I Don’t See Colour Vol. 1 – A Bold Statement by House of Nyabinghi

4-minute read                                                                                                                                                        Photo credit: Bardot 

 

Author: Bardot

 

Introduction

In the heart of bold self-expression and fearless creativity, House of Nyabinghi unveils a powerful new drop: the limited edition ARODA collection, ‘I Don’t See Colour’ (IDSC) Vol. 1. This isn’t contemporary African fashion; it’s an unapologetic exploration of race, culture, and identity through the lens of art and fashion.

IDSC Vol. 1 is the first instalment in a wider conversation about the dangerously naive and often gaslighting phrase, “I don’t see colour.” It’s a phrase that, when spoken in the aftermath of racism, to quote Dana Brownlee, senior contributor at Forbes, in her 19 June 2022 published article, ‘Dear White People: When You Say You ‘Don’t See Color,’ This Is What We Really Hear.’

“...those words are like nails on a chalkboard—flashing red lights...”

Through Afrofuturistic designs, unisex streetwear silhouettes, and raw storytelling, this first volume marks a pivotal moment in House of Nyabinghi’s sustainable fashion journey, where lived experience becomes wearable resistance.

 

“I Don’t See Colour” - The Pain Behind the Phrase

The inspiration behind the IDSC Vol. 1 is deeply personal.

As the founder, owner, creative and fashion director of House of Nyabinghi, I want to share an incident that occurred in 2012 just days after the end of London’s vibrant Summer Olympics. While travelling on one of Transport for London’s (TfL) busy underground lines, I endured a vicious 20/25-minute racist attack by a stranger in a packed carriage where I was the only person of colour. But what followed left an even more lingering wound.

After the train was halted due to the emergency cord being pulled - to get the driver’s attention about what was happening -, a passenger sitting opposite me, fully aware of the abuse I had just suffered, remarked:

“...I’m not racist, and I don’t see colour, but if it was that bad, why didn’t you get off the train and call the police?”

The crystallised contradiction was right there: denying my colour is to deny my reality. Part of the set of dog whistles that are stuffed into the invisible rucksack of those who drench themselves in indifference and ignorance, that statement was – and still is – perverse…a funk that stinks to high heaven. No matter if you are a member of the public or in the public eye as an esteemed individual, once a person of colour hears those four words, we instantly know what and who you are. For me, it was this pivotal moment that sparked the seed for both House of Nyabinghi and I Don’t See Colour, a form years in the making that now challenges these micro- and macroaggressions with fearless creativity.

 

IDSC Vol. 1 – Fashion That Speaks Truth to Power

House of Nyabinghi’s IDSC Vol. 1 is a politically and culturally charged opening chapter. Each piece in the collection is designed as a conversation starter. Bold prints, minimalist graphics, and coded messaging invite the wearer – and the onlookers – to reflect on the connection between African fashion and identity in a world that often seeks to erase it.

What makes this release even more magnetic is its gender-fluid approach to unisex African diaspora fashion. These silhouettes are versatile, powerful, and inclusive because the identity isn’t boxed in by gender, just like it can’t be flattened by a kumbaya false flag of perceived colour-blindness.

 

Africanfuturism Meets Streetwear

At its core this collection pulses with the energy of Africanfuturism and Afrofuturism. For the uninitiated, this means using our cultural lens to reclaim Black narratives and project them into more dynamic futures. Using fashion as its primary medium, House of Nyabinghi's Afrofuturistic designs weave together storytelling, resistance, and ritual. IDSC Vol. 1 doesn’t just ask you to dress as you go about your lives; it asks you to remember, to resist, and to reimagine.

My creative direction is both intimate and radical, drawing from ancestral wisdom while challenging colonial amnesia. Each piece holds space for visibility, a visibility that the Western world so often demands be softened, diluted, or erased under the guise of integration.

 

Sustainable Fashion with Soul

As with all House of Nyabinghi sustainable fashion, pieces are created with intentionality, from ethical sourcing to conscious production. This is not fast fashion. This is contemporary African fashion built to last, designed to empower, and made to honour the stories of our ancestors hidden within our skin.

Limited in quantity but infinite in impact, every item from the collection reminds us that colour is culture. To deny that is to deny the beauty of the natural world and, equally for us, the majesty, innovation, and strength right down to the macabre and insidious struggles that have come to define the past and present Black experience.

 

Beyond Fashion: A Cultural Call-In

This drop isn’t about guilt-tripping or alienating anyone. It’s about educating, expanding, and exploring. It’s about dismantling harmful language and replacing it with curiosity, compassion, clarity, and appreciation, not appropriation. It’s about saying:

“We see colour. We see culture. We see you.”

IDSC Vol. 1 is a creative protest. It’s a wearable truth. It’s a vibrant refusal to be unseen.

 

Final Word: Why It Matters

At a time when performative allyship runs rampant, I Don’t See Colour Vol. 1 brings integrity and intensity back into the cultural dialogue. By fusing style with social commentary, the House of Nyabinghi contemporary African fashion collection is a must-have for those who want to wear their values, stay connected and stay seen.

 

Shop now for the ARODA collection ‘I Don’t See Colour Vol. 1’. 

 

Join the Movement

Discover your own narrative through fashion that speaks to heritage, hope, and limitless potential.

Join the movement and become part of the #DiasporaInMotion #NyabinghiNation.

 

Footnote:

The racist attacker was eventually caught by The British Transport Police. Charged on four counts, thanks to conclusive DNA evidence with multiple supporting eyewitness statements from other train passengers in the carriage at the time, he changed his plea to guilty for all four counts and was sent to prison.