Due to COVID-19, the world as we know it has already been changed in so many way. But what does that mean for fashion? Showcasing designs with an A-list front row and models taking the runway may very well be a thing of the past. However, Anifa Mvuemba, fashion designer and creative director of Hanifa, is already two steps ahead.
She put on the most innovative and game changing display of fashion with the reveal of her new Pink Label Capsule Collection Congo. She premiered a digital 3D fashion show via the @hanifabridal Instagram live, which showed her designs strutting down the runway clinging to an array of beautiful bodies - the only thing missing: actual bodies. Hats off to the tech and design behind this concept because the execution was absolutely flawless!
The collection aims to shed light on the conditions and benefit families in Congo. The show opens with a YouTube search for Congo as Anifa drops some knowledge on the black market coltan trade in her homeland. Congo, she says, has 60-70% of the world’s source of coltan, a mineral used for electronics, which is illegally sold and causes terrible conditions for people involved in its mining, including women and children.
“I always felt like an outcast,” Anifa said. “I wanted to be a part of something. I always have a voice with Hanifa.”
Anifa started working on her line at 21, and now turning 30 this year, she says she sees the evolution and it’s a beautiful thing to see the growth. She asked herself once you hit your goals as an entreprenuer, then what? Always wanting to serve, she thought now was the perfect time for Congo. She describes herself as intentional. Every single color palette of the collection has meaning, purpose and a story behind it.
Limitless. Innovative. Two of the words Anifa used to describe her line. I couldn’t agree more. Just last month, she posted on Twitter that she’d been learning new concepts to digitize her models and garments, sparking an online conversation about the future of fashion.
This young, black innovator has taken the lead in not leaving her future to chance. We have to recognize her as a pioneer, as her ideas will without a doubt be replicated as we move forward in this new normal.
For anyone interested in helping, 20% of her Colette shirt sales will go toward supporting affected Congolese families.
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