Clothes are our culture. Ocacia focuses on modern African clothes which are drawing on contemporary styles with Traditional aesthetics. We study the clothes we make, not just throw a giraffe and a drum on a dashiki and say “There you go” Serious people take their culture seriously. And we make clothes with some kind of symbolic meaning and for political purposes. And this attitude to African culture is dying and we want to make sure we do our part to add back value and purpose to the ancient craft.

There are people in Africa who make these shirts with these symbols on it and do not have a clue what they mean. It is like the African mask industry which has lost all its spiritual connection. They are now just masks for tourist consumption. At Ocacia we are giving you clothes with the history, culture, and meaning behind every stitch. We not randomly throwing design elements into garments because they are cute. Our Kua (aka Kuba top) is based upon our research in the DRC, our Ethiopian Saba top is based upon a study of the Ethiopian Cross. It is respect for the cultures we represent. It is a terrible day when Africans sing songs and make clothes with total ignorance.