Kenyan Swimwear Now Featured At World's Largest One-Of-A-Kind Museum

Kenyan fashion brand Ohana Swimwear has officially secured a permanent place at the renowned Design Museum. Located in London, United Kingdom (UK), this is the world's leading museum devoted to contemporary design in every form.

The brand was unveiled on Thursday, March 27, at the grand opening of the museum’s latest exhibition, marking a significant milestone in its journey. This year’s exhibition, "Splash: A Century of Swimming," explores the evolution of swimming and swimwear over the past 100 years.

Ohana Swimwear has been recognized as a contemporary innovator shaping the future of the industry, solidifying its reputation on the global stage.

According to its founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Neema Nkatha Kinoti, being featured in the world’s largest contemporary design museum is a momentous achievement for Ohana, reflecting its commitment to redefining modern swimwear.

"Ohana Swimwear has officially been displayed at the Design Museum in London! Today marked the grand opening of the exhibition, and we are beyond thrilled to share that Ohana will be permanently featured at the world's largest contemporary design museum," Nkatha revealed in a statement she shared with Viral Tea.

"Ohana has been recognized as one of the contemporary innovators shaping the future of swimwear. This is a huge milestone for us, and we are honored to be part of such a prestigious showcase."

Nkatha, in her latest Instagram post, also used the milestone announcement to thank her 'Ohana'—her family—who showed up for the grand opening, representing so graciously. "And more than anything, I’m incredibly proud and humbled to represent Kenya on a global stage," she added.

As a registered charity, the museum showcases how design can drive positive change for both the planet and its people through its groundbreaking exhibitions, partnerships, research, and educational programs.

Established in 1989 by Sir Terence Conran, it serves as the UK’s premier space where the design industry, educators, and the public converge to reshape perspectives on identity and the future through design.

Located in Kensington, the museum's landmark building functions as the heart of a national network and an international hub for design’s transformative power. Since its relocation in 2016, it has attracted millions of visitors, making the design’s impact more visible than ever. In recognition of its influence, it was named European Museum of the Year in 2018.

Nkatha started Ohana Swimwear out of frustration in terms of finding a swimsuit in Nairobi that satisfied her taste, resolving to make one herself, not knowing that this ignited a business idea. The first swimsuit she made for herself was for a trip to Europe with her family after efforts to find one she liked from the many shops, boutiques and malls she visited in Nairobi hit a bump.

What she was looking for first was a costume that was not second-hand, owing to the extra-sensitivity posed by intimate wear, and another aspect was that she wanted something far from the ordinary, practical and plain swimming costume.

This inspired Nkatha to venture into a business to create an authentic Kenyan-inspired swimsuit line, which would turn out to disrupt the market for swimwear, leading to the birth of her business, Ohana Family Wear, during her final year at the United States International University- Africa (USIU).

“It all started in late July of 2017 after I made the first piece for myself. When my friends saw it, they started asking where I’d gotten the swimsuit from, and suddenly orders started coming in, and that was when I decided to turn it into a side hustle,” Nkatha, who was then working at Fusion Capital, revealed in a past interview with Business Daily.

She noted at the time that her brand was driven by the need to embrace all body types, as well as celebrate African culture as it combines Afro-inspired fabrics, colours and prints to create modern designs, with the luxuriant print and colour play of the swimsuit being the biggest attraction when customers started placing their first orders.

Nkatha disclosed that she started small, recording monthly sales worth less than Ksh5,000. The situation was compounded by the fact that she had taken a loan to start the business, and her main preoccupation was whether the business would do well enough to enable her to repay it.

During the COVID-19 pandemic which crippled many businesses, she began expanding by launching the kids' wear and Safari Collection and got more partners such as the London Fashion Week, Mr and Miss World Kenya and WCR. Icons such as actress Lupita Nyong'o took notice of Nkatha's works and promoted them, all during the pandemic. The rest, as they say, is history.

Nkatha was furthermore inspired to go into the swimwear brand to dispel the notion that “Africans don’t swim”, backed by previous statistics by the World Health Organization, noting that drowning deaths were highest in Africa at rates that were 15-20 times higher than in developed countries.

According to her, swimming is an essential skill, and Ohana Swimwear aims to provide easy-to-access swimwear to Africans, which gives them extra confidence before stepping into the water.

The Ohana Family Wear brand is trademarked, and all swimsuit designs are protected legally before each season’s launch to ensure there is no duplication.

A swimsuit from Ohana Family Wear featured at the Design Museum in London, United Kingdom (UK) as of March 27, 2025. /NEEMA NKATHA KINOTI