By: Hiwote Berhanu

There is a saying “Life is a succession of moments, to live each one is to succeed.” As a fashion stylist, I am so inspired by the talented designer Kalkidan Gebreyohannes. Juggling family and a rapidly rising fashion career, Kalkidan is an upcoming designer to look out for in 2015. Growing up Toronto, Gebreyohannes was exposed to the arts at a very young age, including training in ballet and dance. Kalkidan would later move to California and start a family, however her passion for creativity followed her into motherhood. In 2014 Kalkidan launched KA•LU, a luxury bag line that caters to everyone, from the sophisticated businesswoman to the soccer mom. I had the chance to get to speak to Kalkidan about her debut collection, Le Reve.

HabeshaLA: Why did you decide to become a fashion designer?

Kalkidan: I have always been someone who needed to create, specifically in the arts. Whether it was dance, theatre, writing, makeup artistry or fashion, the process of imagining something and then visually seeing it come to life is very liberating to me. I never went to school for design but I compare to someone who can sing really well but never took a day of vocal lessons. Some things are just gifts and I believe this is mine. Sharing it with the world was just the last piece of the puzzle.

HLA: What is your favorite part about being a fashion designer?

Kalkidan: It’s funny because I don’t really focus on being a fashion designer, but more so an artistic and creative person. What I love most about it is the freedom that comes with exploring and creating from the pool of ideas in my mind then seeing my ideas come to life, that is the part that is absolutely mind-blowing to me and never gets old.

HLA: What were your inspirations for the designs for Le Reve 2014?

Kalkidan: This is a hard question for me to answer because my inspirations are highly influenced by any given moment or thing. I am inspired by emotion, by the weather, but the constant is always women! The truth is my brain is always thinking and pushing so I just roll with it…

HLA: I know your selective when it comes to manufacturing your products, how did you select the materials you used?

Kalkidan: I chosoe materials by their quality, their texture, and their timelessness. I also love incorporating a bold material to give it a stand-out factor. With Le Rève collection, I wanted classic colors with bold textures as well as exotic materials. Once I picked the materials, I have either my production manager or leather specialist handpick the hides and skins to ensure the very best quality and selection.

HLA: What are your plans for the future?

Kalkidan: My plans for the future include creating and exploring more of these ideas in my head [laughs]. I’m planning on adding belts and other accessories which I can’t really go into a lot of detail about. Also dresses! The dress thing just came up recently so you may be seeing a KA•LU dress popping up soon, will have to change my mission statement soon from luxury handbags to whatever my heart and brain conjure up.

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Habesha LA sits down with journalist and recent USC graduate Lensa Bogale on her experience interning in South African network Street Talk TV. USC’s Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism is currently ranked the #1 journalism school in the nation. 

Habesha LA: Tell us a little bit about your background: where did you grow up? Interests growing up? Role models?

Lensa Bogale: I was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. My family lived in a lower-income area until I was about nine years old and then we moved to a suburb in Kent, Washington where we lived until I went off to USC. As a kid I was obsessed with books and storytelling. I was constantly reading or designing comic strips based on the mundane life struggles of a 6-year old. Later on, that obsession turned into a passion for films and acting. It was then I started performing theatre at the Seattle Children’s theatre. I didn’t discover my passion for broadcast journalism until college. That’s when I realized that I could combine my love of storytelling and film into one entity. I appreciate my parents for allowing me to be myself. They knew they had bred a child that was creatively oriented; I had no interest in math or science and they were okay with that. I recognized this was a rarity, especially from Ethiopian parents. It was a good feeling knowing that people I admired most were fully supportive of my passions.

HLA: Tell us about your experience studying journalism at USC.

LB: The Broadcast program at USC is no joke; it is very rigorous, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Although, it was demanding it was simultaneously very practical. The set up of our media center was identical to that of a real newsroom. Also, the program allowed me to explore all aspects of Broadcast: Television News, Radio news etc. I never felt limited. The courses required students to report, film, and edit. Students are given the opportunity to work in front as well as behind the camera; it’s amazing. I composed dozens of packages during my time at USC, which wasn’t easy and I hated it at times, but as a result I feel more confident and well equipped for the real world of broadcast journalism. It’s the perfect experience for aspiring journalists.

HLA: How did you secure your internship in South Africa?

LB: I expressed to a journalism professor at USC that I was interested in interning aboard over the summer. She recommended that I apply through an internship program called Connect 1-2-3. I did just that, I applied to/interviewed with the program, which then helped connect me with various television networks in Cape Town. From there, I submitted my resume and interviewed with multiple networks. I ended up selecting a network called Street Talk TV, a television series that produces mini-documentaries. They go behind closed doors to capture the realism of life in South Africa. It aligned perfectly with what I am passionate about.

