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Bleejay Innis hopes to bridge cultural boundaries with ‘Motherland Wear’

Liberia-born Bleejay Innis is a resourceful young entrepreneur living the American dream and pushing the African agenda, after his escape from the war in Liberia. Based in Worcester, Massachusetts, Innis together with Chayanne Tweh, has founded an apparel brand, ‘Motherland Wear’ to capture what the African continent means to them. “A mother represents a sense […]

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bleejayLiberia-born Bleejay Innis is a resourceful young entrepreneur living the American dream and pushing the African agenda, after his escape from the war in Liberia. Based in Worcester, Massachusetts, Innis together with Chayanne Tweh, has founded an apparel brand, ‘Motherland Wear’ to capture what the African continent means to them. “A mother represents a sense of home and belonging when you think about her, and Africa as the motherland represents just that for me”, he explains.

When he created the brand, his central focus was on creating a sense of pride in the African continent so that people can never forget the importance of Africa in this world.  He hopes that this brand can increase interest in Africa and share the fun and beauty of the African culture. Motherland targets not only Africans of all ages but people from all races and cultures, and it hopes to share the African culture with everyone so that they can embrace it by wearing the clothing; even if they are not of African origin.

I caught up with Innis, a college graduate from the University of Massachusetts Amherst pursuing a Bachelors degree in International Business, to find out more about the brand and his future plans.

Ameyaw Debrah: What message does your brand carry?

The mission statement of our clothing line is “Bridging Cultural Boundaries through Fashion”. When people see our clothing we want them to feel a part of the African culture and we want people to know that no matter the differences in culture, we are all one people. By wearing our clothing, people are closing boundaries between cultures and becoming one.

Ameyaw Debrah: What range of products is available on Motherland Wear?

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As of now, we focus on T-shirts and Sweatshirts but our range of products will be expanding in the very near future.  I would say that the two things that make us stand out from other brands is the array of cultures we touch, and the educational component to our line. On the back of every Motherland Wear T-shirt you will find a Did You Know educational fact about an African country, and this draws a lot of excitement and attention from people all over who see our designs. We use a lot of cultural phrases and words from different countries that people of those cultures relate to.

Ameyaw Debrah:  What inspired you to get into creating Motherland Wear?

As an entrepreneur, I am always looking at ways to expand my personal brand, and my personal love of fashion made me want to create something to call my own. I would say our designs are creative, stylish, and fun all together. We have only put out one collection so far, and it is all about African pride. The use of big and bold letter express the sense of passion we have for what we are trying to accomplish.

Ameyaw Debrah: What is the creative process for Motherland Wear?

Creating this line is a lot of fun. We have input from Africans of all types and it is a lot of fun to learn about each other and grow together.  Because my business partner and I are both still college students, it is very hard to balance school with our brand and production becomes hectic, but we have a company in Philadelphia that produces the products after we have submitted our designs to them from us. They take a lot of stress off our shoulders, and all we really worry about is giving 100% to the creativity of our designs.

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Ameyaw Debrah: What influences do your pick from Africa in creating your products?

We try to use as much from the African experience as we can. Our designs can be funny or serious, but we make sure that we capture a message in every design for people to walk away with, while having Africa on their mind. Because we only do T-shirts and sweatshirts for now, all of our shirts are made with 100% cotton and are of the best quality. We use a lot of red, green, and yellow in our designs to capture the central colors used in the flags of African countries, but our designs are open to even more colors that represent the colors of American sports teams and more. Outside of the themes and words used in our designs, there are no African fabrics used.

Ameyaw Debrah:  What are the new trends in fashion that you have observed?

The fashion industry continues to grow and change and I have noticed the people are wearing more clothes that make a statement in a unique way. We feel like that is exactly what our brand was made to do, and we feel like this shirt in fashion will help us easily adapt.

Ameyaw Debrah:  What is your personal sense of style?

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People tell me that they like my sense of style, so I guess I’m doing something right. I like to keep up high fashion clothing, but being a college student you can’t always keep up financially as you would like, but I do my best to keep myself always stylish and well put together.

