UK based N'KYA designs, last Saturday supported the launch of the ‘2010 Woman Make-over Empowerment Project’ at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra.

Some designers exhibited their latest designs which are made from African print, and N'KYA Designs made a mark at the launch.

N'KYA designs, a trademark of Sheila Boateng, displayed a wide range of eye-catching designs of African prints and auctioned some to support the project, a brainchild of Gold Heart Organisation.

She began her career by personalising t-shirts with traditional cloths for friends and herself, mainly for nights out. At that time, she bore the label S.B.O.G (Sheila Boateng of Ghana).

Thereafter, a number of people greatly admired Sheila’s styles and contracted her to design some for them.

She then decided to take it to the next level by making clothes that would connect people to their roots, whiles maintaining the western flair.

N’KYA has grown a lot over the years and this is evident in the collections she has been producing.

Sheila’s designs initially attracted the younger generation who love to go out and want that added touch, hence the first couple of collections were very party-season oriented.

However, N'KYA has broadened her range and now designs clothes for women of all ages, especially for confident, young or young women at heart who are not afraid to experiment with colour and style.

The idea of N’KYA came from Sheila’s cousin, Felicia, whiles they were bored stiff at a conference and tried to cheer themselves up.

The name N’KYA is from the Twi word, ‘nkyia’ (greetings), but they decided to change the pronunciation to ‘nekaya’ to make it sound exotic and different, but with its Ghanaian origin.

This brought about the slogan Sheila loves so much. ‘N’kya! a sense of Africa, a touch of you.’

N’KYA is a women’s wear label established in 2007 by the London-based designer, Sheila Boateng. Her collections include a range of dresses that reflect the fusion of two very different cultures to create an explosion of unique style and colour.

Based in London but deep rooted in Ghana, West Africa, N’KYA prides itself on being able to create pieces that are unanticipated and exciting. N'KYA’s signature is the use of African fabrics to create dresses, tops, skirts, etc, and is mostly combined with a variety of fabrics such as chiffon and satin.

In order to do its part in the fair trade movement, all garments are made in Ghana by highly skilled seamstresses who upon instruction produce pieces that brighten our days and light up our evenings.

This generates a stable source of income for the N'KYA team and as a direct result, N’kya Designs are able to give back to the community from which Sheila originates.

Everything that has the N’KYA label exudes not just quality but sassiness, sexiness and style. N'KYA has featured in shows like Mode Noir, Miss E-Look, Fashion Never Sleeps, The Charity Concert, Black Butterfly, Miss Nubian Styles 2008, Hiplife Festival, Culture Connexion, I Love Runway 2009, 2010 Woman Makeover Empowerment, among others.