Designer finds success in beads bar, horse clothing

Emma Forbes’ love for the Maasai shuka goes beyond her beautifully made cat pillows, cummerbunds, Christmas sockings, sleeping bags and padded exercise mats. The designer and director of Shuka Duka, a shop in Nairobi’s Karen estate now dresses horses and orphaned elephants in shuka clothing.

“I know some people might find it weird, but you can’t believe the number of people who came to me asking if I could make for them a horse blanket. I love animals and just like us animals get cold. So why not have a blanket for them that can keep them warm and protected? Orphaned elephants do not have the warmth of their mothers,” she says.