Ameyaw Debrah:  Which fashion items would you suggest for a modern young African?

A pair of designer jeans and designer dress shoes is a must. As Africans we love to dress fancy and look good all the time, and I have noticed that a great pair of designer jeans (True Religion, Rock & Republic, etc) and dress shoes can never fail you.

Ameyaw Debrah:  Who are you favorite fashion designers?

Personally I am a huge fan of the Ralph Lauren collection, and the Gucci collection. Their designs are always creative and trendy. They always manage to come up with something new that people haven’t seen before.

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Ameyaw Debrah:  Do you have a shop for Motherland Wear?

Motherland Wear is currently only sold in our online shop at www.motherlandwear.com but we look to hitting different stores and boutiques in the near future. We do a lot of social network promotion, fashion shows, word of mouth, and visual promotion. We constantly have people wearing our clothes in different parts of the country, and we are planning on using some African professional athletes to help with our promotion. We have a lot of big things planned for the future of this company and it is only a matter of time before the world knows about us.

Ameyaw Debrah:  What does the future hold Motherland Wear?

I personally hope to use this company as a way of going back to Africa and giving back to the people. If I am blessed with growth in this company, I will love to pour it all back into the continent that made me who I am. If this company doesn’t grow the way I plan, I still plan on returning home to develop more African entrepreneurs. With future aspirations of conducting business development projects in Africa, I hope to employ and educate African youth in the area of entrepreneurship. God has given me new life by allowing me to escape death during the war in Liberia, and I intend on giving a form of life back to my continent as well.

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Ameyaw Meets

Oprah Winfrey & Blitz Bazawule answer my questions about ‘The Color Purple’

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Oprah Winfrey & Blitz Bazawule answer my questions about ‘The Color Purple’

In April, I had the opportunity to join a Zoom Q&A session with Oprah Winfrey and Blitz Bazawule, courtesy FilmOne Distribution. The conversation was around the bold remake of ‘The Color Purple’ scheduled for release this Christmas!   (more…)

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Ameyaw Meets

Asari Music highlights new single ‘Like Dat’, balancing college with music and more

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Asari Music

Week-in week-out I get to interview one of the many faces in showbiz and this week on Ameyaw Meets, Asari Music is the one. She’s a young, upcoming and very talented Ghanaian-American singer – who in case you haven’t heard, is out with the hottest song you might hear all week. (more…)

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People & Lifestyle

I single-handedly popularized Shea Butter in the United States – Margaret Andega

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According to Margaret Andega, a Kenyan entrepreneur in Atlanta, she was the driving force behind the commercialization of Shea Butter in the US during the late 90s. (more…)

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People & Lifestyle

He went from cooking on Instagram to owning a food truck in Atlanta and more… the story of Quabena’s Kitchen

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story of Quabena’s Kitchen

The COVID-19 pandemic birthed many opportunities for people all over the globe. For one Ghanaian living in the US, the pandemic reconnected him with his passion which has now become a full-time job.

Quabena’s Kitchen shared with me his story about how he went from cooking for family and friends, to sharing content of his cooking on Instagram page at the height of the pandemic, which has now transformed into a thriving catering business in Atlanta, Georgia.

Quabena’s Kitchen services now include a food truck providing Ghanaian and West African delicacies to Africans and non-Africans alike, with ambitions of a restaurant on the cards!

Watch this exciting story on Ameyaw TV below:

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Read Also: The chef behind Fufu Pizza is about to open Afro-Fusion Cafe in Atlanta

 

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Ameyaw Meets

The chef behind Fufu Pizza is about to open Afro-Fusion Cafe in Atlanta

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US-based Liberian professional chef, Chauncy Yarngo caught the attention of the world with his amazing creations such as fufu pizza, fufu taco, plantain burgers and more. (more…)

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Fashion

Why Ghanaian-American Jeffrey Ampratwum is the menswear expert to watch in fashion!

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At the start of the Victoria era, early 19th century – the English began to tone down the royal style dressing of the French army, namely those adorned in prestigious regalia and heavy embroidery. It was a sign of English nationalism and sparked a new wave of appearance in men. A few decades later, the suit was born and heavily influenced those in Italy and America. The British and the Americans have a rich revolutionary history, of course, and coincidentally the British colonized the African country – Gold Coast – until 1957 when they declared their independence and changed their name to Ghana. 

