After gaining global recognition when Beyoncé donned her creations, Ivorian designer Loza Maléombho is now transcending traditional fashion. Through her project Pokou, she merges Baoulé heritage, local artisanship, and artificial intelligence to construct an African-owned creative ecosystem encompassing fashion, film, art, architecture, and digital experiences.
From the fourth floor of a building in Treichville—one of Abidjan’s most vibrant commercial and cultural hubs—Maléombho’s vision is rapidly expanding beyond the garments displayed in her workshop.
Maléombho is cultivating Pokou, an imaginative universe inspired by Queen Abla Pokou, the legendary progenitor of the Baoulé people. This world is reenvisioned through the lenses of science fiction, fashion, and digital technology.
According to tradition, Queen Pokou led her people from the Ashanti Kingdom towards present-day Côte d’Ivoire. When they were unable to cross the Comoé River, Pokou sacrificed her only son to save her people. The story, which symbolises courage, selflessness and communal survival, is also associated with the origin of the name Baoulé, often translated as “the child is dead.”
“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,” she said.
Drawing on this rich history, Maléombho launched her YouTube Pokou series in June 2026.
Developed using generative artificial intelligence alongside Maléombho’s proprietary research and design efforts, Pokou aims to elevate the clothing label while unlocking pathways into film, art, architecture, craftsmanship, and digital experiences.
The project represents the designer’s effort to transform African narratives into commercially viable, African-owned intellectual property.
Maléombho is no stranger to the global stage. Her international breakthrough occurred when singer Beyoncé wore pieces from her Spring/Summer 2016 collection in the “Formation” music video. She subsequently designed a custom outfit for Beyoncé’s 2020 visual album, Black Is King. These high-profile appearances introduced her work to a worldwide audience and cemented her reputation for blending contemporary silhouettes with West African materials and imagery.
Now, she intends to elevate the label beyond mere celebrity endorsement and luxury apparel.
“The current objective is not to distance ourselves, but rather to evolve into a multicultural creative studio focused on cultural intellectual property,” Maléombho said.
“We are no longer solely focused on producing products for sale, but rather on creating a comprehensive universe. This universe features characters, clothing, art objects, interactive experiences, and architectural concepts.”
This strategic shift is partly a response to the constraints facing fashion enterprises in African markets. A traditional label must design collections, source materials, maintain consistent production, organise distribution, and secure buyers. Maléombho notes that African brands often must navigate these hurdles without the supply chains, financing, and logistics available to established international corporations.
Her own enterprise has faced significant hurdles, including sourcing raw materials, finding specialised labour, maintaining consistent quality, processing online payments, securing financing, and transporting finished goods.
Côte d’Ivoire’s cotton industry highlights one of these structural deficits. The nation is a major West African producer, with output forecast at 590,000 bales of cotton lint for the 2026/27 marketing year. Yet, only a fraction is processed by domestic spinning and weaving enterprises; the majority of the fibre is exported to textile-producing markets in Asia.
This disconnect explains why Maléombho collaborates extensively with Ivorian artisans while still importing some of the cotton required for her collections.
Rather than relying exclusively on selling high volumes of clothing, she aims to establish multiple commercial entry points within the same cultural universe.
“It is about creativity, cultural ownership, and our cultural stories,” she explained. Pokou could encompass clothing, art objects, interiors, and architectural concepts, while facilitating collaborations and licensing agreements with companies across various sectors.
Artificial intelligence has enabled Maléombho to visualise elements of this universe more rapidly, but she firmly rejects the notion that it is the author of the work.
“It is crucial to specify that I do not delegate creativity to artificial intelligence,” she stated. “People assume AI designs everything, leading to a loss of creativity. However, AI makes numerous errors in storytelling and even mythology within our African traditions.”
The digital concepts ultimately materialise into physical objects within the Treichville workshop. Maléombho collaborates with artisans to test fabrics, dyes, embellishments, and accessories. Bronze artisans craft buttons and a signature gold-plated buckle inspired by a Baoulé mask.
