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.

Emma makes numnahs or saddle pads, showrugs and blankets for horses and orphaned elephants; all from the Maasai sarong.

The numnah—placed between a horse’s back and the saddle to prevent chafing— is made with cotton underneath so it does not make the horse sweat.

Besides polo owners in Kenya who want to stand out in matches with the African horse clothing, a number of people from oversees have been to her shop to buy the numnah to take back home.

Outside Emma’s little iron-sheet shop, a beach umbrella made out of kitenge stands out.

“The umbrella is such an eye catcher. A lot of people are more used to the ordinary canvas beach umbrellas. Can you imagine walking into a garden that has manicured lawns and a touch of African patterns from the umbrellas?” she says.

Bead bar

Inside the shop, there is a bead bar where hundreds of different beads are displayed. Here, customers come in to design their own necklaces, earrings, belly chains or anklets.

The bead bar which has become a favourite among families spending a fun day together making jewelry and holding unique birthdays has a number of design books that can help the undecided minds to visualise on what colours they want to use.

The counter has glass beads that she mostly sourced from Ghana. Emma started Shuka Duka five years ago, making a few hampers for friends, containing picnic blankets using the Maasai sarong and kikoi and tailoring them herself.

With a degree in fine arts from Leicester University in UK, she came to Kenya as a teacher but she made a career switch after her picnic blankets became a hit.

The blankets have to be of the highest quality, she says, with a lot of attention given to the sewing and finishing done by in-house tailors.

“There is nothing that slips through the net that is substandard. Everything has to be perfectly stitched,” she says.

The picnic blanket has a waterproof material, perfect for dumb places. She also makes picnic, safari chairs and stools.

Engraved glass

Emma loves painting and that is how her collection of engraved kitchen wares especially drinking glasses began.

At the corner of the shop, different glasses from wine glasses, champagne flutes, water tumblers, shot glass, whisky glasses, beer mugs, carafes are displayed. Each set has its own engravings of different rock art animals or ancient cave paintings.

She recently did a collection of wine glasses for a wedding. The groom and bride wanted their names and date of the wedding on all the glasses that the guests used.

“My collection mostly revolves around the rock arts, the ancient animals that are believed to have existed; we have also included other animals like the wilderbeest. The glass is imported from France,” she says.

She first develops the design and she then works closely with the engraver who does it by hand.

She says the business has grown through word-of-mouth with new customers coming in with different ideas.

The West African fleece wrap is one of her latest additions. She sources the materials from Nigeria and Mali. The wraps are perfect for cold evenings or while enjoying a sundowner in a camping site.

Emma also makes kikoy towels, bathrobes, beach ponchos, bags and sandals.

“We are ready to listen to the ideas of a client that is why in such a short time we have been able to have a lot of personalised products under our name,” she said.

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