FashionAbidjan

Loza Maléombho (designer)

Loza Maléombho

✓ Verified · 2 sources

An Ivorian-American designer who founded her label in New York in 2009 and moved back to Abidjan in 2012 to start again. Beyoncé wore one of her jackets in the 2020 video for 'Already', and her work is in the collection of the V&A in London.

She felt African symbols, textiles and aesthetics were absent from international fashion, so she chose to stay in Abidjan and redesign from traditional symbols.

CE QUE VOUS VERREZ · What you will see

A sharp jacket fastened with a gold Baoulé mask clasp, from a collection called 'Zaouli'.

POURQUOI · So what

She proves you can become globally known without leaving Abidjan, a benchmark for a new generation of Ivorian creatives.

SAVOIR-FAIRE · How to use it

Anyone can talk about Beyoncé; it is more tasteful to talk about how the mask clasp turns a ritual object into an everyday accessory.

Asian and European parallelsCompare Asian designers who turn traditional motifs into high fashion: using tradition to speak about the present.

Where to experience itHer studio in Treichville; Instagram.