 

As part of an independent Ghana, a host of individuals began to exercise new freedoms and venture out of the country into new territories. Many Ghanaians set their eyes on American travel and a wave of trail blazers left the country and settled in the infamous New York City. For most, it was an opportunity to plant new seeds in the hopes that their children would be afforded even more opportunities for a prosperous life.

 

One of these children of the diaspora is Bronx-born Jeffrey Ampratwum. The only child to Kate Bampoe and Eugene Asante-Ampratwum Mpere, who met in the Bronx after immigrating from Ghana. The dynamics of having African parents and being raised in a heavily eclectic environment gave rise to Jeffreys style and prose. More importantly, we can honestly say that there are only a handful of Ghanaian-Americans living in the states that can exhibit a special presentation that reflects both their African heritage married with the esthetic of their nationality. We recently caught up with Jeffrey to discuss how his early influences provided him with a framework to now become such a strong force in the menswear industry in fashion.

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Jeffrey. 

AD: Jeffrey, Ɛte sɛn?

 

Jeff: Haha, Eye.

 

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AD: I had to test your Twi really quick! You know most Ghanaians who are born in the states dont have a clue about the language unless its spoken fiercely in the home.

 

Jeff: You are 100% correct with that. Ha. But for me, I was lucky in that my mother took me to Ghana before I even knew how to use words. So, in actuality, Twi was the first language and vocabulary I learned, and in essence, English is my second language. So, Im really decent when it comes to using Twi. Im a cheat code! But keep that quiet. Ha.

  

AD: How much of the remnants of the Ghanaian culture factored into your approach to your style and presentation?

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Jeff: When I was younger and in school, particularly in the Bronx – it wasnt always your proudest moment to be from Africa or to say your family was African. Part of the silly embarrassment was perhaps from the narratives that were spinning on television. Americans were being indoctrinated with visuals of feed the children” which only highlighted the extreme poverty in a few Africans countries. The images and broadcasts were all the same, for decades. So called philanthropist and humanitarians took camera crews into ravaged areas and televised starving children for us to see here in the states. I believe that had a profound effect on young boys and girls born from African parents.

Jeffrey

However, as for me – I always looked at being dark skinned and being deeply rooted into my African culture as a super power. I liked the idea of being different, even though all the kids in all my classes were also children of immigrants. They just couldnt grasp the concept of it at that time. So, from there, it was showtime. My Uncle, Joseph Ken Mintah – was the pioneer as the first in the family to travel to the states – he had extreme style. My mother also is very detailed with her sense of jewelry and fragrances. I adsorbed it all. 

 

AD: Did you start dressing in traditional African attire? What do you mean exactly?

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Jeff: Not exactly! But, being an only child really allowed for me to sit deep in thought for long periods of time. Being left-handed allowed for me to be extremely dexterous and detailed. And being raised solely by my mother further allowed me to pay attention to the importance of clothing and accessories – as she dressed herself each morning. It was the ultimate cocktail and I was already drunk with creativity. I started customizing all the clothes I had. By no means were we wealthy, so I had to manage just a few outfits for school.

 

My styling began when I would turn 5 outfits into 15 – so essentially, a 5-day school week became New York Fashion Week for me. I would airbrush my sneakers, turn Old Navy sweaters inside out for a fleece appeal, and cuff my jeans in 4 different ways depending on my footwear. This soon became a bad habit and made me late for school many mornings.

 

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AD: You see, if you are late to school in Ghana back then – you might as well have sat by the road to hide from both your mother and headmaster! What was college like for you then?

