Co-founders and husband and wife, Ogo and Claire Mkparu, unveiled the debut Akwa Baby collection in May following a sell-out soft launch of the Celebrate Colour logo T-shirt in August 2020.

As parents, the duo is passionate about acceptance and self-love. They believe if they can encourage their children to love themselves and embrace what makes them unique, they will have the confidence to take on the world. The brand sums up this inspiration with the African proverb; ‘If you think you’re too small to make a difference, you haven’t spent the night with a mosquito.’

Motivated to promote positive and social messages, Akwa Baby offers clothing in vibrant colours with prints that work all year round. Garments are unisex to enable families to share them amongst siblings, creating as much wear as possible. Plus, all fabrics, prints and poppers are Oeko-Tex and GOTS approved. The brand embraces social responsibility too, committing to donate 10% of all profits to great causes.

Claire Mkparu explains more about the modern, African-inspired collection. “We love how African fabrics will often have symbols that carry messages between generations. So, we created our own symbols to carry affirmations that would encourage conversation, acceptance and self-love.

“The symbols within our first print, which we’ve named OBI, meaning ‘heart’ in the Igbo tribe language, represent the affirmations: I am loved; I am courageous; I celebrate colour. Celebrate colour means to us; I see and love the uniqueness of myself and the uniqueness of others.”

 

 

The collection

The first range is produced in the same fabric, all featuring the OBI print. The fabric composition is a bamboo, organic cotton mix with 4% elastane. For babies age 0-18 months, pieces include the Sinobi playsuit; a classic short arm, short leg style with three inside leg poppers for quick changes. Also, the Ngozi romper, which is more oversized.

The Sochi T-shirt is a box style T-shirt with three poppers on the back of the neck for easy changing. Finally, the Eberechi baby leggings for 0-12 months offer a basic legging style shaped for nappy-padded bottoms.

For kids age 1-4 years, sizes are 12-18 months, 18-24 months, 2-3 years, and 3-4 years. However, a print run on the Sochi T-shirt, Kosi Trousers and Ogochukwu leggings in age 4-5 years has just been added.

Pieces for kids include the Chi jumpsuit; the brand’s signature, relaxed fit jumpsuit with three poppers on the back of the neck, one pocket on the hip, and elasticated ankle cuffs. There is also the Sochi T-shirt and the stretchy Ogochukwu leggings designed for growing limbs.

The Azuka shorts offer a casual style with two pockets and elasticated waist detail. Finally, the casual and comfortable Kosi trousers feature an elasticated waist and elasticated ankle cuffs.

For further information and to visit Akwa Baby’s website, please click here. For trade enquiries contact info@akwababy.com.