Ayaba by Ananda Nahu

With an artistic individuality all her own, artist Sylvia “Gbaby” Cohen, founder of Gbaby™, purposes her art as an apparatus built to inspire, encourage, and spark motivation in all that encounter each one-of-a-kind piece. Sylvia continues to stay true to her signature by creating visual eloquence in every bold and powerful image of a woman she paints. With its exclusive hand-painted handbags conquered, the Gbaby™ brand has launched into a new medium to expand the collection.

Gbaby™ took root in the early 2000s when Sylvia’s teenage daughter, Giovonnie Samuels, who was an actress on Nickelodeon’s All That, was looking for a handbag to wear to an awards ceremony. During their search, the mother-daughter duo discovered a void in the fashion industry; there were no handbags or t-shirts that reflected images of beautiful black women. Sylvia’s creative spirit took hold and she painted her first Gbaby™ handbag. It gained instant popularity with the mothers and kids on set and within no time she was spending all her time as “set mom” painting handbags and shirts. Little did she know it would be the first step into building the brand known today as Gbaby™.

To see more of her work, go to her website.