In the world of high fashion, where the phrase “style over substance” literally came to be, House of Aama stands as an institution. Founded by mother-daughter duo Rebecca Henry and Akua Shabaka, the Los Angeles-based brand combines their heritage with storytelling, and craftsmanship to make clothing that’s deeply indebted to Black identity and the African diaspora.
At the heart of their creative process is a commitment to honoring familial history and cultural migration. “We think of fashion as a way to tell mythological and archival stories of the Black experience,” said Shabaka. “We wanted to talk about the migration of African people from Africa through the Caribbean and through the Southern United States.” That journey—laden with memory, displacement, and resilience—is stitched into every collection.
A defining thread of House of Aama’s work is the folklore of Anansi the Spider, a West African trickster figure who traveled through oral traditions and across oceans. “Sometimes his stories changed, sometimes his gender changed, but the continuity was that he traveled with us,” said Shabaka. For House of Aama, Anansi represents the enduring strength and adaptability of Black people across generations.
Their latest collection, Sun Records, is a tribute to Akua’s late father—a jazz musician with deep roots in the Los Angeles scene. He played with legends like Sun Ra, Pharoah Sanders, and Alice Coltrane, and his legacy infuses the garments with rhythm, improvisation, and soul. “It’s paying homage to jazz culture and free jazz,” said Shabaka. “And specifically, a jazz legacy that we’ve had in Southern California.”
In both concept and execution, House of Aama operates like a family archive. They approach their collections from the side, through vintage photos, fabric swatches from another time, and sometimes even oral histories. Rebecca uses the memory of her mother sewing a new dress for every day of the week(!) as a reminder to ensure that the handmade tradition of House of Aama’s process remains in place.
Unlike many fashion brands that outsource production and operate at a distance, Henry and Shabaka are deeply involved in every step. “We’re still touching the garments, going to the places where they’re made, making edits with our sewers,” said Henry. “It’s very personal to us.”
That hands-on approach has not gone unnoticed. After winning the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund in 2021, House of Aama garnered high-profile attention. Their La Sirène mesh dress was worn by Gabrielle Union and later featured on Chloe Bailey for a magazine cover—catapulting the brand into public consciousness.
Still, for Henry and Shabaka, the goal goes far beyond celebrity placements. “We are folkloresses,” said Henry. “We’re unpacking familial stories, historical narratives, and using archives to create these collections.” Their focus remains on elevating narratives that have too often been erased or forgotten.
At a recent New York Fashion Week event, they brought that vision to life with a jazz-infused runway experience. Models of color wore garments rich in texture and meaning, while live music recalled the improvisational energy of free jazz. The collection wasn’t just a tribute—it was a continuation of a lineage.
As they prepare future collections, House of Aama continues to push boundaries. “Fashion is how we express our place in the world,” said Shabaka. “We’re imagining ourselves in different realms and different possibilities.”
Through storytelling, ancestry, and artistry, House of Aama is redefining what it means to dress with meaning—and making sure the stories of the past walk confidently into the future.
