This one’s quite the find, very cool Tanzanian-centric T-shirts: www.kinaklothing.com
Kina Klothing was recently launched early this July. “Kina,” is a Kiswahili word meaning “depth.” This collection almost exclusively features work inspired by popular culture and visual language of Tanzania, the homeland of founder. Every piece is an attempt to stimulate curiosity on the viewer while saying something positive about the person wearing the tee. Each design has been infused with meaning and worked to perfection. It’s not Clip Art cookie cutter stuff. This is completely original artwork. Each Kina shirt is printed on American Apparel T-shirts and by quality printers.
The Kollektion:
Uhuru Street combines street insight and “uhuru” (freedom) a concept that is central to Tanzanian creative aspiration. It is the first of a series named after various streets in Tanzania.
The next Kollektion to hit will be Samora Avenue. Samora Ave is where, founder, Mkuki Bgoya’s father used to work. He walked up and down it every day, “I thought Samora was a very interesting character and a great leader. He led his people to fight for independence like Nyerere. There was a generation of leadership that came during the struggle for independence. The Samora Avenue collection will be different to Uhuru Street as the designs expand and encompass Africa and the Diaspora. I grew up in the Diaspora for a while and I connected with Carribeans, West Africans, and African Americans. The first collection was very much about coming home to Tanzania. The beautiful thing about these streets is that you find them all over Africa. Samora was not our leader but we have a street named after him. All these leaders were a part of the same fraternity and the same struggle.
There was a strong sense of unity in Africa.”