Storytellers in Fashion & Beauty

In celebration of Black History Month, the next edition of Storytellers is honoring twenty Afro-Latino artists who are inspiring and impacting our community through their craft.

Our third list: fashion and beauty.

NAJAH ELESSIE    

Beauty entrepreneur Najah Elessie grew up in Southern California to a Dominican mother and a Zambian father. As a kid, she wasn’t sure where she fit in.

“I wasn’t Latina enough to fit in over here, and I wasn’t African enough to fit in over here,” she says on LATV’s Storytellers, “so I identified as a Black woman.”

After a trip to Bali to improve her own mental and physical health, she launched her own skincare line, Odara Ewa, to share her discoveries with others. From the models she casts to the melanin-expansive, gender-inclusive skincare products she makes, the brand is an extension of her own story.

“Storytelling is super important I believe, especially for Black and Brown people, because we’ve had our stories told for us for so long,” Elessie goes on to say. “And I feel like, in America, we have had the opportunity to really be able to tell people who we are and what we love and what pain we’ve been through but also how we’ve rose up out of that and become who we are.”

Elessie, also a host on LATV’s Shades of Beauty, uses her creative platforms to talk about mental health, self-care, and representation in the beauty industry.

RAINY LEONOR-LAKE

Whatever jewelry designer Rainy Leonor-Lake does, she does it passionately. In high school and college, the Afro-Dominicana was involved in grassroots organizations focused on protecting and expanding education and immigration rights. Later, when she leaned into her fashion senses, she dove in completely and launched her own brand—Minimo.

“Back then, that seemed like a dream and pure fantasy,” she says on the brand’s blog page. “How could a young immigrant girl living in one of the poorest cities in the US ever achieve such a thing? It wasn’t until I had my daughter that I realized that for me to be the best mother for her, I needed to find the courage to achieve my dreams.”

When it comes to Minimo, Leonor-Lake starts the jewelry-making process with what she is personally attracted to. That means simple and elegant accessories that can complement any look. Focused on quality and affordability, her collections are timeless and tell stories themselves.

As for her Afro-Latinidad, Leonor-Lake has never felt more empowered by her identity.

She tells Palo Magazine how her journey included several stages of learning and educating others:

“At a very young age, I learned that my dark skin set me apart from other Latin people,” she says. “As I matured, I began accepting every part of myself, and I began identifying as ‘Afro-Latina’, which many people had a hard time grasping. I became more educated about my African roots. Being an Afro-Latina means strength and courage. I have the strength to remain resilient through oppression and trials, and the courage to love myself.”

LIA SAMANTHA

Fashion designer Lia Samantha uses fabric as a portal into her roots.

The Afro-Colombiana feels like she was born with this natural affinity for art. As a kid, whether she was singing at church or watching her dad sew, artistry was entangled in her development of self.

As a professional designer, she draws inspiration almost exclusively from Africa.

“We have to say that Colombia is a racist country,” she says in Spanish in an interview with Urban Latino, “where you can really feel the inequality, and for that reason it makes you want to look for your own roots.”

Though she is from Bogotá, the nation’s capital, Samantha visually explores how her African heritage informs her Colombian expression. From choosing fabrics to layering patterns, she designs clothes that offer authentic ways to express Afro-Latinidad. For her, fashion is so much more than looking good superficially. Fashion is a meaningful way to connect with community.

“I can personally say that fashion is an art, and the purpose of art is to close the gap between one another,” she goes on to say. “Even though my inspiration arises from Africa, and I use African patterns and historical meanings, all of the same ideologies repeat in every other culture in the world. So we’re not as different as we believe.”

NAYA VIOLETA

Naya Violeta’s atelier responds to the absence of Afro-Brazilian representation in the fashion industry.

Founded in 2007, the brand is contemporary and imaginative, yet powerfully grounded and glamorous. Her statement-worthy looks feature multi-dimensional patterns, often accessorized with colorful face-makeup and chunky jewelry.

The brand, at its core, is autobiographical. She fuses her pieces with her lived experiences, her family’s histories, and her people’s legacy. In this way, her designs embolden her story and make space for Afro-Latino narratives in Brazil’s fashion landscape.

Violeta’s operation is small scale and rooted in “the power that ancestry, aesthetics and the different Afro-Brazilian cultural manifestations offer to the brand creation process,” says the brand’s website, translated from Portuguese.

The brand stands at a visual crossroads, blending historical research and current trends. Right now, the shop houses vibrant top-and-bottom sets for hot and cool weather, shimmery loungewear, and gender-inclusive oversized graphic wear.

The team is committed to quality fabrics and collaborative workflow.

DENISE BAYRON

Designer and patternmaker Denise Bayron is a contemporary champion of knitwear.

Originally from New York, the Oakland-based Afro-Puertoriqueña left her executive position in fast fashion to pursue two passions: making clothes by hand and living sustainably. As such, her brand—Bayron Handmade—was born.

“Denise Bayron designs modern garments that are practical, minimal, and most often geometric,” her brand’s website says. “By designing patterns, Denise hopes to empower the home knitter and sewist with the tools, knowledge, and autonomy to create the handmade wardrobe of their dreams.”

Bayron’s success—especially her “hatdanna”—has been well-documented by the press. She was seen on the cover of Vogue Knitting and featured in The New Yorker, Washington Post, and BeLatina News.

She discusses her Afro-Latinidad in an interview with BeLatina:

“My racial identity influences my work because it shapes the lens by which I view the world,” she says. “Case in point, I designed the ‘hatdana’ because I wanted to wear a hat that fit my textured hair. I have locs now, and before that, I wore my hair in a huge afro. I never found a hat that looked fashionable and was intentionally designed to fit textured hair. The design was a problem-solving mission for me.”

In this way, her perspective is making the slow fashion industry more inclusive, more representative, and richer in its collection of stories.

Check out all of LATV’s Storytellers content here!