AfroElle Magazine partners with brands that share our mission and goals. Kuwala is an online boutique that curates unique and exclusive pieces from socially responsible African fashion brands. They offer fashion conscious consumers with beautifully hand-crafted pieces from talented fashion designers and ethical women’s cooperatives based all across Africa. Kuwala’s slogan is ‘ready to wear, ready to shine’. In the Malawian language of Chichewa, the words “ku wala” means “to shine,” while “ku vala” means “to wear.”

January marks 1 year since founders Veronica Nnensa and Freeda Mulenga launched Kuwala, an ecommerce website dedicated to making African fashion brands more accessible to global markets. Their first year was all about learning, growing and making new connections. Here are some key milestones Kuwala reached last year:

November (2013)

• Kuwala attends Glitz Africa Fashion Week in Accra to meet with established and emerging fashion designers from West Africa.

January 2014

• The Kuwala website, www.kuwalainc.com, is officially launched with 5 clothing and accessory brands from Ghana.

May

• Kuwala participates in its first pop-up shop during the Ms. Afropolitan Beauty Pageant.

June

• The Kuwala website gets a makeover with a beautiful new layout that introduced gift cards to customers.

August

• Kuwala expands source countries to sell pieces from Mayamiko Designed, an ethical brand from Malawi.

• Kuwala attends African Fashion Week Toronto as an official sponsor of the biggest celebration of African fashion in Canada.

October

• The ethical Kenyan brand, Njema Helena, is now available on the Kuwala website.

November

• Veronica wins the business pitch competition at the BrandedTO Youth Marketing Conference in Toronto.

Kuwala is starting off Year 2 with 8 brands from 3 countries across Africa. For the Kuwala duo, 2015 will be a year of growing relationships and partnering with more of Africa’s great fashion talent.

Check out Kuwala for trendy African Apparel and Accessories.