We were lucky to catch up with Garmai Matthew recently and have shared our conversation below.
Garmai, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
When I was 17 years old, I got my LLC for my clothing business I started in high school. Fashion has always been my first love! I would sketch long hours watching countless runway shows on the Fashion Network or obsess over The Hill’s Kelly Cutrone and Whitney Port. As I matured, I learned a lot about the downside of fashion by watching documentaries like ‘The True Cost’ that shed light on how the fashion industry is one of the world’s most polluting industries in the world. As a Liberian- American, I was also very passionate about finding a way to connect my ancestry to fashion. I won a start-up grant in college to create a zerowaste collection for my brand. My great grand father was a experienced tailor from Guinea in West Africa and he traveled by foot with a caravan of people to Liberia to seek a better living. He rose to the ranks in society by making custom outfits for native chiefs of various tribes in Liberia. In undergrad, I went through a series of ebs and flows and struggled to navigate my emotions so I would write to express myself. I released a handful of R&B / Hip Hop/ Neo-Soul bodies of work to navigate my life experiences and connect with others. Getting my start up grant and seeing how people connected to my sound was enough evidence that I could see myself making collections, comparing fabric swatches, handcrafting J. Dilla esque beats in a 6 bedroom home with a recording studio in the basement of my sustainable home in southern California I still day dream to someday have. As I created more tangible bodies of work, whether it be a clothing collection or album, like my NYMPHAEA collection (https://guwala-da-nele.myshopify.com/collections/all) and album (https://fanlink.tv/NYMPHAEA), I knew that dedicating my life to creating eco-friendly fashion items could impact the world and I could connect and inspire others through my voice.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Right now, I am a fashion tech professional working in the start up space in the Fashion District in NY. Alongside that, I am a musician, avid sustainability advocate with a green thumb and overall entrepreneur. I started my professional career working for major tech companies like Yelp and Wix in the Advertising/ Sales/ Product Management realm. My goal right after college at CU Boulder was to get into an industry to support myself and all of my creative ideas and to also the ability to work from home. The tech industry could provide me that so I jumped into with my Arts & Science background and never looked back! Working in tech ultimately gave me the skills to evolve as a person and sustain in this ever-changing economy. I am the owner of Guwala da Nele, a eco-friendly fashion brand with pieces made in Liberia and locally in NY. The goal is to profit and also help girls in Monrovia have access to STEM and improve literacy in Liberia overall. I am also a musician and have made 4 bodies of work thus far and truly utilize music as my outlets to express myself to no limit. As an entrepenuer overall, I am experimenting with real estate, genealogy and agriculture. My partner is a horticulturalist so there’s no suprise when two green thumbs come together, we’re bound to create things that makes nature smile. We are developing our brand K&G Co. as an outlet to experiment and test our business ideas. The goal is create a lifestyle that helps the environment, be self-sufficient and create quality products that people can enjoy for a lifestyle without harming the eco-system, whether that’s a garment, an accessible musical body of work, a flipped home etc. I am constantly experimenting with my skillset and creating tangible things people can enjoy. Right now our focus is releasing the “Garden’ collection from my Guwala da Nele and increasing our digital footprint overall by documenting the different products we would like to put out. The ideal customer is experimental and has a palate for eco-friendly everything. They want to lean into more healthier ways of approaching their wardrobe, home making and overall lifestyle. They have a appreciation for culture and curiosity to living life beyond what is expected and dare to be different in all facets of life.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
The goal is to be self-sufficient, own land and have a stake in fashion, music, agriculture and real estate ultimately. I believe my purpose is directly aligned with fashion and music goes hand and hand with that. Living in major cities has made me appreciate investing in hand crafting a healthier lifestyle whether that’s investing in a high end juicer or looking into owning a sustainable home. By increasing our digital footprint, documenting our experience in NY and building business ideas off the ground, I am confident to turn ideas into profitable businesses over time.
Have you ever had to pivot?
When I was in my final year of undergrad I had to decide if I was going to be fulltime creating music and designing clothes or work fulltime to support myself and invest in my dreams. I decided to work. I navugated living in major cities like San Francisco and New York solely be being open and flexible to working in the tech industry. Being open ultimately led me to my dream job in the fashion district of NY and a path to stability. I see a lot of young creatives struggling to get their ideas out and survive because their reluctance to bring in cash for to support themselves til they can survive off of their craft. I refused to be a struggling artist and as a result, I diversified my skillset and ultimately gave myself more options to expand from being a creative to being a business savvy artist.
Contact Info:
- Website: website: www.maimoxi.com, brand: www.guwala-da-nele.myshopify.com, experimentation: https://www.instagram.com/kandgco_/
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/maimoxi
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/maimoxi
- Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/garmaikm
- Twitter: www.instagram.com/maimoxi
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/@maimoxi
Image Credits
1st Image in Hair Store: Jeremiah Kobena – Brooklyn, NY 4-8 Clothing Photos w/ African Fabrica: Magdalena Fountoukidis – Boulder, CO 1 image of myself & boyfriend Keith Myers: Lawrence Hudson – New York, NY