Anita Quansah simply looked to her grandmother for inspiration to start her own company.
The jewelry designer started Anita Quansah London in 2006, drawing from family tradition of handmade treasures. Her grandmother, Omenyi Clara Azuka Menkiti, designed intricate jewelry for Igbo royalty in Nigeria and now, Anita designs for her diverse customer base.
“I wanted to design jewelry that tells a story of celebration of my culture, craftsmanship, uniqueness, diversity,” Anita told CNN.
The talented beauty, who’s Nigerian, Ghanaian and British, has a budding business where she creates handmade earrings, necklaces and bracelets out of traditional materials like feathers and beads.
“I make everything myself. The collars with feathers take about three to four weeks, in which I spend 15 hours each day on the piece,” she added.
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In addition to being featured in major magazines like ELLE, Vibe and Vogue, Anita’s pieces have been worn by the likes of Nicki Minaj, Alicia Keys and Thandie Newton.
“She would dress me and my siblings up and adorn our necks with beautiful coral necklaces and golden heavy pendants,” Anita says about her grandmother. “So basically it was like she was saying ‘You go out there and shine’.”
