When Kenya native Anifa Mvuemba began designing,ย she was quite hesitant to start her own line. โIt took me a while to believe in myself and to understand that I could actually do it,โ she says. After lots of hard work and motivation from friends and family, Mvuemba launched her design label in December 2011. The label is appropriately named Hanifa Mvuemba, which is Arabic for “believe”, and stands as a testament of her journey.
Ranging in price from $35 to $300, Hanifaย Mvuemba is a chic, contemporary womenโs clothing line varying in different shapes, textures and styles. The current Spring/Summer 2013 collection titled MOD (short for ‘modern’) ranges from long gowns to cocktail dresses and jump suits. Everything is clean, sleek, progressive and sexy.
Although the brand is just shy of 2-years-old, Mvuemba has already released four different collections and has claimed a wide variety of clientele all over Washington D.C. Along with creating pieces for her collections, Mvuemba also designs custom pieces for clients. There is even word of her launching a menโs line later this year.ย EBONY.com chatted with the young designer about her inspirations and about her future plans for her clothing brand.
EBONY.com: What are some of the things that inspire you and your designs?
Anifaย Mvuemba:ย I travel a lot, so I use my traveling as inspiration as well as the people in my life. I recently traveled to Turkey, which really shaped my Spring/Summer line. Iโve also traveled to places like Dubai and New York City, so global travel is an on-going source of inspiration.
EBONY.com: Who is the girl youโre designing for?
AM:ย I design for the girl that is young, fun, bold, daring and chic. She isnโt afraid to be sexy.
EBONY.com:ย What are some of the short-term goals for Hanifaย Mvuemba? ย
AM:ย You can expect to see much more growth and more creativity. Iโm constantly trying to evolve, and so thatโs what weโll be doing, evolving.
To see more of Mvuemba’s designs, visit her site atย www.shophanifa.com
-Imani Kai
-ebony.com