Diana Kaumba commands attention. While we’re only meeting on screen via Zoom, and I can hardly guess what may be worn below her waist, the full effect of meeting with a woman who knows she looks good cannot be denied. Sitting across from me, on screen, is the Stylist and creative behind one of our most–loved Your Luxury Africa covers, who looks to have dressed up for this interview – but who you can also tell lives in the maximalist–chic ensemble she has on. This is what happens when one breathes fashion.
“I believe accessories are the outfit, put away accessories and the outfit loses life and interest”, shares Diana, as I ask her to walk me through the abundance of silver and gold trinkets decorating her hands, arms, neck, and face. Some are vintage and thrifted, like the large diamante tennis necklace missing a gem: “I bought it for the imperfection and the interest that the missing pieces bring.” Some are designer and luxurious: “I think this Gucci ring is the most expensive item of jewellery I own,” and some…well some have flair. “This watch ring actually works and tells the time,” Diana enthuses while showing me the ring with a watch face that sits on her third finger among two other large rings on the same hand.
Watching someone so love the craft of dressing, and dressing well, makes you want to fall into the storytelling of how she became who she is. “Fashion was something I always had. It’s something that’s in my DNA and I believe I inherited it from my father. My father was very stylish. I remember he’d hired a tailor from Hong Kong to custom–make his suits, he was also a big fan of Calvin Klein, and he took being dressed well very personally.” Having watched her father curate his own wardrobe left an impression on Diana. “I used to go to thrift shops, because I didn’t want to look like everyone else walking down the street, and I would find gems. When I would put these items together people would go: ‘Oh my God! Where did you get that?’ and I’d say, ‘at the places you guys don’t want to go.’”
On creating “The Granny Series” of images with her grandmother immaculately styled, Diana has reached a point where she feels the world is finally taking note of her voice in the fashion conversation. “Through The Granny Series, I’ve gotten the opportunity to be hired to style people’s grandparents, I recently styled an almost 90–year–old grandmother for a shoot. When people get older, society forgets about them. I feel the elderly get written off and this series is a showcase of how we can all keep living until there’s no life left in us.”
Following a visit to the Tamron Hall Show and greater recognition by celebrities looking to have her style them, Diana continues to look to the future with her work, “I’ll be styling and photographing my grandmother for as long as she will let me.” With further exhibitions of her work scheduled in different cities in the United States and a South African exhibition coming up soon, Diana’s ambitions are set to enrich the African and American art and fashion space.
Watch Dee’s segment on The Tamron Hall Show:
