The Story
Behind the Hat.
What began as a journey became a collection. What became a collection became a circle.
The Tanzania Collection is a collaboration between Sai Sankoh, Tanzanian creative director Rosemary Kokuhilwa, and local women artisans who handcraft each hat and bag using traditional techniques.
Some collections begin with a sketch. This one began with a journey.
Sai traveled to Tanzania and found something she was not expecting — women who had been creating extraordinary things with their hands for generations, with no audience and no recognition beyond their own communities. She came home and built a collection around them. Not as a tribute. As a partnership.
Hands that have known
this craft longer than
most brands have existed.
The hats and bags in this collection are made by skilled Tanzanian women using traditional hand-dyeing and weaving techniques passed through generations. Each piece is unrepeatable. Each one carries the mark of the woman who made it.
The colors come from the land — the ochres of the Serengeti, the blues of Zanzibar's coastline, the deep greens of a country that has always known how to make beautiful things.
Beauty has no age.
Beauty has no
single story.
The campaign was headlined by multi-generational women — including Maasai women as models — to honor their culture and bring their stories into the conversation that luxury fashion has too long ignored.
These women were not a backdrop. They were the point.
This was not charity. It was collaboration.
— Sai Sankoh
The Circle
A percentage of every sale from the handcrafted hats and bags goes directly back to the Tanzanian women who made them — supporting their families and their financial independence.
A local Tanzanian artist was commissioned to hand-paint a couture gown for auction. Proceeds benefited the local arts community — bringing international attention to talent that deserves it.
By centering Maasai women as models and collaborators rather than subjects, this collection places their identity and heritage at the heart of a global luxury brand — not in its footnotes.
What you wear
is not the only thing
it makes possible.
Sai Sankoh is committed to ensuring that the communities who inspire this work are the first to benefit from it. That commitment does not live in a mission statement. It lives in the collection itself — in every stitch, every dye, every piece that leaves Tanzania and arrives somewhere in the world.
Rosemary Kokuhilwa is a Tanzanian creative director and native of the region whose perspective and deep connection to the land shaped every creative decision in this collection. Her vision ensured that the hats, the bags, the campaign, and the story felt true — not interpreted from the outside, but created from within.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who makes the Tanzania Collection hats and bags?
The hats and bags are handcrafted by skilled Tanzanian women artisans using traditional weaving and hand-dyeing techniques passed down through generations.
Who is Rosemary Kokuhilwa?
Rosemary Kokuhilwa is a Tanzanian creative director who partnered with Sai Sankoh to help develop the collection and ensure the story remained authentic to the people and culture it represents.
How does the Tanzania Collection support local communities?
A percentage of proceeds from each handcrafted hat and bag is directed back to the women artisans involved in creating the collection.
Why were Maasai women featured in the campaign?
The campaign was designed to celebrate culture, heritage, and beauty across generations while placing Tanzanian women at the center of the story.
The hat on your head
started in her hands.
Shop the collection. See the lookbook.
The story behind The Circle
The Circle is rhythm and movement made wearable, a print with energy in every line, for the woman who brings the life to wherever she lands. It is joyful without trying, bold without shouting.
It earns its keep on the trips and the celebrations, the pool by day and the dinner by night. The goddess kaftan silhouette flatters every body and flows with you, and the print reads beautifully in photographs, which is where most women fall for it.
Made for the woman they remember. From Sai Sankoh, the Black-owned resort wear house named Best Resortwear by D Magazine and worn by Beyoncé, Iman and Tamron Hall.
Questions women ask
Who is this print for?
The woman who wants the room to turn when she walks in. It is bold, confident, and made to be noticed.
Where can I wear it?
Anywhere you want to be remembered, resort days, dinners, celebrations, and the occasions that deserve a real entrance.
Does it come in one size?
The goddess kaftans are one size and flatter every body. Dresses and separates run through size 24.
Has Sai Sankoh been in the press?
Yes, named Best Resortwear by D Magazine and worn by Beyoncé, Iman, and Tamron Hall.
Shop Sai Sankoh
Shop the pieces made to be noticed. One size goddess kaftans fit 0 to 24. Free US shipping over $500.
