Text by Brian James
Gracey Owusu-Agyemang and Khudija Zaib are the design duo behind Afro-Asian luxury brand DIJÁGO which they founded in 2022 after graduating from London’s Regents University with BAs in Fashion Design.
Collaborating in their final year to meet degree demands, they found that while coming from very different cultures there was a commonality in their upbringings and backgrounds which drew them together. It was a natural step after graduation to continue that relationship into their fashion careers.
Their semi-eponymous brand is not only built on that shared University experience but also on their respective heritages with Gracey having been brought up in Western and Southern Africa while Khudija was raised in Pakistan. That cross-continental pollination of ideas and influences has manifested itself in a brand identity which marries elegant with edgy and that’s underpinned by a philosophy which seeks to minimise its carbon footprint and maximise the opportunities for those in the designers’ respective homelands.
Flanelle sat down with Gracey and Khudija to ask them about their and the brands origin stories, how these have coalesced to imbue DIJÁGO with an ethos that places environmental responsibility and community engagement at the core of all they do and a design aesthetic which saw the duos debut collection invited to show as part of the official London Fashion Week schedule.
For those new to the brand what does the name DIJÁGO mean and how would you describe the DIJÁGO aesthetic?
(GO) DIJÁGO is literally an amalgamation of both our names DIJA being a part of Khudija’s name, the second part of Khudija and GO being my initials Grace Owusu, forming DIJÁGO. We put a little accent over the A to give it that luxury positioning in terms of it sounding French and it also fitting into that market
(KZ) The DIJÁGO aesthetic is more timeless, edgy, in general a combination of my style and Graces style together. I am more pattern focused and a bit more colours focused while Gracey is more earth tones. So that is the aesthetic and in terms of what we want people to feel, we want people to feel confident, to feel the luxury. A lot of our materials are heavyweight, good quality, natural materials and so for it also to feel good on the skin which in turn presents them having this confident nice feeling.
How did you meet and what are your respective backgrounds?
(KZ and GO) We met at Regents University when we were doing our BA in Fashion Design that we started in 2019. We were acquaintances in 2019 and became friends in 2022 towards the end of our course when we were working together at one table, helping each other with patterns. That’s how we got close and became friends and realised our respective backgrounds.
(GO) In terms of our respective backgrounds I’m Zambian born but hail from Ghana and Namibia.
(KZ) I am Pakistani.
In what ways have your heritage and shared university experience shaped and influenced the brand identity?
(GO) So my heritage being from Western and Southern Africa and Khudija’s heritage being Pakistani, that’s essentially what we use as the mix of cultures, so it’s an Afro-Asian luxury brand. We realised even as we were working in Uni that we had a lot of similarities even though we are from completely different cultures. Our upbringings and values were quite similar.
(KZ) While doing the research and finding these patterns and finding out how the prints work and the historical aspects of South Asian and West African culture, there are a lot of similarities in the patterns and textiles. Even in storytelling the way the silhouettes are formed like the draping. It’s definitely influenced by the brand identity being Afro-Asian which is a strength that we’ve used as there’s not many Afro-Asian brands that we know apart from Ahluwalia who is Nigerian – Indian. Celebrating the similarities of it is what we really take pride in. Also, a lot of the craftsmanship in both cultures is quite similar.
What was the catalyst for founding DIJÁGO and who are your fashion inspirations?
(KZ) When we got close to the end of our course, I thought that I would start my own label. Having realised that we had such similarities, that we worked together perfectly, and we both had complementary strengths. I said to Grace I’m opening my own label; would you like to be a part of it. I wanted to celebrate the similarities and differences and use that to speak through clothing.
(GO) A lot of my fashion inspirations come from African designers, as that just comes naturally to me, for example Thebe Magugu who is an excellent storyteller, and which is what my strength is. l look at his work to see how he sources inspiration from his family, the history and the culture of South Africa.
(KZ) For me its Daniel Roseberry and Maria Grazia Chiuri, how she works with artisans and the craftsmanship of the garments, keeping the aesthetic classy. My inspirations are more towards that.
As a design duo how do you apportion roles and responsibilities within the business?
(GO) As we’re a two-man team we split it equally. I’m mostly doing the admin stuff and the digital stuff in terms of 3D and the majority of the textiles, being more into the texture and natural dye and all of these sustainable methods. In terms of design, we go in separate ways as we have different design aesthetics and are both individual designers, so we design separately and then we come back together. We see what we’ve been working on and fuse that and move from them. We use the same references, but we pull differently from these aspects and then we do that.
(KZ) I mostly focus on pattern cutting and technical work as I’m really good with my hands doing patterns, sewing and stitching so that’s my strength.
We loved your debut collection “BADLAV: A Couture Story” which showed digitally at London Fashion Week last June. What inspired it and what did it feel like to be on the official LFW schedule so soon after the brand’s inception?
(GO and KZ) In terms of inspirations this was an entry level into both my African culture and Khudija’s Pakistani culture. We can start with the headwear where you can see the literal fusion of both cultures. You could see from the black hat which was infused from the Zulu women who have hairstyles that go into a funnel shape and so we did that with the basis being from some Pakistani research. Then you have the green and blue hat with the front part being arc shaped which is more of an Islamic pattern, so you have the Islamic architecture reference fused with the staple South African Zulu head shape, so both are blended.
In terms of the couture pieces, it was mostly inspired by the old Maharaja’s, the ways they used to dress in draped fabrics around their waist and legs and how they used to wear shawls. Also, how in African culture the clothes were draped around the body and so these were the areas of inspiration, turning that inspiration into wearable gowns.
It was really inspiring and exciting, and it pushed us a lot to be on the London Fashion Week schedule which is a big deal. It was really exciting as young designers one year out of graduating with our BA’s and being on the schedule. It was a great experience for both of us, a bit stressful to meet all the deadlines but it was really fun to work on, especially with the people we source our materials from as we have a really good relationship with them.
The collection, as with all your work, champions the craftsmanship of South-Asian and African artisans. How important to you is promoting and elevating the skills and profiles of artisans from your communities?
(GO) The roots of DIJÁGO are trust, elegance and the preservation of craftsmanship so to us we see a lot of these craftsmen whose skills are dying out, so we feel it’s very, very important to hone those skills and shine a spotlight on them and give these guys opportunities, to give them hope. For a lot of them there’s no hope as they’re sitting in their studios doing their daily job. To give them income, to educate and even for us to do something as little as showing them images of our life in London, it hopefully inspires them to see us being in those spaces.
(KZ) As Gracey said to give opportunities to all these artisans is so important as in Pakistan we have a group of women who do knitting and crochet for us and in my culture it can be difficult to step out of your house, from being a housewife and mother in a male orientated society to step out from it and work. Us giving them opportunity, taking our work to them, they can work from home and receive income, to help them financially and live a better life.
Sustainability is at the core of all you do. What sustainable practices do you follow and how do you monitor the integrity of your supply chains?
(GO) Sustainability is a huge part but it is also any easy part because with both of us coming from African and South Asian backgrounds, the lives which we live back home are quite sustainable. For example, when I was in Ghana learning batik, the guy built his own house from recycled wood and had his own well within the house so everything we do, including where we source our stuff is from local farms or even from our own backyard.
So, everything is quite sustainable. It’s literally at the core and it was mainly deadstock fabrics that we used but we’re moving totally away from deadstock and will now be using natural materials. Everything will be sourced ethically and rightfully. In terms of our collaborations, we also believe in fair pay and that everyone who is creatively skilled, whether it’s for their intellectual property or through their actual skills, they all deserve to be fairly paid. Also, in terms of where we source our stuff from. Our headpieces were made by an Ecuadorian artisan who’s based in London, but she works with a lot of collaborators in Ecudor, and our shoes are all hand-made in Pakistan. We supply deadstock leather material and then they use recycled car tyres to make the shoes. Everything is low wastage, which is what is practiced in Pakistan and Ghana.
So, it’s a natural thing that we do but we are becoming more focused on the traceability of everything. We need to know, even from our leather, we need to know where the animals were and the traceability throughout every step of the way. Thats what were heavily focusing on and we’re also monitoring our emissions as a lot of our shoes come from Pakistan. Khudija’s brother goes to Pakistan every month so it’s not like we’re doing DHL shipping everywhere, he brings a lot back in his suitcase, so that’s an eco-friendly way of getting it to London. Everything is essentially going to be sourced and processed in Pakistan and Ghana and then we will expand as the brand develops.
Last year you designed the gown worn by Ted Lasso actress Sarah Niles to the British Vogue and Tiffany party. How exciting was it being asked to dress a celebrity so early in your careers and how did that opportunity come about?
(KZ and GO) It was really exciting and such a random thing. We did Pure London as our step into the industry and there were a lot of stylists who came to see the collection and one of them, Rebekah Roy, said she loved our work. Which was really funny as she was a guest judge at our Regents fashion show. We had one of our pieces, the black Burka look, on our mannequin at the show and everyone kept looking at it and she saw it on the stand and said I have to do something with this. She said I really need to come to your studio and bring the actress and have a custom piece made.
