Loza Maléombho Forges New African Industry from Compelling Stories

Internationally recognized Ivorian designer Loza Maléombho, whose designs garnered global attention after Beyoncé wore them, is now charting a course beyond traditional fashion. Her new venture, Pokou, is an ambitious creative universe that intricately weaves together Baoulé history, local craftsmanship, and artificial intelligence. This expansive project aims to build an African-owned intellectual property that spans clothing, film, art, architecture, and digital experiences.

Operating from her workshop on the fourth floor of a building in Treichville, one of Abidjan’s vibrant commercial and cultural districts, Maléombho is expanding her creative vision. Pokou is deeply inspired by the legendary Queen Abla Pokou, the revered founder of the Baoulé people, and reinterprets her story through the lens of science fiction, contemporary fashion, and advanced digital technology.

According to Baoulé tradition, Queen Pokou led her people from the Ashanti Kingdom to what is now Côte d’Ivoire. Faced with the impassable Comoé River, she made the ultimate sacrifice, offering her only son to save her people. This profound story, emblematic of courage, selflessness, and communal survival, is also linked to the origin of the name Baoulé, which translates to “the child is dead.” Maléombho highlights the universal appeal of this narrative, stating, “It is a story that everyone knows in Côte d’Ivoire so people can identify with it. But it is also a story about sacrifice, and I think that is something any audience can relate to in family, work, and life in general.”

This foundational story forms the basis of Maléombho’s YouTube Pokou series, which premiered in June 2026. Developed using generative artificial intelligence alongside her extensive research and design work, Pokou is envisioned not only to promote her clothing label but also to forge new pathways into film, art, architecture, craftsmanship, and immersive digital experiences. The initiative represents Maléombho’s strategic effort to transform rich African narratives into commercially valuable, African-owned intellectual property.

Maléombho’s journey to international acclaim began when Beyoncé featured pieces from her Spring/Summer 2016 collection in the iconic “Formation” music video. Her reputation was further solidified when she designed a custom outfit for Beyoncé’s 2020 visual album, “Black Is King.” These high-profile appearances introduced her work, known for its fusion of contemporary silhouettes with West African materials and imagery, to a global audience.

Now, she intends to evolve her label beyond celebrity endorsements and luxury apparel. “The idea today is not that we want to dissociate ourselves, but that we are evolving more toward a multicultural creative studio and toward cultural intellectual property,” Maléombho explains. “We are no longer focused solely on producing products for sale, but more on creating a universe as such. There are characters, there are clothes, there are art objects, there are interactive experiences, there are architectural concepts.”

This strategic shift also addresses the inherent challenges faced by fashion businesses operating in African markets. Unlike their international counterparts, African brands often lack robust supply chains, established financial networks, and efficient logistics for sourcing materials, maintaining consistent production, organizing distribution, and reaching buyers. Maléombho’s own business has navigated difficulties in securing raw materials, finding specialized artisans, ensuring quality consistency, processing online payments, obtaining finance, and transporting finished goods.

The cotton industry in Côte d’Ivoire exemplifies these structural gaps. Despite being a significant West African producer, with an output forecast of 590,000 bales of cotton lint in the 2026/27 marketing year, only a small fraction is processed domestically. The majority of the raw fiber is exported to textile-producing markets in Asia. This disconnect means that while Maléombho extensively collaborates with Ivorian artisans, she must still import some of the cotton used in her collections.

To overcome these limitations, Maléombho aims to create multiple commercial entry points into the same cultural universe, rather than solely relying on high-volume clothing sales. “It is creativity, it is cultural ownership, it is our cultural stories,” she affirms. Pokou is designed to encompass various forms such as clothing, art objects, interiors, and architectural concepts, fostering collaborations and licensing agreements with companies across different sectors.

Artificial intelligence plays a crucial role in enabling Maléombho to visualize elements of this universe with greater speed, though she firmly asserts that AI is not the creative author. “What is very important to specify is that I do not give creativity to artificial intelligence,” she states. She cautions against the misconception that AI designs everything, which can lead to a perceived loss of creativity, noting that AI frequently makes errors in storytelling and mythology within African traditions.

