In 2022, NeKeia McSwain visited the Johannesburg manufacturing facility of Ngala Trading. The Denver-based interior designer was working with the South African decor-maker on a new line of furnishings, and during her tour, she asked one of Ngala’s artisans, “Can you braid?”

“She looked at me like I was crazy,” McSwain recalls. “Then she showed me eight or nine braid options and asked, ‘Which one do you want?’ ”

5280 February 2025
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Getting to know the talented craftspeople at Ngala was a career highlight for McSwain. She first teamed up with the company in 2021, when they collaborated on a capsule collection of lighting designs featuring cascading tiers of hand-cut leather in the rich colors of the savanna. This past fall, McSwain and Ngala reunited for the second NeKeia Collection. “My culture means everything to me, and it is a profound honor to be a young Black designer in such a vibrant space,” McSwain says of the reputation she’s made for herself and her firm, NeKeia & Co., in Denver’s design market. “When I got to create a luxury line that’s made in Johannesburg, it wasn’t just about aesthetics anymore. It became about celebrating my rich heritage.”

Inspired by her familial roots in West Africa, observations made in the South African bush during her 2022 trip, and a palette of natural materials, the new collection encompasses seating, accent tables, accessories, and lighting embellished with braided leathers, polished metals, and soft hides. On the Nobu ottoman ($3,250), a gleaming brass belt cinches a skirt of butter-soft leather fringe. The thick edge of the curvilinear Nkova mirror ($985) is wrapped unexpectedly in black tanned leather. And the Nalani chandelier ($6,855) reflects what McSwain describes as the “strength and beauty of Black womanhood” through leather details that are braided like hair.

McSwain believes that these aesthetic qualities are conduits for deeper meanings. “My hope is that the craftsmanship sparks conversations about heritage and artistry,” she says. “I’ve always been huge on celebrating culture, but now I’m more unapologetic about it. I have been empowered to redefine luxury on my own terms.”

Read More: At Home With Designer Keia McSwain