Yaoundé born,
New York-based fashion designer Nyorh Agwe says her work is a by-product of her life as a
nomad. “Through fashion I was able to reconnect myself with my birth culture
and I am in a space now where I have embraced all of my nationalities instead of
standing by just one,” says Agwe, 20, who grew up between Cameroon, Italy, and
the U.S. “My work is bold, colorful, funky, detailed, eclectic, and often in
one way or another speaks of my cross cultural experiences as an African
growing up anywhere except in Africa.” said the designer.
This past
year, Agwe graduated from New York’s Parsons School of Design. Her thesis
collection, M’ba M’etta-We the Metta People, is a personal exploration of
the disappearing traditional crafts of the Tugi people of northwest Cameroon,
specifically the dyeing of raffia cloth. “All explorations and experiences—from
walking through the bush, to peeling and dyeing raffia, to weaving and
manipulating raffia—drove the end result of this collection,” Agwe shared. “It became a proclamation that I am Metta and as such it is my
duty to not just watch my culture disappear or become under-appreciated. The
collection is a reminder to others, as well as to the Metta People, just how
special we are.”
Her post-graduate
continuation of this work, titled Leftovers,
is a jewellery line made of recycled materials from her previous collections
(A few months ago, Ghanaian singer-songwriter Jojo Abot donned a
piece from the collection at the Face2Face Awards in New York City).
Credit: Okayafrica
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