 

Jeff: Right! Ha. It grew legs during my undergrad. Now all the pretty girls were around, I had more freedom to come and go, and more importantly – I had a stage to showcase my style. I joined a student club in the SEEK Program, and soon became the President and started hosting a string of events based around fashion. 4 years and a bachelors degree later, there were 6 fashion shows and 3 beauty pageants under my belt. Huge successes. I started to doubt my real educational reason for attending college, which was to become a dentist. Fashion was dancing on one shoulder and dentistry on the other. But somehow, I figured out how to still involve the two. My best buddy, Kenny – whom I met at the college on the road to become dentists – made it through. So, I live vicariously through him. And now, coincidentally – together we’ve developed a brand – a service of bespoke mens luxury shoes and women’s handbags, and ready to wear womenswear shoes as well. Named, Kenjeffreys. It is serendipitous because all of the products are sourced and handcrafted in Haiti and infused with Ghanaian culture. As Kenny is from Haiti, we properly employ artisans within the community and focus heavily on our social impact.

Following undergrad, I then began at FIT as student, really just trying to test my styling hand – and to learn more about the industry. While there, I came across extremely talented and knowledgeable fashion professionals that have really guided me. Namely, Sadia Seymour and Joseph DeAcetis. Both wildly experienced, patient and embedded with a wealth of information. Respectfully in womenswear and menswear. You cannot beat that, and I am grateful for it.

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AD: That is strangely unique and admirable. Talk to us about how all those experiences and inspirations give rise to the Jeffrey or Che we see today and ultimately, where that places you in your field of fashion and menswear.

 

Jeff: Sure. Great point. I have been indoctrinated by the basic principles of creativity as an adolescent – with respect to clothing. That is extremely hard to shake. Innately, styling was my ultimate form of communication, seeing that I was a shy introvert. So now, I still revert back to those same feelings…. the feeling of home, warmth, memories, great food and innocent fun. My approach now is exactly the same in the sense that when I am dressing, styling or designing for someone – I am taking into account their entire repertoire and holding a mirror in front of them which reflects the items that they love most. It is a skill that perhaps only empaths are only able to exhibit.

 

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Having the ability to read into thoughts and connecting with the motivating spirits that drives people – is a gift. I ran the New York City marathon three times, and the 2nd time I ran it in a tuxedo! It was my ultimate homage and pledging of allegiance to fashion. Ha.

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I also believe my extensive traveling experience has aided to the arsenal. Recent trips to Ghana always resets a creative instinct with me, as I look around and arrive back to a place of self-awareness. It feels right. My cousin Harry knows where to be to capture the real essence of the land. And, coincidentally enough, I am often back and forth to the UK as well. Savile row in London, England -as you know – is a menswear connoisseurs Disney Land. It is the traditional hub for the world’s best tailored-bespoke suits. Naples and Florence are a close second. However, sartorially, the British have etched their names in the fine-art making of the suit. I do though spend most of my time in Brighton, UK. Its where my love is and also like a second home for me. The culture there is infused with various styles and the community is inviting. The Duchess of Brighton-Hove, Lady Donna and her amazing friends will assure that you have a great time! 

 

AB: Finally, talk to us about your styling approach with respect to specific talent that you work with.

 

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Jeff: Definitely. This is perhaps an area you cannot teach. It is learned with years of experience and even reading the room wrong most times. I tell my fashion students often that they have to continue shooting airballs at the basket. Get out the miss shots, now – and properly learn your subjects. For example, if I am styling a celebrity for the red carpet – several nuances are to be considered before arriving at a dress or a tuxedo. Such as, what stages in life is your talent currently in, how body conscious are they and what are they most nostalgic about. These (and some of my other secrets that I cannot give away) are the pillars to nailing great style, image and presentation.

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If I am shooting for a magazine in a studio – its party time. If you are not dancing as a model or grooving as a photographer, you are are in the wrong business, per say! Haha. With me, you are very liable to hear everyone from Bob Marley, James Brown, MJ, and Jay-Z to Queen, Lady Gaga, Biggie, Nas and Beyonce all on the same playlist. I say that to say: I enjoy what I do in fashion, and I will always represent the joys of that. I believe that is what makes me an enigma in this industry. Always professional however, but make it subjective and inject areas of your creativity wherever you can. Particularly in menswear – I keep a very intimate and close pulse on traditional, casual and street styles of these sub genres – and study them gravely like the science they are. That all still comes from sitting deep in thought as I did
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