The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reports 71 percent of all human trafficking victims are women and girls and one third are children. Maryanne E. Mokoko’s Seven Unforgettable brings awareness to victims of child trafficking, women’s abuse and lack of empowerment, poverty, and homelessness.
… This awareness allowed people around the world to ultimately hear voices left unheard, from women, the physically abused, and the victims of child trafficking to those experiencing the powerful concept of black love or suffering from mental health issues … our mission was to champion these current events through the storytelling of fashion.
– Maryanne E. Mokoko
Seven Unforgettable was dedicated to the ‘The Falling Leaves’, those forgotten without a voice to state their plight”, says the designer, Maryanne E. Mokoko, a naturalized American of Cameroon origin, referencing the poem written by Margaret Postgate-Cole. Mokoko, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, represents the African diaspora who are combating stereotypes, making their voices heard, and changing the way we see African fashion. She combines her proud Cameroon roots with meaningful designs framed in storytelling that reflect world social issues. Her project, Seven Unforgettable, was inspired by societal woes like child trafficking, poverty of the mind, homelessness, and lack of women empowerment, shedding light to those unheard voices, groups, and communities.
As a student and HBCU graduate of the School of Architecture & Design, Howard University, Mokoko experienced a cross-cultural diasporic need to connect with “Mama Africa”, which developed her vision for a fashion career. “I wanted to create clothes that would make people, like me, be proud to show off their origins. At the same time, to have designs that are relatable to our changing times.” By positioning her brand, Koko Nanga, with its core use of African wax print, Ankara, as the staple cloth, she has reached not only the Diaspora, but an Afropolitan. She defines one’s connection with African culture as Afropolitan, “throughout my journey I have met/spoken to a variety of people from different countries, cultures, races. With this I have realized that you don’t have to be Black to be Afropolitan. You simply have to have an affinity for Afro culture.”
Released in 2020 and documented in Kenya, East Africa, Seven Unforgettable took on a whole new meaning of storytelling with Mama Africa as the background while the world was navigating through a pandemic, social and political unrest. Mokoko’s design process, which began in February 2020, evolved and ended with seven commanding and empowering titled looks – SAND DUNES, MAMA AFRICA, WARRIOR LADY, WO-MAN, BRIDES & GROOMS, TRAILBLAZER, and AFRICAN QUEEN–juxtaposed by the ‘falling’ voices of societal pain with aspiring female-centric statements: “Be Transformed, Be Giving, Be Fierce, Be Light, Be Love, Be Present, and Be Empowered”.
Maryanne E. Mokoko’s statement:
The Seven Unforgettable collection was born in February 2020 in remembrance of what Koko Nanga coins the falling leaves: a great awareness occurring right before our eyes. This awareness allowed people around the world to ultimately hear voices left unheard, from women, the physically abused, and the victims of child trafficking to those experiencing the powerful concept of black love or suffering from mental health issues. After visiting Kenya, East Africa and immersing ourselves in knowledge from artisans, photographers, makeup artists, hair stylists, and models, our mission was to champion these current events through the storytelling of fashion. Each dress in the haute collection represents a level of the falling leaves we aspire to emulate not only as we step into 2021, but in the now and every day.
The making of the “Seven Unforgettable” project by Maryanne E. Mokoko. Storytelling through the lens of fashion, filmed in Kenya, West Africa.
More about Maryanne E. Mokoko from our interview – Elevating African Fashion
Photo shoot location: Kenya, Africa
Feature image: African Queen
Photographer: Edwin Mania at Urban Pitchaz, Nairobi
Model: Winnie Wanja
Hairstylist: Akoth Onyango,
Makeup artist: Sinitta Okelo
Umu Thuku-Benzinge of Kaleidoscope Beauty
E D G E 