Interview Feature: “Alien Edits” Series by Loza Maléombho.
We spent a few quick minutes with Abidjan-based designer and creative Loza Maléombho, the mind and force behind her eponymous womenswear label, to talk about something a little outside of the fashion world.
Over the past few months, she’s posted some highly intriguing portraits on instagram that merge the concepts of selfie culture, self-love and self as muse, partly inspired by her own life experiences, a socially conscious awareness, and exposure to artists such as Frida Kahlo.
Can you give us a background or explanation behind this project and how it came about?
The concept of Alien Edits came to me rather intuitively and I am still expressing and experimenting as I am writing this, but if I had to pin it I’d say that it came from frustrations about the US judiciary system with its on going discrimination against African Americans and frustrations about social issues that are class, race, culture, sexuality and religious stereotypes, all of which cause a state of alienation on its victims.
In other terms Alien Edits is an effort to bring awareness on social and cultural issues that affect people of my generation and empowers them with uplifting messages of grace, royalty, empathy and elegance in order to push upward. Some symbols include the stretching of the neck for stature and pride and the constant use of the hand as a key element of grace and self validation for example. So I thought: what better and faster way to communicate these ideas than with a selfie?
Your are both subject and photographer. Did the decision to include yourself in these roles come about from practicality, the trend of selfie culture, or some other reason?
Being that I am what I call an impulsive creative, I come across ideas in the middle of making patterns for my collection or while overseeing production in my workshop and tend to become anxious and have fears that someone else will get them unless I realise them right away. Funny enough, I believe Michael Jackson and Albert Einstein suffered from this as well. I rarely have a model on hand to execute them so I make time in chaos for this project.
I also have a weakness for perfection and need to be able to communicate my ideas soundly to someone else, so most of the time I end up executing them myself. Lastly, and this will probably come off narcissistic, but I like to think of myself as my own muse. You will find that a lot of my work is reflective of my own style, some would even say that my models or my sketches look like me. I have spent a lot of time by myself ever since I was little. I would hide in my art projects using myself as a reference, or get lost in my imagination and create a world around myself.
I have always been a loner and that’s how I’ve learned to know, express and appreciate myself. In the words of Frida Kalho, “I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best.” I can confidently say that I will never go wrong in portraying and expressing a message using myself as a medium. I use a trend available to all, “the selfie culture”, to spread messages that I take to heart. So far so good!
How long do you intend to keep the series going? Are there any plans to showcase this work somewhere?
There are many plans but you’d have to wait and see!! :)
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