Mimi Plange is a Ghanaian-born fashion designer. She moved as a child to America, where she studied architecture and fashion.
Mimi Plange | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Accra, Ghana |
| Nationality | Ghanaian |
| Education | Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (San Francisco) |
| Occupation | Fashion designer |
| Partner | Ibrahim Ndoye |
| Website | mimiplange |
Early life edit
Plange was born in Accra, Ghana. She moved to California with her family when she was young. She was raised in Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga.[1] She received a BA in Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley and attended the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in San Francisco. After her education, she moved to New York and worked for both Patricia Fields and Rachel Roy.[2]
She and her business partner, Ibrahim Ndoye, created a fashion line Boudoir D'huîtres but she later changed it to her own name Mimi Plange in 2010.[3]
Her designs are influenced by African heritage.[4] Her customers have included Rihanna, Serena Williams and first Lady Michelle Obama.[4] Michelle wore her A-line skirt on the ABC TV show The View. Plange was the Designer of the Year at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week South Africa.[2]
In a 2011 article in The New York Times, Plange was quoted as stating: "I want to prove to people that African fashion can't be pigeonholed.... I can compete globally." Plange does not use traditional African prints or textiles in her designs. In her Spring 2012 collection, Scarred Perfection, she referenced the body scars that Africans would use as a mode of tribal identification. Plange explains, "I am motivated by those things that make us question how we represent ourselves to other people."[3][5]
In 2015, she collaborated with furniture designer Roche Bobois to create Mahjong tiles and sofas dressed with her materials that were made in Burkina Faso.[6]
References edit
- ^ Cannon (2021-08-13). "Mimi Plange In Conversation with Irk Magazine and CANNON with Questions by TK & Cipriana Quann". IRK Magazine. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
- ^ a b "Who is Mimi Plange? | The Studio Museum in Harlem". www.studiomuseum.org. Retrieved 2017-03-08.
- ^ a b Jennings, Helen (2011-01-01). New African fashion. Munich; London; New York (N.Y.): Prestel. ISBN 9783791345796. OCLC 800941704.
- ^ a b "MIMI PLANGE - ITC". ITC. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
- ^ Oliver, Simone S. (2011-12-07). "Africa's New Fashion Influence". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-03-08.
- ^ "Fashion designer Mimi Plange creates exclusive Atlanta furniture collection for Roche Bobois". Atlanta Magazine. 2016-10-04. Retrieved 2018-01-08.