Rosario Dawson’s Adventures in Ghana, Celebrating Women and Her First Clothing Collection

As dusk fell on a weekday last month, a four-wheel-drive barreled down a jungle path in the central region of Ghana, carrying Rosario Dawson, who, rubbed clean of makeup, less resembled a Hollywood actress than her latest role as a fashion entrepreneur studying agroforestry and sustainable cotton practices on a century-old plantation. During a break from promoting her new Netflix series, Marvel’s “Daredevil” (released last Friday), Dawson, 35, had escaped a New York snowstorm to spend six days in Ghana and oversee production of her first full collection for Studio One Eighty Nine, a line of recycled glass jewelry and batik cotton and indigo separates. The company was cofounded and soft launched with her best friend Abrima Erwiah in 2013. “We wanted to do something we both valued and loved,” she said, adding that they both grew up on Manhattan’s Lower East Side and realized the need to do something social-minded.

They forewent fast fashion in favor of a more intimate and community-based approach, enlisting a vibrant fashion collective of African artisans. “We aren’t telling their story, we aren’t trying to push anything or create something new,” Dawson says, “we are just trying to celebrate people and help push their story through.” Her most recent visit to Africa Light began at the beach resort and fishing village of Busua, to celebrate International Women’s Day, and then traveled up the Cape Coast, where she met with batikers and seamstresses, all of whom she knows on a first-name basis.

“Things ytimesare so mass-produced these days,” says Erwiah, a former communications and marketing director at Bottega Veneta who now spends her time in the sprawling capital of Accra, home to Studio One Eighty Nine’s headquarters. “When you wear something that is beautiful and unique, it’s a gift. It’s like art — you feel the energy behind the person.” Designs in the collective’s first collection include understated examples of luxury, like the “Andy,” a unisex button-down made of butter-soft indigo denim, exclusively sourced and dyed in Mali. It’s what you might wear to a summer concert in Brooklyn, or like Dawson, to a recent Ghanian dinner of fried tilapia with a side of kenkey (fermented corn dough), scooped up with her fingers in a back alley. “It’s just too good,” she remarked, reaching for seconds. Above, she shares a handful of other highlights from the trip.

“I escaped the snowstorm in NYC and made it to sunny Ghana just in time to celebrate Ghana Independence & International Women’s Day at Asa Baako Music Festival at Busua Beach. Our beach house served as a pop-up to showcase the work of Studio One Eighty Nine and other local designers throughout the weekend.” Courtesy of Studio One Eighty Nine

“Here, local fashion blogger and street photographer Allen Coleman of FreshWallStreet.com captures the lovely and talented musical artist Jojo Abot on the beach. Jojo is modeling pieces from Studio One Eighty Nine’s new collection.” Adam Desiderio

“ ‘Boa Me Na Me Mmoa Wo’ is a traditional West African adinkra symbol that means ‘Help me and let me help you,’ a design prevalent in many of our pieces, including these scarves. It represents interdependence and cooperation, and it’s how we work at Studio One Eighty Nine. What a wonder and honor it is to be rocking this symbol with Jojo Abot and her sister.” Adam Desiderio

“Here is my best friend, business partner and co-creative director, Abrima Erwiah, at our workshop on Cape Coast where we hand-batik textiles and work alongside local artisans. This yellow teany print and green ‘Ralph’ print are inspired by the colors of the jungle in Ghana.” Adam Desiderio

“This is our batiker Aggie hand-stamping our ‘Boa Me Na Me Mmoa Wo’ textile. The symbol is first hand-carved before Aggie mixes in special colors to dye the fabric. The stamp is then dipped in hot wax, a process depicted here.” Adam Desiderio

“Cape Coast Castle, built on the Gold Coast of West Africa, is one of the oldest ‘slave castles' to date, with construction beginning in 1653. It is a powerful and solemn experience to witness it.” Adam Desiderio

“Nothing is better after a rain-soaked hike than a warm meal under an umbrella of bamboo. Imagine cutting the bottom of a banana leaf tree to make stew for dinner — that’s what we had, Kontomire stew (like a spinach) with boiled yams. And we washed it down with fresh palm wine straight from the palm tree. Yum!” Adam Desiderio

“One afternoon, we traveled out east to Somanya to visit with our bead-maker partners. They make recycled glass beads out of old bottles of Guinness, SKYY Vodka, Moët and Malibu Rum. Techniques have been passed down from generation to generation and have been refined by local artisans with many a training being conducted at this very workshop.” Adam Desiderio

The bead-maker, Cedi. He goes by the mantra ‘Bead is everywhere, so bead all you can bead.’ ” Adam Desiderio

“We were able to spend an afternoon with the children of OAfrica. It’s one of my favorite organizations, local or otherwise. They work to get kids out of illegal orphanages and resettle them back in with their families and communities.” Adam Desiderio

“One of the last days, the Studio One Eighty Nine crew visited Radford University College and its amazing students. Radford is the first school to offer a fashion degree program in Ghana, and in fact, just graduated their first class last year. This picture is of our intern Papa Oppong, one of the many talented young emerging fashion designers that we’ve helped train.” Adam Desiderio

Source: nytimes.com

By: Jeanine Celeste Pang