Anita Quansah: The Creative Force Using The World as Her Creative Canvas

Anita Quansah, the creative force using the world as her creative canvas, is the visionary founder of Anita Quansah London, a globally recognized fashion brand known for its bold, eclectic, and intricate jewelry and accessories. Based in London, Anita Quansah has earned a reputation for redefining modern luxury through her innovative designs, which combine African heritage, sustainability, and contemporary fashion. In conversation with FashionEVO, Anita Quansah walked us through her journey within the African fashion ecosystem.

 

1. Although you are educated in textiles at the Chelsea College of Art and Design, your work is influenced by your grandmother’s work in textile weaving and embroidery. Can you tell us two things:
2. a) How it feels drawing inspiration from a powerful woman in your lineage to create art.
3. b) How you think your grandma feels watching you build a legacy that is influenced by her work.

Drawing inspiration from my grandmother is deeply personal for me. She was an artisan of her time, a woman who understood the value of handcraft and took enormous pride in what she could create by hand. She was not simply a woman who made beautiful textiles; she was a teacher, a craftswoman and a keeper of knowledge.

My grandmother ran a skills-acquisition school where she taught many students the importance of learning practical skills and developing mastery through hands-on work. She took so much pride in teaching each of her students and watching them develop their own abilities. Her belief in the value of craftsmanship has had a profound influence on me.

 

What makes her story even more powerful is what she did during the Biafra War. In the midst of such hardship and uncertainty, she taught many women in the camp handmade skills. For me, that speaks volumes about who she was. She understood that a skill could give a woman dignity, independence, purpose and a means of survival, even during incredibly difficult circumstances.

When I create today, I often think about that legacy. I may be working with different materials and expressing myself through textiles, jewellery and wearable art, but the foundation is very similar: the belief that there is power in what our hands can create.

 

So, creating from the influence of such a powerful woman feels like continuing a conversation that began long before me. I am taking the knowledge, values and love of craftsmanship that she embodied and translating them into my own contemporary language.

I don’t see my work as separate from hers. I see it as an evolution of what she started. She will be saying to me if she was still alive, “Animgbomgbo, I’m very proud, keep going my daughter.”

2. As part of your creative journey, you transitioned from textiles to jewellery. What is the story that led to that transition?

Honestly, my transition from textiles into jewellery wasn’t really a departure from textiles; it was an evolution of my practice. I still practice and utilise my textiles to this day. 

My textile background taught me to think about surface, texture, colour, construction and the relationship between the body and material. Over time, I became increasingly interested in the idea that art didn’t necessarily have to hang on a wall or exist as a garment. It could live directly on the body. Jewellery gave me that freedom.

I began experimenting with beads, feathers, stones, shells, recycled materials and found objects, and I discovered that I could tell very complex stories through relatively small pieces. A necklace could become a sculpture. An earring could become a statement. A headpiece could reference African identity, history, beauty and spirituality.

That was the beginning of my journey into what I now describe as wearable art. I wasn’t simply designing jewellery to accessorise an outfit; I was creating objects that could transform the person wearing them.

 

3. If we are going to compare and contrast; what would you say is the difference between a typical day in the life of a textile designer and a typical day in the life of a jewellery designer?

My background in textiles is very much rooted in fabric manipulation and embroidery, so my experience as a textile designer was very hands-on. I was constantly thinking about how I could transform a flat piece of fabric into something with texture, dimension and movement. I would spend hours experimenting with pleating, folding, gathering, dyeing samples, stitching, layering and embroidery, allowing the fabric itself to become the artwork.

Jewellery is different in scale, but surprisingly similar in the way I approach it. Instead of manipulating fabric, I am manipulating much smaller materials, beads, stones, shells, wire, feathers and found objects, and thinking about how they can come together to create form, texture and movement on the body.

The biggest difference for me is perhaps the intimacy of the process. With textiles, I could be working on a much larger surface, whereas with jewellery, I can spend hours concentrating on one tiny detail. But the fundamental approach remains the same: I am still manipulating materials by hand to create something that didn’t exist before.

I don’t really see jewellery as leaving my textile practice behind. I see it as an extension of it. The skills I developed through fabric manipulation and embroidery, patience, precision, understanding texture, construction and surface, are all present in the jewellery I create today.

4. As someone who advocates for ethical social practices, can you say that there has been a change in fashion practices within the African creative space? What do you think African Creatives in the fashion industry can do to uphold sustainable fashion practices?

