House Of Kaji is a couture clothing company in Diani, Kenya. Our founder is Esther K. Musa.

I (Esther Musa) used to buy clothes then end up altering them to my liking, in that process I realized clean cut clothes boost my confidence. I learnt I could use clothes to boost peoples self esteem by making them look and feel beautiful, at the same time create a source of income. I started selling thrifted clothes online, until I saved up enough to afford a sewing machine. At this point I would personally go to a client for measurements and orders. In 2018, I had saved up enough to open a small store. In 2019 March, I moved to a bigger store with better space and facilities. From my childhood I have always wanted to give back to society not because I have, but because I know how it feels to lack. Thus it was important for me to venture into a career that would be able to translate to that effortlessly.
In the month of June 2020, Covid-19 pandemic affected the whole world which shifted my thoughts in everything. With that we packed HOK and moved to Diani to live out our dream at the same time fulfill my purpose.

HOK’s vision is to create a source of income for the less fortunate by developing a fashion design school aimed at offering professional design skills to it’s students. We also plan on enrolling previously incarcerated women in the programme in the hopes of reintegrating them back into the society.

The ALMASI project is in the Women Empowerment Thematic area under the Fashion Design Segment.

The name Almasi is an African swahili name that means Diamond. We chose the name of the collection as ‘Almasi’ because Kwale County in Kenya is neglected in terms of talent and creativity. The attention and support is mostly given to the hotel and tourism industry. However the county in its entirety , is in fact, a ‘Diamond in the Rough’💎 in several sectors.

The project aims at uplifting women in the society by empowering them with practical design skills meant to create a source of income. The Almasi project targets young girls and women marginalization. In Kwale, women and young girls are treated as sex objects, early marriages and subjected to emotional abuse. We wanted to change this narrative by giving them a creative skill through fashion that will change their lives.

You tend to find most young girls dropping out of school because of early pregnancies, early marriages, poverty, drugs etc. We are here to change that narrative by creating designs, one piece at a time. Women should be valued, respected and nurtured.

Give a woman vegetables, she’ll give you a meal. Women are naturally born to multiply whatever they touch.

Kwale women to the world!

MADE IN DIANI.🏖

View the whole ALMASI collection here.