Congolese Rooted Brand Hanifa Debuts Spring ’22 Ready To Wear Collection 

One thing is for sure, Hanifa is here to stay. ‘Hanifa’, founded by Congelese designer Anita Mvuemba made headlines with their Spring-Summer 2020 capsule collection virtual show presented via Instagram Live. In lieu of models, the clothes were 3D modeled on headless, floating figures, giving the presentation a ghostly feel. The collection itself was a tribute to her Congolese heritage, employing her distinctive use of African-influenced color and silhouettes to pay tribute to the country’s women.

“I am so intentional about everything I do with this collection,” Mvuemba said at the time on her Instagram page. “If you’re African then you know about African seamstresses and how detail is so important, and the color is so important, and prints are so important. I really just wanted to use that in this collection, just to give tribute to African seamstresses.”

Fast forward, two years later and the CFDA approved brand is at it again with their new spring ’22 ready to wear collection.

The collection is an explosion of color that successfully balances the contemporary aesthetic Mvuemba has developed with the myriad of trends that have emerged over the past year. There’s baggy cargo pants, chunky bodycon knits, cutouts, and the sexy Y2K-ish sensibility that has spread throughout fashion. Some of these shapes are a welcome departure for Mvuemba, an expansion of her design language and a statement to the growth she speaks of. “I’m in a place where I don’t want to make excuses,” she said reflecting on the past year, “I’m a designer, and I want to be recognized as such, not for the ‘Instagram thing’ or as the ‘Black girl.’’- Anita said while talking to vogue

About the new collection, creative director Anita had this to say:

“We really wanted to master corsets and boning, we’ve been trying for years, but I hope this time we got it right, I wanted to take this collection back to our focus on women’s bodies and the female shape, to give something a little different and truly show my range.”

 “I want to be recognized as a global luxury brand without losing our core customer, that’s the gap I’m looking to close here, to grow with our customer.” This desire is reflected not only in the collection’s evening wear, but in her expansion into footwear. The finale, a skillfully tiered and layered ruffle gown with feather accents, was particularly striking. A fitted cowl neck gown also hit the spot.”

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