The digital concepts conceived through Pokou are ultimately brought to life as physical objects in the Treichville workshop. Maléombho collaborates closely with artisans to experiment with fabrics, dyes, embellishments, and accessories. Bronze workers craft unique buttons and a distinctive gold-plated buckle, drawing inspiration from a traditional Baoulé mask. Jute, typically used for cocoa packaging sacks, is ingeniously transformed through dyeing, appliqué, beadwork, and printing. Raffia, Baoulé cloth (a handwoven Ivorian cotton fabric with distinctive patterns), Kita cloth (a West African textile woven in narrow strips of cotton and silk), and hand-dyed cotton also form integral parts of the brand’s visual language.

The impact of these collaborations extends to the artisans themselves. Norou Sow, a leather craftsman who has worked with Maléombho for over a decade, credits the partnership with transforming both his working methods and his livelihood. “She taught me to work in a group. She also taught me to develop my experience,” Sow shares, adding, “Many things changed in my life when I started working with her.”

The company directly employs 10 individuals and engages with more than 50 artisans across Côte d’Ivoire. Maléombho reports that approximately 90% of the inputs and production are local, with some cotton and manufacturing sourced internationally. The label’s products are sold through outlets and concept stores in Côte d’Ivoire, the United States, Nigeria, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Tanzania.

Dorine Negou, a fashion and tourism specialist based in Côte d’Ivoire, highlights a broader challenge: convincing African brands and consumers to recognize and commercialize their own cultural identities. “I think the difficulty is that we Africans want to adopt European models too much,” she remarks. “We have so many things that can enhance our value and attract more attention to us. It is up to us to rely on our brands, on our nature, on where we come from, and know how to showcase what we have.”

Yapo Patrick, a visual and installation artist and an educator in color and textile techniques at the Technical Centre for Applied Arts (CTAA) in Bingerville, Côte d’Ivoire, sees Maléombho’s journey as an example of how formal training must be coupled with personal commitment and a willingness to embrace risks. He notes, “There will always be limitations and difficulties, but creators have to commit themselves personally. They have to dare and decide to act despite those difficulties.” However, to evolve individual successes into a robust domestic fashion industry requires broader investment in skills and local production. Patrick believes vocational training for designers, pattern makers, and tailors could stimulate production and encourage Ivorians to support locally made fabrics and clothing. “We need more information, more initiatives and more people investing in professional training,” he advocates. “If Ivorians can produce and consume Ivorian products, including fabrics, that will generate revenue and encourage both the state and the private sector to develop an ecosystem in which the fashion industry can grow.”

Maléombho firmly believes that Africa possesses a vast narrative and cultural inheritance, yet it currently captures too little of its commercial value. Her vision is to transform these stories, materials, and craft traditions into products that maintain a distinct identity while meeting international standards. Her clothing label serves as the initial commercial foundation, offering luxury pieces that appeal to customers drawn to the brand’s craftsmanship and cultural references, alongside more accessible entry points like shoes, belts, and jewelry.

Pokou extends this model, allowing consumers to encounter a garment within a film or digital world. A character could inspire a collection, an imagined architectural structure could lead to furniture or other designed objects, and the story itself could be licensed or become the basis for collaborations across various industries. Over the next three to five years, Maléombho aims to complete the transition from a fashion label to a cultural studio centered on intellectual property. She anticipates this model will generate employment opportunities in traditional crafts, film, digital production, and artificial intelligence.

“It is not just a clothing brand,” she emphasizes. “It is truly a multicultural studio that is in tune with the times and also knows how to innovate while keeping its roots in its history.” From its base in Treichville, Pokou seeks to create a dynamic dialogue between Baoulé history and artificial intelligence, craftsmanship and cinema, and clothing and architecture. Maléombho is convinced that the very constraints confronting African creative businesses can be catalysts for innovation. “The legacy I would like to leave would really be to show that, first of all, with very little, we can create much more value,” she concludes. “It is even within the constraints that we have the opportunity to innovate.”