BATIK BOUTIK is an ethical and sustainable clothing line that is made in Ghana but designed locally by the young and very talented Maya Amoah.
You may have seen Maya’s designs around town from a few years back at art crawls and other boutiques in the city under the label of Nebula Artwear.
Maya’s fashion career launched in 2012 when she was just 16. It started all by chance after she wore one of her own Nebula printed designs to high school. There was instant demand from her peers for clothes like hers, which spiraled into Maya’s fast and furious foray into fashion and design – a true natural trendsetter and entrepreneur.
BATIK BOUTIK is a fresh new project of Maya’s that started this summer after a visit to Ghana.
Maya fell in love with Ghana and was inspired by the beautiful West African batik wax prints and the amazing and skilled craftsmanship of the local seamstresses and tailors.
Because of Maya’s great intuitive knack, and a spark of interest from a mini-preview of some fabrics that she gave her followers on Instagram and Facebook, she knew that lots of people here would love the fabrics too. “I recognized that there weren’t a lot of clothing lines that used African wax prints with more contemporary styles – I had seen more of just traditional African wear being sold here, but I wanted crop tops and pencil skirts and bell bottom pants made with this beautiful material”.
In the last two weeks of Maya’s stay in Ghana she was able to connect with two very talented sewers. She got several custom-made orders completed from back home that in the end paid for her trip to Ghana. It was then she knew she had something special going on, and BATIK BOUTIK was born.
“BATIK BOUTIK seeks to change narratives and emphasizes value on the continent by working closely with artisans to create an ecosystem of global fashion. That appears to the West. With ethical trading and sustainability at our core, we just see fair trade as a given in the world of commerce and dream of the day that ethical fashion is just a norm.”
Similar to Maya’s first draw to the batik fabrics during her visit to Ghana, I found her clothes and the fabrics so eye-catching that I literally crashed her latest photo shoot by following a group of her models that were out having a break on the street from the fashion shoot sporting BATIK BOUTIK’s wears. I wanted to know exactly where those clothes came from and had to get direct to the source.
It lead me to Maya, shooting her latest line. She didn’t bat an eye when I walked into the studio unannounced. Maya’s got a totally open and friendly demeanor, as if these types of happenstance encounters happen all the time (and they probably do). The super friendly and chill vibe that Maya emits as a person is reflected in her clothes. “My designs are very basic as I want the boldness of the fabrics to really speak for themselves. Many of the fabrics I use have meanings behind them and are one-offs that you may not come across in the market ever again”. The fabrics and Maya’s designs are stunning and at the same time casual and comfy.
From November 2nd until the 12th BATIK BOUTIK will be doing a pop-up retail store at Bodega on Locke Street (a new pop-up venture that features a rotating roster of new up and coming businesses wanting a space to showcase their goods -such a cool idea!) with a pop-up party Friday, November 3rd starting at 7 p.m.
Maya has more pop-up events for the upcoming holiday season. She’ll also be curating some Afrocentric events, where people can listen to poetry or dance to a live DJ while they shop BATIK. Stay tuned for those details as BATIK BOUTIK’s website and Etsy sites launch!
Maya’s got an awesome thing going on with the look she’s created with BATIK BOUTIK. This woman is definitely going places (as if she hasn’t been already).
Maya Amoah -designer
Nebula Artwear & BATIK BOUTIK
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