African fashion designer honours legacies of Queen Amina, others

Queen Yaa Asantewaa, the legendary Ashanti Queen and Queen Amina of Zazzau, Zaria.

A foremost African heritage and style brand, Ozoza Lifestyle, has said it will explore the legacies of African Queens and Icons through fashion.

The Executive Director of the group, Ms. Aziza Atta, said this on Thursday at an online fashion brief.

Atta also said that the organisation would also hold a series of lectures to celebrate the legacies of Queens in Africa.

According to her, the series of scheduled programmes are designed to spotlight the inspirational lives of women who ruled kingdoms on the continent.

Atta said, “Our brand would use fashion inspired by African prints and history to tell stories about strong African women that have otherwise being underreported.”

She said that the brand was deeply engaged in research and its designs are birth and inspired by findings from its researches.

She also said that the brand is focused on holding series of seminars and webinars on West African culture and history and to deliver on its mandates to institutions and diverse audiences.

Atta said, “Our collections are inspired by African themes and therefore our fashion is interwoven with history and culture.”

Atta noted that the brand is scheduled to hold its first online fashion and culture series to examine the life and legacy of Queen Yaa Asantewaa, the legendary Ashanti Queen and Queen Amina of Zazzau, Zaria.

She said that a riveting lecture would be delivered on the legacy of Queen Am in a by a renowned lecturer from the department of English and Literary Studies from Amadu Bello University, Zaria and another by the President of the International Theater Institute.

She said this was to expand on the life of Queen Amina and the importance of incorporating the lessons from her life in the lives of women today.

Atta said that women need to be more involved in the development of society and Queens, such as Queen Amina was a prime example of the importance of women’s involvement in society development.

She said, “If you want to develop any society, women will have to be actively involved at various levels and in various sectors. Queen mothers like Amina was key in this development process. African women had quite strong roles.

“It is just that during the colonial era, they dealt only with the male chiefs and right away the power of Queen mothers was diminished. The strong roles of women were relegated and the cultures just went on.”

Atta however said that fashion had come to relive the lives of this strong women.

She said that the brand had come to explore the legacies of this Queens and to marry other various forms of art to promote knowledge of African heritage and culture.