HLA: What were some of your most memorable moments in South Africa?

LB: I retained so much more from my experience in South Africa than I initially expected. Honestly, my primary motivation for going was gaining a resume boost and furthering my academic experience, but I ended up falling in love with the people and the culture. The television program I interned with would create mini-documentaries about controversial social justice issues happening in South Africa. This allowed me to better view South Africa through the lens of its natives. I loved hearing people’s stories. Racial division is prominent in South Africa; apartheid ended only 21 years ago. Therefore, I was able to hear a 30-year olds experience in apartheid as child in comparison to an 85-year-old lifelong struggle in the regime. My racial classification also changed. I was classified as “coloured” as opposed to “black”, which is an experience I’ll never forget. I was spoken to in coloured Afrikaans, asked if I was from Mitchell’s Plain (a coloured township) and met with confusion when I told people I identified as black. It was a reminder that race is genuinely a social construct and plays a huge role in how we view and define ourselves/one another.

HLA: As an Ethiopian, would you ever do professional work in Ethiopia?

LB: I would love to do professional work in Ethiopia. I know that experience would be very personal. There is no feeling that compares to being in Ethiopia. I feel so connected to the depth of who I am: my roots, my culture, my family, etc. It is an experience a lot of Ethiopian-Americans take for granted. So, to fuse that with my professional life would be euphoric; it would be combing all my passions into one experience. I genuinely believe more Ethiopians should consider working in Ethiopia at some point in their lifetime. Through this, we can develop professional connections that would enable us to build a large network to support/assist one another in obtaining professional work, kind of like an Ethiopian LinkedIn.

HLA: What are your plans for the near future?

LB: My ultimate professional goal is to report internationally. More specifically, I am interested in documentary journalism; the daily news is great for personalities who love a face-paced work environment that challenges you to be time efficient. However, I enjoy spending a significant amount of time on one story. Documentary gives me that opportunity, to delve deep into the background of a story’s characters. I also hope to encourage more people in our community to explore their creative talents; it’s an area that deserves more exploration and tapping into. I know so many Ethiopians that are afraid to pursue their creative aspirations due to the stigma surrounding artistic professions. However, with brave individuals pioneering the way combined with platforms like HabeshaLA, I believe this new generation can demolish that stigma and we can witness Ethiopians succeed on all ends of the professional spectrum.

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Interviewed by Dagem Lemma

Name: Eleni Anteneh

Age: 19

Hometown: Addis Ababa

Describe your hustle/brand: I’m really passionate about art, in every form really. It doesn’t have to represent anything in particular, but I like to express art through paintings. That’s my first love. When I was in elementary school, our art teacher was a very inspirational person. He told us stories of ancient Christian Orthodox Church paintings and motivated me to join the art club in the school. I was obviously really bad at painting at first, but I ended up barely making it in the club. We used to go the art studio on lunch break hours and just draw. Growing up I simply practiced, even the little things. Like I used to sketch in every single piece of paper I came across. It could be a picture of an eye or some patterns, but I enjoyed the growth and the practice itself.

It was when I moved to the United States back in 2013 that I started to get into photography. I liked how you can hold on to a moment, cease it, and keep it as long as you desire through photographs. Although it’s not my “first love”, I am captured by its artistry.

Most of my paintings/sketches depict generally the beauty of women and their different life aspects: sad women, pregnant women, happy women, strong women. I’m the type of artist that brings to you and shows you how beautiful or mysterious something might or can be—beauty is my message, what I try to get across through my pieces.

Some of your influences: Well, my first influence, and probably the most important one, would be my former art teacher. He’s the one that introduced me to the world of art itself, and guided me to better at it. Beauty would be the other one. I see something beautiful and I want to take a picture of it or paint it; sheer beauty draws me like no other. Art itself is my inspiration, and a strong influence in doing what I do.

What can we expect from you in the near future? I have an upcoming project that I’m preparing to start: a series of paintings of the legs of women from different journeys of life. I haven’t decided how I’m going to showcase it, but I hope I’ll be able to. Once again, I aim to show beauty through this; I want to be able to bring to my audience, however small it may be, a realization and admiration of unique beauty, and I hope my audience appreciates that.

Where can we reach you at (Website, Twitter, E-mail)?

eleniyosef@gmail.com; @elenie1xo on Instagram; ‘Eleni Yosef’ on Facebook.