Kween Kwena
Written by, Kopano Selebano
What’s your style philosophy? Be experimental as much as you can because you’ll never know until to try
How did you get into what you do creatively? Coming from a disadvantaged background ignited my creativity. Not having much gave me drive and ambitions. I would continually tell myself that, one day I’ll own them all, and I worked my way into the industry
Considering that you’re a stylist, what’s the one piece you can’t live without ? Shoes
Do you ever attach meaning to styling, and if so do you ever style in such a way that you sort of wanna tell a story ? I do that all the time, everything is a story. We as human beings are always telling stories, via clothing and via just living.
We are stories ourselves
My style everyday tells a story, how you read it, is your choice.
What’s your motto Know yourself! If believe in yourself, you will flourish because it starts with your own self -appreciation.
Please tell us a little more about your hair journey and the reason behind it. I perceived my hair as a problem because I didn’t know that it was ok to wear your hair anyway you wanted it. No one in my immediate environment opposed that perception either. It was a norm to have your hair relaxed, ironed and be left in a lot of pain. That’s what everyone did…
I hated it with my entire being because the process would leave me uglier, in my opinion, and in a lot of pain. What made it worse is that my hair never looked like those women on TV or the ones in magazines that I flipped through as a kid. WHAT WAS THE POINT? They combed and burnt us with those ghastly hairdryers (my sis and I, sitting in that salon holding back our tears.)
When time rolled around, when I could speak for myself, I put a halt on all of it.
Here’s my well-presented case, to you and to my parents:
- It doesn’t come out as slick as TV people so, it’s a lie and I’m wasting my time!
- I hated sound of the hairdryer and having my hair combed.
- The headaches and a lack of sleep for days after your hair had been done made me decide, ‘you know what, no more chemicals!’
Oh and also, I was burnt badly and I hadn’t realized until the next morning when my hair wouldn’t lift off my scalp! Do you know what they told me? ‘Aaag it’s ok,you’ll be fine, wash it and re-do it. My sister too was in the same predicament, she however had to shave off everything, EVERYTHING!
Haai no,
that was the last blow! ENOUGH
I decided to start the series because it was high time that we tell our hair stories, from our own lips and through our own lenses. No one can tell Afrikan hair stories better than us because we are the ones living these stories.
How do you think we can preserve our African culture in our everyday wear?
Accepting ourselves as the Queens and kings that we are! We need to explore our roots, find out where exactly we come from and who we are, and after that trust in ourselves and our greatness. No one will be able todegrade your value when your foundation is strong
Follow Kwena on @kwenasays and her hair journey on @afrikankrowns
