How Can I Transform My Life by Experiencing Other Cultures? with Asanyah Davidson Part 2
We sat down with Asanyah Davidson, child of the world, Fashion Designer, and educator. Asanyah is Jamaican born, American raised, and has lived in West Africa. She is the founding director at the Miami Fashion Institute at Miami Dade College, she has her own fashion line Circa24.
During part two of our interview with Asanyah Davidson the conversation goes a little deeper. Asanyah talks about how having a diverse group of mentors helped her development. Then she discusses the people; cultures; schools such as Design and Architecture Senior High (DASH) in Miami , the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in NYC, and studying at Polmida in Florence, Italy; and living in different countries influenced her as a fashion designer.
Asanyah goes in depth about her time in Nigeria and Ghana. Her time there gave her a greater appreciation and understanding of textiles and the work behind them. This period in her life greatly influenced her career as a fashion designer. She teaches us about Adire, Ashoke, and Kente textiles. Asanyah learned about the significance of these fabrics and in this conversation you will learn the difference between what is and what isn’t real African fabric. Through this we delve into her viewpoint on cultural appropriation. All of these topics reflect how the importance of leaving your home country to understand the world better.
Asanyah talks about the similarities she noticed of African women and Jamaican women. She reminisces about about partying with people of all ages and drinking champagne on the dance floor. We talk about her travels to South Africa and the importance of living in the moment. This was an important lesson from her travel.
We then talk about Asanyah’s two favorite city’s Accra, Ghana and Siem Riep, Cambodia. Of course we circle back to Asanyah’s favorite places in Miami, Broward County AKA Greater Fort Lauderdale, and even West Florida.
We finalize the conversation with Asanyah’s question for all women - “How are you dealing with life?” and her powerful definition of what a woman is.
Collective Drift: Instagram: @CollectiveDrift
Facebook.com/CollectiveDrift
facebook.com/groups/CollectiveDrift/ collectivedrift.com
Asanyah: http://www.circa24forever.com/
@Circa24Forever
African fashion and fabric resources: Adire Lounge adirelounge.com @Adirelounge
Afroelle Magazine afroellemagazine.com @afroellemag
Stella Jean stellajean.it
South Florida Recommendations
Miami Restaurants
Sakaya Kitchen sakayakitchen.com/ facebook.com/sakayakitchen
Blackbrick http://www.midtownchinese.com/#our-team @midtownchinese
Michael Genuine https://michaelsgenuine.com/ @michaelsgenuine
Coyo Taco https://coyo-taco.com/ @CoyoTaco
The Salty Donut Wynwood https://www.saltydonut.com/ @thesaltydonut
Miami Experiences
Perez Art Museum Miami https://pamm.org/ @PAMM
Miami Broward Carnival https://miamicarnival.org/ @miabrocarnival
Broward County Restaurants
Screaming Carrots https://screamingcarrots.com/ @screaming_carrots
Vannucchi Brothers Pizza https://www.vannucchibrotherspizza.com/
Ginger Bay Cafe http://www.gingerbaycafe.org/ @gingerbaycafe West Florida Experiences The Ringling https://www.ringling.org/ @theringling
The Dali https://thedali.org/ @dalimuseum/
Erica Vernet Knowles, is a Miami native, an international traveler, and a culture enthusiast. Erica is the creator and producer of Collective Drift. With over 20 years of climbing America’s corporate ladder, Erica found her niche in the media industry serving as an executive director, publisher, and editor-in-chief for 5 publications. However, she grew up watching her grandmother travel the world, experiencing the arts, and taking international trips with her family. So, Erica has always had a calling for the arts, culture and travel. In the summer of 2011 Erica began her journey abroad spending a vast amount of time in Lima and Bangkok. She has had the amazing opportunity to visit 30+ countries. Erica's journey has widened her viewpoint of self in relation to others around the world. Furthermore, she gained true friends that are like family around the world and an enhanced appreciation of their culture. It is the bonds with the women she has met while traveling that has inspired Collective Drift.