Our Vision For the Sankofa Collection

The word "Sankofa" means "Going Back To Your Roots".
"We must go back and reclaim our past so we can move forward and
understand why and how we came to be who we are today."

With the Sankofa Collection, our vision is to display Afrocentric and African-inspired bridal, formal, casual and career clothing for women and men in conjunction with African arts and crafts to the U.S. and international market. Connoisseurs of fashion and fine art will appreciate the ethnic and embroidered attires being unveiled for the first time.

The Sankofa Collection portrays never before released afrocentric clothing designs. For example, we used traditional Ghanaian embroidered symbols on three of the wedding dresses in the collection.

For example, Gye Nyame – Symbol of the omnipotence of God and immortality of God – is deliberately hand embroidered onto a white African inspired wedding dress.

The Gye Nyame symbol, a prominent symbol on the African chief’s clothing, is a greatly cherished and highly respected symbol in Ghana especially for the Akan tribe.

Another afrocentric wedding dress has exquisite gold embroidered Akofena symbols representing the state ceremonial sword in Ghana, West Africa.

In addition, we reveal modern trendy female designs made of new revolutionary woodin fabrics mixed with prints and solid color uplifting Afrocentric fashions to a new level of sophistication.

The woodin fabrics, sold primarily in Ivory Coast and Ghana, have not yet been exposed on a large scale in the U.S. where a proliferation of traditional African wax prints and mud cloth abound.

Our goal is to expose the woodin fabrics and a variety of african inspired designer clothing made of woodin fabrics to the U.S. consumers. This will develop a greater appreciation for the diversity and versatility of African fabric.

Furthermore, TeKay Designs is taking African men’s clothing to a new level of sophistication by constructing a dazzling variety of non traditional vests made of kente, mud cloth and woodin fabrics.

With the Sankofa Collection, we introduce a new design in agbadas – in addition to the full, long-sleeved agbadas, we introduce the men’s sleeveless agbada – a revolutionary design in which the daishiki is exposed with it’s eye-catching embroidery.

Moreover, we show the men’s wedding attire in the traditional 4 piece embroidered agbada (gown), daishiki (long sleeved shirt), trousers, and kuffi which is worn by many West African men for special occasions.

The embroidery on majority of our clothing is generously and lavishly applied, a mark of the rich African heritage.

A keeper of tradition, the Sankofa Collection unveils Afrocentric and hand embroidered bridal, formal, and traditional clothing for women and men. The diverse and sumptuous legacy of African heritage is seen in the richness in our textiles, forms, patterns, and embroideries.