About Me
Welcome to my page, I’m Hayleigh, feel free to take a look!
Proud to be a black woman in the fashion industry, I take inspiration from my African heritage working with bold colours and textures. I challenge myself by using new techniques to portray African fashion in a way that stands out from current trends and social norms.
Being raised in a colourful culture & surrounded by confident and proud African women, my aim is to display the beauty in culture and allow individuals to feel seen and appreciated as people of colour. Sustainability and longevity are most important to me as a designer, which inspires my creation of multi-wear and transformable garments.
INSPIRATION
A story of how one grows to love their culture…
‘The Heirloom’ collection is a visual representation of how I have grown to love my Ghanaian culture and heritage. It is inspired by the idea that cultural traditions, African fabrics and Ghanaian Kente (traditional native fabric) are like heirlooms – they are of significant value and passed down through generations of African families.
In creating my collection, through family research, I learned more about my Ghanaian heritage. The information I gathered is invaluable and has deepened my understanding of where I come from and who I am as a Ghanaian woman. Each outfit contains a vast array of colour, each one symbolic of African proverbs, lifestyles and the land itself.
MY WORK
PORTFOLIOS
Inspiration Moodboard
Consumer profile
Collection Fabrics
Fashion Collages
Design Development
Design Development
Design Development
Design Development
Design Development
Design Development
Design Development
Look 1
Look 2
Look 3
Look 4
Look 5
Look 6
Collection Line-Up
DETAIL
I am proud to be Ghanaian and desire to share my story.
This collection is formed of combined textures and lines, as well as volume which is inspired by the ‘Fra Ntuma’ Kente wrapping technique of Ghana’s Ashanti tribe. Using this as a basis for inspiration encouraged me to think and experiment with ways to re-interpret the lines, folds and textures created when the Kente cloth is wrapped on the body. Old Kente garments have been re-worked and used as key pieces throughout this collection to show the importance of sustainability and resemble the importance of Kente on a personal level.
“The traditions we carry from our ancestors are treasures and grow in beauty with time.” – Hayleigh Boadi
Graduate Fashion Week in partnership with:
