Loza Maleombho

Côte-d’Ivoirian designer Loza Maléombho has taken African design into almost alien territory with her AW2015 collection, launched in March.

Loza can be relied upon to bring an edgy creativity to fashion, her designs are a vision of the ever multi-cultural present Africa, and so modern they are almost futuristic: Modern African haute couture collides with the future Western world. She is hot stuff right now on the fashion scene; her series of “Socially Conscious Selfies” were ecstatically received as was the editorial she did for culture & art magazine Saint Heron‘s Designer Spotlight.

Her latest collection – “Alien Nation” is innovative and out of this world. Geometric cuts, combined with traditional African accents, she has used conflicting materials and textures, all blended into creations which to look at give the impression of a monohybrid future. Aesthetically, it’s quirky, bold and in your face.

Loza began designing at the tender age of 13 and graduated from the University of the Arts of Philadelphia with a BA of Fine Arts in Animation in 2006. She interned with New york based designers Jill Stuart, Yigal Azrouël and Cynthia Rowley before taking the plunge and starting her own label in New York City in 2009.

On her website, she describes her brand as ‘a fusion between traditional cultures/ sub-cultures and contemporary fashion.’ And we agree.  Loza credits her early world-wide exposure for the eclectic aesthetic and distinct multiculturalism so evident in her work.

Born in Brazil and raised between Côte d’Ivoire and New York, Loza produces her designs in a small manufacturing store she owns in Côte-d’Ivoire where she employs young women from less-privileged backgrounds to create her clothes and accessories, helping them to support themselves and work towards more stable futures. She works with local artisans to produce her jewellery and accessory collections too.

Here are some of our favourites which you can buy on her website, here.