We had three days from when she said that to when we had to make it. So, three days to make a whole look from scratch and we were still busy wrapping down after Pure London. Sarah Niles, who is a lovely lady, came to the studio and we measured her and draped our calico on her and made it in-house and she wore it to the British Vogue x Tiffany party which was really cool. It was such a good way to start and gave us a good rhythm, it really inspired us and gave us a good push.
Which other celebrities or public figures would you love to see wearing your pieces and why?
(GO and KZ) Queen Rania of Jordan is someone we would love to see in our pieces. The way she’s elegant, the way she’s classy. She has that timelessness about her so Queen Rania of Jordan is someone we would like as she stands for something bigger, she’s a philanthropist, she stands on her word, no matter how people try to poke her she doesn’t fold so we think that’s definitely an icon we love. Rihanna also stands for something bigger, she’s also a philanthropist, a style icon and a trendsetter.
Those are the kind of figures that we would love to wear our pieces, but we are also looking for any people who are elegant or edgy. People that are cultured and who don’t just stick to their own cultures but who experience and embrace other cultures. As we combine our cultures, we want to see people wearing our garments who can relate to it, who are willing to help and educate the underprivileged and to give them a better income.
How do you want the person who wears DIJÁGO to feel about themselves and the world around them when dressed in your creations?
(KZ and GO) We essentially just want them to be themselves. We want them to feel good, to feel confident, not to look like everyone else on the street. In terms of how our hardware is, our crafted shoes, the pleating, the drapery, so to be someone who stands out while also being timeless and somewhat minimalistic with an edge to them. So, a blend of both of our personalities. If the person wants to be edgy one day and more conservative another day, those are the kind of people we want to take up space, to enlighten, to embrace nature and be eco-conscious.
What are your goals and aspirations for DIJÁGO for the rest of 2024 and beyond?
(KZ) We recently launched our foundation which is called the DIJÁGO Foundation and its dedicated to making a tangible difference in the lives of underprivileged talented women in Pakistan and Ghana. It’s mostly about the artisans, giving them a platform where they can put their skills out there and we can give them opportunities because as I mentioned previously a lot of these women are housewives and they can’t step out of their house for work so are stay at home wives. They have the skills, so our goal is to give them that opportunity and platform.
(GO) So to empower the artisans, enlighten the youth and invest in sustainability, that’s essentially the essence of the DIJÁGO Foundation.
Our mission is to safeguard and amplify the diverse craftsmanship of women and of both younger men and women. For example, crafts like woodblock making are dying out and there are only a few people in Pakistan who are currently doing that, so empowering and educating the youth, motivating them to learn these skills so that they could be passed onto their children. It’s literally preserving the craftsmanship as a lot of these are dying out, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of interest from the youth so empowering the youth in both Pakistan and Ghana getting them off the streets and encouraging them to learn these crafts. It’s as essential as passing down language, it’s very, very important. That’s our current focus.
DIJÁGO is a slow-fashion brand so we don’t plan to have two collections a year or drops, it would be more so be little drops that become a bigger message and a bigger collection and so were taking things slow. We’re moving towards weaving our own materials with everything based in Pakistan as Pakistan is a larger exporter of cotton so weaving our own cotton and working with the batik makers in Ghana. They currently work with more chemical based inks but moving that into more natural dyes. Moving everything into the preservation of craftsmanship and in terms of sustainability moving into natural dyes and the more natural way of processing all of these things. If you look back at it, our ancestors who were quite stylish, those were the practices they followed.
It’s about going back to the roots, it’s about building and expanding the team and seeing where it takes us from there.
With a visual vocabulary that marries precision tailoring with timeless yet contemporary design, the fledgling brand has already received celebrity endorsement and the richly deserved accolade of a place on the official London Fashion Week schedule.
More than that, there’s is a fashion footprint that eschews the tried and tested industry formula for a new and better way of doing things. Key to that is a commitment to empower and educate the underprivileged as evidenced through the establishment of their DIJÁGO Foundation. Allied to that the designers have entered the industry with a clear and transparent environmental blueprint. One which places traceability at its core, that allows us to see where the fabrics and materials have come from, and that environmentally ethical standards have been met.
Grace Owusu-Agyemang and Khudija Zaib are very much the protagonists of their own fashion story, one that has seen them come so far in such a short period of time. We can’t wait to see where they take us next.
Mant thanks to Gracey and Khudija for speaking to Flanelle.
You can find the brand’ here ‘s website at https://dijago.co.uk/ and follow them on Instagram.