The Mark You Choose

Alama is a personalisation concept by KATUSH, inspired by the East African relationship with adornment.

In many East African traditions, identity was not defined by textile alone.

Meaning was added through objects placed onto the body — beadwork, metal, leather, markings, and layered elements worn with purpose. Adornment carried story, belonging, protection, and memory.

Alama brings this language into contemporary dress.

Each garment is created as a foundation.

It may remain plain, or it may be marked with embroidered totems — symbols representing ideas such as Belonging, Time, Reflection, Movement, Fear, Kinship, Gratitude, and Beginnings.

These marks are chosen by the wearer, and can be added at the time of making or later in the life of the garment.

Like traditional adornment, they are not applied for decoration alone, but for meaning.

Through Alama, clothing becomes something that can grow with the person who wears it.

It reflects the Katush philosophy that objects should not only be owned, but lived with — and that when something carries story, it is kept.

BLACK TU KAZINI SHIRT

$200.00
/
Shipping calculated at checkout.

The Tu Kazini Shirt — named from the Swahili phrase meaning work — is Katush’s considered take on the classic work shirt. Functional yet refined, it celebrates the beauty of everyday labor and the quiet strength found in doing.

Crafted from 100% CMIA-certified cotton, the Tu Kazini features two front top pockets and a wide fold button stand finished with our signature hand-carved horn buttons. A curved hem with overlapping side slits adds fluidity to the structure, allowing for ease of movement while maintaining a clean, tailored line. Every element is designed with intention — balancing practicality with quiet elegance.

A unisex essential from our Elevated Essentials collection, the Tu Kazini Shirt can be worn as is or built upon through Alama embroidery, transforming it into a personal canvas of story and identity. Each stitch becomes a mark of experience, a thread of individuality within shared work and purpose.

Size