YEMA KHALIF

Yema Khalif
Artistic Director & Co-founder, YEMA

Yema Khalif grew up in Kibera, Kenya — one of the world's largest informal settlements — where he was already designing, dancing, and acting as a teenager. He dreamed websites and logos into existence for clients before he had the resources most designers take for granted. The creative process that defines YEMA today began there.

At 22, Yema auditioned for a Hollywood film shooting in Nairobi — Lost in Africa — and met Danish actress Connie Nielsen, who became his foster mother and helped facilitate his education in the United States. He enrolled at Dominican University of California, where he graduated valedictorian, served as Vice President of the Student Union, made the Dean's List all four years, and gave the commencement address. He earned a BA in Communication and Media and an MBA in Business.

He began designing fashion in 2015, during his senior year. The process was — and remains — unlike most. Yema dreams complete collections in his sleep: patterns, colors, silhouettes, motifs arriving fully formed. He wakes and sketches them immediately. Co-founder Hawi Awash then connects those visions to Ethiopian and Kenyan cultural history, grounding the exuberance in ancestral meaning.

YEMA launched officially in February 2020 with the Negus Collection — named for the historical Ethiopian term for sovereign, king, emperor. The first piece was sold in September 2017 at an Ethiopian New Year celebration in Oakland, California.

Today Yema operates YEMA from the flagship store in Tiburon, California, 13 minutes from his home. The store has become a destination — a gallery, a gathering place. Musicians, athletes, and artists have found their way to the door, some after hours, some returning a second time because they fell in love with the brand.

His design philosophy: extend, never retreat. Reach for heights while staying grounded. Be seen. "Even when we do black," Yema says, "it's exuberant black."

In 2022, Yema and Hawi established the HAWI & YEMA Foundation, directing 20% of all YEMA proceeds to education for orphaned children in Ethiopia and Kenya. Over six years, the Foundation has supported more than 400 students and built two schools.

His guiding principle is drawn from Swahili wisdom: Tenda wema, nenda zako — do good, be on your way.

YEMA is the embodiment of that.