Personal decorative pieces have always been a part of African culture. Beyond its use to adorn the body, jewellery was also used to convey specific messages. Some jewellery spoke to a woman’s marital and child-bearing status while others symbolized a man’s standing in his community. Jewellery was also believed to offer the wearer spiritual protection and as such, was worn by children and other vulnerable groups such as initiates and pregnant women to ward off evil. The sentimentality attached to these crafts is not lost and contemporary designs continue to draw from the well of past creations.
*
When Diana Karungari was a little girl living in Rongai, she enjoyed dressing-up her dolls. She would look around for unused fabrics around the house and transform the scraps she found into tiny outfits. The clothes, as small as they were, showed her the wonders of different silhouettes – even if she’d just began seeing them on dolls. Unknowingly, Diana had stepped into the world of fashion and design, and she would find out over time that she had found her calling.
She joined State House Girls’ High School in 2009 and that’s where she knew she had to seriously consider the career she hoped to venture into. Fashion was still her top pick and in her free time, she drew sketches of the clothes she one day wanted to design. What was most stunning about her sketches was that in addition to the clothes, Diana also spent some time drawing the jewellery that would accessorize these garments. While in form two, the school started a fashion club for students like Diana who were eager to nurture their design talents. The club’s lifespan was short-lived and it shut down the next year, but Diana’s time in that space had reaffirmed her decision to join this industry.
After completing her secondary studies in 2012, Diana joined Kenyatta University to study Fashion Design and Marketing. Her first three years were spent working on several clothing projects. But the time allowed sewing patterns and textile designs to become her first language – and Diana had mastered them fluently. Nonetheless, she wanted to explore other branches of her field of study. Where there’s a will there’s a way, and the fourth year of Diana’s coursework led her into an avenue she was yet to explore: jewellery-making.
For a class project, the lecturer asked every student to create a design collection they were passionate about. Brainstorming for this project led Diana to introspect and ask herself where her interest lay. She thought back to her high school design club days and the care that went into sketching jewellery. For her, jewellery had always been a necessary component of fashion that had the ability to thread itself through an outfit and tie the whole look together. At the end of that semester, Diana submitted a jewellery collection – her first – as her passion project.
The success of the collection was the fuel Diana needed to propel herself forward in this line of work. In 2017, she came across an internship opportunity to create jewellery for a startup company. Diana immediately sent in her application together with her work samples and a few weeks later, she was seated at her workstation making beaded bracelets to her heart’s content. Unfortunately, the business closed shop the next year and Diana was disappointed to find herself on the starting block once again. Reflecting on what she had learnt while at this job and with her classroom knowledge, Diana decided to strike out on her own as a jewellery designer.
In the beginning, Diana stuck to her comfort zone and crafted jewellery using beads. This was the lane she was most comfortable in and she had no desire to steer out and crash. A few months down the line however, she gained the confidence to experiment with new materials. Brass, bone and horn were visually appealing to Diana who began sourcing these materials in their raw form, hammering them by hand and shaping them into the desired form, and sanding them down for a smooth finish. Her final wares were displayed on her Instagram page where they slowly began to gain traction. Orders started streaming in and March 2018 saw Diana officially launch Guo Studio, her online jewellery shop.
The authentic designs from Guo Studio has attracted a lot of business for the company since its establishment. With statement pieces such as the Kenyan Lives Matter bracelets that admonish police brutality and the Double Bow necklaces that symbolize love and unity, Diana aims to make jewellery that speaks to something greater than art and beauty.
Other than realizing her calling, Diana’s fulfillment comes from having created jobs for other artisans who she collaborates with to make custom jewellery for customers and company clients in retail and wholesale. In 2019, Guo Studio’s merchandise began retailing in Shop Zetu, a local outlet store.
From supporting local talent to running a business that uses sustainable materials, we celebrate Diana’s accomplishments so far. Her designs will no doubt continue to awe due to their uniqueness and we cheer her on as her journey unfolds.
#KeCrafters