Jute, typically used in sacks for packaging and cocoa export, is transformed through dyeing, appliqué, beadwork, and printing. Raffia, Baoulé cloth, Kita cloth, and hand-dyed cotton also contribute to the brand’s visual lexicon.
Baoulé is a traditional Ivorian cotton fabric, handwoven in distinctive patterns and colours, often worn during ceremonies. Kita, on the other hand, is a West African textile handwoven in narrow strips of cotton and silk.
For Norou Sow, a leather craftsman who has collaborated with Maléombho for over a decade, the partnership has transformed both his working methods and his livelihood.
“She taught me to work collaboratively and to develop my expertise,” Sow said. “My life changed dramatically when I began working with her.”
The company directly employs ten people and collaborates with over fifty artisans across Côte d’Ivoire. Maléombho states that 90% of its inputs and production are local, though some cotton and manufacturing processes are sourced internationally.
The label distributes its products through outlets and concept stores in Côte d’Ivoire, the United States, Nigeria, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Tanzania.
Côte d’Ivoire-based fashion and tourism specialist Dorine Negou identifies the broader challenge as convincing African brands and consumers to recognise the commercial value of their own cultural identities.
“I believe the difficulty lies in our tendency to adopt European models excessively,” she said. “We possess so many elements that can enhance our value and attract greater attention. It is up to us to rely on our brands, our nature, and our origins, and to showcase what we have effectively.”
Yapo Patrick is a visual and installation artist who has taught colour and textile techniques for over two decades at the Centre Technique des Arts Appliqués (CTAA), or Technical Centre for Applied Arts, in Bingerville, Côte d’Ivoire.
Patrick noted that Maléombho’s journey demonstrates how formal training must be combined with personal commitment and a willingness to take risks: “There will always be limitations and difficulties, but creators must commit themselves personally. They must dare to act despite those obstacles.”
However, translating the success of individual designers into a more robust domestic fashion industry will require broader investment in skills and local production. Despite Côte d’Ivoire being a major cotton producer, only a limited portion of its raw material is locally transformed into finished textiles and garments.
Patrick believes that vocational training for designers, pattern makers, and tailors could expand production and encourage Ivorians to purchase locally made fabric and clothing.
“We need more information, more initiatives, and more people investing in professional training,” he said. “If Ivorians can produce and consume Ivorian products, including fabrics, it will generate revenue and encourage both the state and the private sector to cultivate an ecosystem where the fashion industry can flourish.”
Maléombho believes that Africa possesses a vast narrative and cultural inheritance yet captures very little of its commercial value. In her view, the opportunity lies in transforming stories, materials, and craft traditions into products that retain a distinct identity while meeting international standards.
Her clothing label provides the initial commercial foundation. Its luxury pieces attract customers drawn to the house’s craftsmanship and cultural references, while shoes, belts, jewellery, and other accessories offer more accessible entry points.
Pokou would extend this model. A consumer might first encounter a garment in a film or digital world. A character could lead to a clothing collection, while an imagined building might inspire furniture or other designed objects. The story itself could be licensed or utilised in collaborations across different industries.
Over the next three to five years, Maléombho hopes to complete the transition from a fashion label to a cultural studio built around intellectual property. She believes this model could generate jobs in traditional crafts, film, digital production, and artificial intelligence.
“It is not merely a clothing brand,” she said. “It is truly a multicultural studio that is attuned to the times and knows how to innovate while remaining rooted in its history.”
From its base in Treichville, Pokou seeks to bring Baoulé history into dialogue with artificial intelligence, craftsmanship with cinema, and clothing with architecture.
Maléombho believes the constraints facing African creative enterprises can themselves foster innovation.
“The legacy I wish to leave is to demonstrate that, with very little, we can create significantly more value,” she said. “It is precisely within these constraints that we have the opportunity to innovate.”