I do think there has been a shift. There is a growing awareness within the African creative space around sustainability, cultural ownership, ethical production, local craftsmanship and the importance of telling our own stories. But I also think there is still a long way to go.

African creatives have an incredible opportunity to redefine what sustainability looks like from an African perspective. We don’t always need to follow Western models. Historically, many African communities already had practices that were inherently sustainable reusing materials, repairing rather than discarding, handcrafting, making things to last and valuing the maker.

 

For me, sustainability is also about being intentional about what we create and how we create it. It means supporting artisans, reducing waste, reusing materials where possible, producing responsibly and educating our customers about the value of craftsmanship.

I also believe we have to move away from the idea that African creativity is simply a source of inspiration for the global fashion industry. African creatives should be recognised as innovators, designers, artists and custodians of our own visual languages.

 

5. When you are not creating, who is Anita Quansah?

When I’m not creating, I’m simply Anita. I’m a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend and someone who loves family and community. I enjoy spending time with people I love, discovering new places, experiencing different cultures and simply having moments where I don’t have to be the artist or the designer.

I also spend some time in a care home, and that part of my life has taught me so much about people, ageing, memory, kindness and human connection. Spending some time with my elderly friends has reminded me that creativity isn’t only about making beautiful things. It can also be about creating experiences, bringing joy and making someone feel seen. I think that is a very important part of who I am. Anita isn’t always creating something with her hands. Sometimes she is just observing, listening, laughing, learning and living, and all of those experiences eventually find their way back into the work.

 

6. Your pieces often feature a mix of semi-precious stones, feathers, and intricate beadwork. If you were to create without these, what other ways would you create visually stunning works of wearable art that ring true to the Anita Quansah London brand?

I would still create. Materials don’t define my creativity; they are simply the vocabulary I currently use to express it. If I removed stones, feathers and beads from my practice, I would probably become even more experimental with textiles, metal, wire, paper, recycled objects, wood, plastics, embroidery, stitching, weaving, sculpture and found materials. I would be interested in manipulating ordinary objects until they became extraordinary.

I could take discarded materials and give them a completely different identity. I could create sculptural forms that sit on the body, use textiles to create exaggerated silhouettes, explore weaving and knotting, or create pieces inspired by African hairstyles, architecture, mythology and the human form.

What makes something feel like Anita Quansah London isn’t necessarily the material. It is the storytelling, the craftsmanship, the boldness, the cultural references and the sense that the piece has a life of its own.

 

7. While carrying out your social responsibility, what can you say is your favourite thing to do? And how do you feel that has impacted your audience?

One of my favourite things to do is to use creativity to connect people. I love creating experiences where people can participate rather than simply observe. Whether it is working with communities, supporting charitable causes, engaging with older people, sharing cultural stories or using my creativity to bring people together, I find that incredibly rewarding. I believe creativity can be a form of social responsibility because it can start conversations and make people feel represented.

 

I have seen how much people respond when they recognise themselves, their culture, their history or their experiences in something I create. For me, that connection is one of the greatest rewards. I don’t want my audience simply to look at my work and say, “That’s beautiful.” I want them to feel something. I want them to ask questions, remember something, recognise something about themselves or discover something they didn’t know before.

 

8. In three sentences, who is Anita Quansah, what is she known for and what will she be remembered for in the near future and for generations to come?

Anita Quansah can be described by many in different ways, but I see myself as a soul journeying through this world, weaving and connecting visual representations of the past through the present. I am an artist and designer whose work sits at the intersection of culture, memory, craftsmanship, adornment and storytelling. 

My approach is slow, considered and intentional; I create pieces that carry history while speaking to the woman of today.

I don’t create for accolades or applause. I create to evoke connection to awaken something within people and reignite a love and reverence for the sacred space we carry both internally and outwardly. I want my work to make people feel something, remember something, question something or perhaps reconnect with a part of themselves they had forgotten.

Ultimately, I hope I am remembered not simply for the jewellery, textiles or wearable art I created, but for creating from a space of love and intention. I hope the legacy I leave behind is one of connection, a body of work that honours where we come from, celebrates where we are, and leaves something meaningful for those who come after us.

Anita Quansah is a creative genius who uses jewelleries to express herself and tell stories that connect people with their heritage and we look forward to a world where culture and craftsmanship are celebrated, embraced, preserved and transferred to the generations to come. To know more, follow Anita Quansah on IG: @anitaquansahlondon @anitaquansahlondontextiles or check out anitaquansahlondon.com