Umutoni Thuku-Benzinge Helping Us Rediscover African Beauty Through Kaleidoscope Beauty

Umutoni Thuku-Benzinge is a young London based East African trailblazer, with a vision to create and sustain social impact in sub-saharan Africa through her brand Kaleidoscope Beauty. Kaleidoscope Beauty offers contemporary, hand-crafted, statement jewellery pieces in the form of chokers, necklaces, bracelets, cuffs, earrings all showcasing the beauty of Africa. The brand does not use plastic, the core materials used are brass, glass beads, leather and wire.

In our recent IG Live Q&A we sat down with the young visionary to talk about her desire to pay homage to her East African roots and give back in a sustainable way. All the Kaleidoscope Beauty pieces are hand-crafted by young artisans who are using their creativity in order to make a change for themselves, their families, and their communities. ‘Given the right tools, and an opportunity for a career, the artisans are trained in beadwork and brass-work, which in turn creates job opportunities for them and a sustainable source of income,’ – says Umu.

The talented young artisans are based in Baba Dogo, a slum in Kenya, a place crippled with multi-generational poverty and lack of sanitation. Umu feels she has a responsibility to give back as she cites a quote by Barack Obama, ‘We must start from the simple premise that Africa’s future is up to Africans.’ This is something that Umu wholeheartedly believes, ‘Although I’m British born when I go back to Kenya or Rwanda I feel like I’ve gone back home. I think we (the diaspora) definitely have a unique perspective because we can understand the spectrum and we can understand the reality of things on the ground and we can also bring some of the experiences that we have been able to have here in the West and see where we can help,’ Umu explains.

Umu appears on the screen wearing the ‘Shani Brass Necklace’, and the recently released ‘Umoja’ men’s and women’s rings on both hands. Umoja means unity in Swahili which Umu says is key to the brand’s approach in the midst of the global crisis. The men’s Umoja ring marks the first unisex product from Kaleidoscope Beauty and 50% of the proceeds from the sale of the Umoja rings go towards providing a month’s supply of food to disenfranchised families, something which will keep people going in the midst of the current global pandemic.

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The ideal Kaleidoscope Beauty customer is the ethical consumer who wants to make an impact with their purchase and someone who is happy to make a statement. Umu is certainly making an impact herself much like the women she sees as her muses for the brand, ‘Michelle Obama and Beyoncé just people who identify with our mission,’ she says.

Within 8 months of launching the brand, Kaleidoscope Beauty was featured in Forbes Magazine and BBC Africa. ‘On my vision board it was the goal.’ Umu explains as she begins to tell me about the moment she received the email. ‘I remember when it happened. I had actually sent out a number of emails to various publications just saying this is who we are and this is what we are about…Forbes actually came back to me after 3 months of sending the email. I was just in my mum’s house and I remember looking at my phone and it wasn’t a Forbes email address; it came from a personal Gmail account. I read the response and she said I would really love to feature you in Forbes. I dropped my phone and called out to my mum’.

So why do you think it has taken so long for African designs to become more popular, I question Umu, ‘I don’t think it has taken long… I would say the influence has been there for a while, the credit hasn’t always been given where it’s due in my humble opinion but now I think African culture is very popular from music to food, arts, and the entire industry, we are taking hold of that narrative and I think that is why it has become more mainstream because we are doing it with pride,’ Umu says.

Turning to a more ominous topic, everyone has certainly been affected by the current global pandemic, some in a negative way, some in a more positive way. For Umu it has allowed her to recentre her focus on things that matter to her, ‘it’s shown me that it’s all about genuine connections with your family and friends and generally pursuing things that generally set your soul on fire, things that generally, give you a sense of fulfilment so for me, that is also through the business’. There are certainly many things that each of us will take away from this. ‘A big word for me this season is pivot…so just understanding I guess how to adapt and change, move and pivot with the times in a way that suits the current conditions and our current circumstances is definitely key.’

So how is Kaleidoscope Beauty going to change going forward? I ask Umu, ‘Things like the Umoja rings (the first unisex product on offer), even with our brand still being quite feminine, with all our branding being targeted at women up until this point, we have had people support the latest projects that we have going…sometimes I do get overwhelmed with say putting a video out or telling people what I am doing. I often think do people care should I share this but this whole pandemic has shown me that I have a responsibility to make sure that I am sharing with as many people as possible, that I am being vocal about the brand and all our growth and everything that is happening so that is something that I’m definitely going to try and do more of. You just have to be proud of your creation and like I say the business is an extension of myself and kind of like my baby so it can be quite intimidating and I’m a bit apprehensive at times when it comes to just releasing stuff.’

Many of us can certainly relate to Umu, we all seek that validation, we want to put out something that is going to be liked by everyone but sometimes that creates barriers for us – ‘I just have to be very practical about it. Feel the fear and do it anyway. Sometimes it will include speaking to a few friends, sharing it with them first then just post. POST! You can delete stuff.’

During these times there is also a lot of pressure to ensure you use this time wisely and come out with something once all of this is over but we mustn’t forget to keep a balance in all that we do. However, Umu seems to be taking the right approach, ‘Sometimes you just need your me time to be in tune with yourself. I think 9 times out of 10 your body will tell you what you need.’

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With screen time on the rise and with social media now being one the main sources of content and entertainment, I ask Umu who she follows on her socials, ‘One of the people I follow is Phoebe Parke (Social Media Editor at Grazia UK) she has incredible social media content and then just other brands who are killing it, House of CB is obviously up there… Nicholas Dex who is a really close friend of mine, he is the owner of ODF and other friends. So, it’s really good to see how they are using their platforms and how they are being creative and what kind of content they are putting out there’

When questioned on what clothing item she would use to describe herself, Umu sees herself as more of a belt ‘because it kind of brings everything together and even with the brand trying to connect all these different cultures, that is what I am aiming to do.

As the Kaleidoscope Beauty brand continues to grow Umu has plans to tap into tourism one day as Umu has a passion for travelling and exploring the world. During the conversation I immediately recruited Umu as a personal tour guide as she elaborated more on what a trip to Kenya might look like. ‘You would fly into Nairobi which is the capital of Kenya and there is a great nightlife scene there. There is Maasai market, there are all sorts of restaurants, you can also go on a safari, you can go to Maasai Mara, Tsavo, the Great Rift Valley, there is plenty to do. As well as all of that we have a beautiful coast so you can go to Mombasa beach, Malindi, Lamu. There are a lot of options.’

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Twitter: @kaleidoscopebe2 / @blessedumu

Website: https://kaleidoscopebeauty.co.uk

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