Kaleidoscope Beauty, a U.K.-based African jewelry brand, launches a new collection

Kaleidoscope Beauty takes its roots and inspiration in African culture and traditions. The sophisticated brand is the brain child of a creative entrepreneur, Umutoni Thuku-Benzinge, from Kenya. After spending several summers back home, the young Londoner found an elegant way to pay a tribute to her home continent with her signature brand that caters to the local African communities…and beyond.

Kaleidoscope Beauty showcases the beauty of Africa through contemporary hand-crafted, statement jewelry in the form of chokers, necklaces, bracelets, cuffs, earrings and occasionally some seasonal specials. The brand does not use plastic. Its core materials are brass, glass beads, leather and wire. Its collections are inspired by traditional Kiswahili names such as Shabba and Shanga.

The brand starts this new year with the launch of its latest collection, a rich addition to its previous four collections. The e-commerce business, launched online in December 2018, offers a range of eye-catching designs available globally, with free shipping offered to UK customers.

In recent years, there has been a spike of interest and global demand for African designs, with examples spanning from high-fashion runways such as Ozwald Boateng’s Africanism line, to Hollywood costume designs in films such as Black Panthers.

But Kaleidoscope Beauty is more than a fashion statement. “Our mission is to empower the disenfranchised with particular focus on the youth community. Our artisans are talented young men and women faced with the burden of multi-generational poverty, the lack of sanitation and the harsh realities of life in the slums,” says Thuku-Benzinge, adding: “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.”

The 27-year-old entrepreneur that is Umutoni Thuku-Benzinge says she was led into this venture by her love for African culture and her desire to tap into a growing demand for African designs, and also in response, she says, to “the shocking statistics published by the World Bank on poverty rates on the continent.” Hence, her brain child Kaleidoscope Beauty’s commitment to “inspire a young generation of Africans to use their creativity in order to make a change for themselves, their families, and their communities.”