LYEINANI is a small, black-owned, and woman-owned clothing brand. For the greater part of 2023, Jasmin Nessa Ali functioned as the brand’s accessory designer. Scroll for a look at one of the most interesting products that came out of LYEINANI while Jasmin was present.
Concept & Colors
The prompt of this project went as follows: “A functional hands-free bag for the 2024 Afronation Festival that uses LYEINANI design language.” The brand planned to send their influencer base to the 2025 Afronation festival in Portugal to represent the brand in an unapologetic way. The annual 3-day festival celebrates Afro-beats, dancehall, Hip Hop, and RnB. Every year, attendees are notably concerned about bag theft, so the bag design had to ensure security of the users’ items. The festival has strict rules about bag size, and all bags needed to be transparent.
As lead designer for this project, I considered everything from the bag policy of the festival, to what truly inspired me when it came to bags. In the world of hands-free bags, I was attracted to unconventional shapes. A fanny-pack was the best solution, however I knew I could push the envelope. Here is what I discovered.
Sketches and Technical Drawings
Coming from a fine art background, my product development process involves several hand-drawn ideas. My draftsmanship skills can adapt to any category of fashion products, and help me truly connect to a product from an artist’s perspective. In this case, I explored about 10 silhouettes by hand, and narrowed down to three main options, which informed the final technical flats.
Production
I oversaw the work of the in-house 3D designer to ensure the 3D renderings were according to my vision. I also maintained and amended the tech pack for the design. Working in a collaborative setting contributed to the outstanding success of the design.