))
Stitching Cultures: The Art of Emerald & Wax
Manage episode 471789992 series 3652957
Content provided by Lauren Macaulay. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Lauren Macaulay or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://ro.player.fm/legal.
What does it take to move across continents, build a thriving fashion brand, and stay true to your roots?
In this episode of The Galway Gal, I sit down with Virtue Shine, the visionary designer behind Emerald & Wax, a brand that blends the bold vibrancy of African wax prints with the sleek elegance of Japanese architecture. From growing up in Accra, Ghana, surrounded by rich textiles in her grandmother’s fabric warehouse to moving to New York as a teenager and eventually settling in Galway, Ireland, Virtue shares her inspiring journey of creativity, resilience, and reinvention.
✨ In this episode, we discuss:
✔️ How childhood memories of African textiles shaped her creative vision
✔️ Moving abroad for love & navigating life in a new country
✔️ The influence of Japanese design on her ethical fashion collections
✔️ The challenges of being a self-taught designer & entrepreneur
✔️ How to build community as an expat and being homesick..
✔️ The power of believing in yourself to overcome obstacles
✔️ Balancing motherhood, business, and creativity in a new culture
Whether you're dreaming of moving abroad, starting a creative business, or embracing your unique style, this episode is packed with insights, inspiration, and expat wisdom you won’t want to miss!
Virtue Shine Bio:
Emerald & Wax is born out of my passion for African wax prints that was ignited when as a child I used to sit on my grandmother’s lap in her wholesale African fabric warehouse in Accra. I still remember running around the warehouse surrounded by these incredibly beautiful, vibrant and bold patterns and colours amidst lots of laughter and banter.
These African wax print fabrics are a fondly remembered piece of my childhood that I carry with me always, a piece of my Ghana.
I draw on this Ghanaian upbringing to bring the art and colour of traditional African wax prints and my admiration of japanese architecture with their clean lines to European design, delivering what I like to describe as wearable art for today’s confident woman and also for women looking to bring colour into their everyday lives and wardrobes.
After moving to New York in my late teens, I grew to love Japanese design and architecture, and represents a strong presence in my collections. By combining these Japanese design elements with the unique African wax print fabrics, each piece becomes a bespoke, original and wearable work of art.
I am driven to design and produce each garment so that it is the essence of the Emerald & Wax brand.
My collections are extremely wearable and add both colour and style to any capsule wardrobe.
Separates, simple shift dresses, and colourful jackets combine easily with simple plain pieces that can easily be incorporated into any wardrobe all year round.
A self-taught designer, crafter and maker, I now live on the Wild Atlantic Way in Galway, Ireland, with my 4 growing boys, husband and our very cute and loving dog Loki.
🎧 Listen now & get inspired!
📌 Follow Emerald & Wax:
Website: https://emeraldandwaxdesigns.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emeraldandwax/
🔔 Don’t forget to subscribe for more expat stories, creative journeys, and global entrepreneurship insights!
#FashionEntrepreneur #MovingAbroad #ExpatLife #AfricanWaxPrints #WearableArt #SelfTaughtDesigner #WomenInBusiness #GlobalFashion #CulturalIdentity #PodcastInterview #EthicalFashion
3 episoade
Distribuie
