01\/2014\/01\/africanfashionnd11.jpg\" rel=\"mfp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-9407  lazyload\" alt=\"Nzingah Designs\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/africafashionweek.com\/newyork\/media01\/2014\/01\/africanfashionnd11-1024x1024.jpg\" width=\"717\" height=\"717\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9407\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nzingah Designs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>2.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b><b>What makes your brand luxurious?<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>\u00a0<\/b>My brand is luxurious for several reasons. First and foremost, all of our pieces are one of kind or part of a limited edition. Moreover, all the pieces are handmade, and I as the designer am directly involved in all aspects of the production process. I am also very specific about the beads\u00a0I\u00a0acquire.\u00a0 A lot of my suppliers are individuals who travel to places like the Philippines, Thailand, or West Africa to collect their beads. My African supplier is very well versed in the history behind the beads. For example, most recently\u00a0I\u00a0purchased antique boule beads from 18th century Nigeria.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9408\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9408\" style=\"width: 717px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/africafashionweek.com\/newyork\/media01\/2014\/01\/africanfashionnd2.jpg\" rel=\"mfp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-9408  lazyload\" alt=\"Nzingah Designs \" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/africafashionweek.com\/newyork\/media01\/2014\/01\/africanfashionnd2-1024x1024.jpg\" width=\"717\" height=\"717\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9408\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nzingah Designs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>3.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b><b>Where are you from? How has this influenced your designs?<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">I am of Haitian descent and my culture plays a significant role in the creation and designing process. Haiti is filled with raw beauty, bright colors, and a rich heritage of movement and sound \u2013 inspired by a deep history derived from our West African origins. I live, breath, and simply am this Haitian energy, so everything\u00a0that I\u00a0create will bear a piece of that influence.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/africafashionweek.com\/newyork\/media01\/2014\/01\/africanfashionnd3.jpg\" rel=\"mfp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-9409 aligncenter lazyload\" alt=\"africanfashionnd3\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/africafashionweek.com\/newyork\/media01\/2014\/01\/africanfashionnd3-1024x1024.jpg\" width=\"717\" height=\"717\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><b>Purchase Nzingah Designs accessories here:\u00a0<\/b><b><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">www.NzingahDesigns.com<\/span><\/b><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Follow Nzingah Designs on Twitter @: SankofasChild<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b style=\"line-height: 1.5em;\">Follow Nzingah Designs on Instagram: @SankofasChild<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b style=\"line-height: 1.5em;\">Nzingah Designs Facebook:\u00a0<\/b><a style=\"line-height: 1.5em;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BeautyIsStrength\" target=\"_blank\"><b>www.FaceBook.com\/BeautyIsStrength<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"afric-1378086233\" class=\"afric-after-content afric-entity-placement\"><amp-ad width=300 height=250\r\n    style=\"text-align:center;\" type=\"doubleclick\"\r\n    data-slot=\"\/21718337565\/AMP-bottom\">\r\n  <div placeholder><\/div>\r\n  <div fallback><\/div>\r\n<\/amp-ad><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cWhere strength is beauty, and beauty is strength\u2026\u201d is the magical quote that greets you when you enter the Nzingah Designs website.\u00a0 Nzingah is the designer behind the brand and she is also a teacher, a visual artist, and a spoken word performer.\u00a0 She was born from Haitian parents in Florida and began her journey&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9403,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72,73,75],"tags":[457,88,76,78,79,80,89,128,2030,2448,103,82,83,1430,839,94,306,2449,1725,2450,2267,2451,2452],"class_list":["post-9400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-afw","category-made","category-news","tag-accessories","tag-adiree","tag-adiree-pr","tag-adiree-public-relations","tag-adiree-public-relations-in-new-york","tag-adiree-social-media","tag-africa","tag-africa-fashion","tag-africa-fashion-weekly","tag-african-accessories","tag-african-designer","tag-african-designers","tag-african-fashion","tag-african-influences","tag-african-jewelry","tag-afwny","tag-jewelry","tag-nzingah-designs","tag-q-and-africa","tag-qa","tag-qafrica","tag-qanda","tag-sankofas-child"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/africafashionweek.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/africafashionweek.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/africafashionweek.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africafashionweek.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africafashionweek.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/africafashionweek.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africafashionweek.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/africafashionweek.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africafashionweek.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africafashionweek.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}