George Baah | Kwame Baah
A New Way to Appreciate the Beauty of Kente Cloth
Born in Ghana, West Africa, George Baah recalls walking barefoot in the streets as a child and learning to make his first pair of shoes at the age of seven using tire scraps. An innovator at heart, George would go on to attend university in the United States and become an Engineer. Today he’s living in Fort Worth, Texas and he’s on a mission to help people back in his homeland with his footwear company.
Inspired by the colorful and symbolically rich Kente cloth of his homeland, George created Kwame Baah, a unique line of footwear that blends contemporary designs with traditional Kente fabrics. Kente, an Akan word means basket, but the material is also referenced as “nwentoma”, which means woven cloth. Initially Kente was made of raffia, today it is made up of loom woven cotton and silk threads. Kwame Baah draws inspiration from the royal courts of the Akan people, while also carefully selecting colors and patterns that will compliment each shoe design. Every piece in the Kwame Baah collection is handcrafted in Ghana to help provide a sustainable living for the people of his hometown.
Traditional Kente cloth color meanings include:
Black: passing – funerals – maturity – spiritual energy – mourning
Green: spiritual growth and renewing – land – crops – harvest – growth
Yellow: monetary wealth – fertility – high worth – royalty – prosperity – richness
Red: funerals and mourning – death
Blue: love and harmony – peace – togetherness
Gold: monetary wealth – fertility – high worth – royalty – prosperity – richness
Grey: symbolizes ash – cleansing rituals – healing rituals
White: purity – festivals – cleansing rituals
Maroon: healing – mother earth
Pink: femininity – mildness
Silver: reference to the moon – peace – joy
