MANÉMANÉ x MERVki present Kukutana FW22

As a result of the collaboration promoted by the Spanish Embassy in Dar es Salaam, the Spanish fashion studio MANÉMANÉ and the group of emerging Tanzanian artists MERVKi Collective present a joint collection under the name KUKUTANA (“encounters” in Swahili).

KUKUTANA the FW22 collection of MANÉMANÉ x MERVki refers to the common ground that the creative language of both teams has found in the vindication of traditional textile production techniques, a conception of feminism based on the self-determination of women and overcoming the male-female binomial.

A preview of the pieces designed could be seen in the 14th edition of the Swahili Fashion Week, held last December in Dar es Salaam and that in 2021 commemorated the 60th anniversary of the independence of Tanganyika. The MANÉMANÉ team went to Tanzania to live the experience first hand together with the Spanish embassy and MERVki.

In addition to the photo shoots developed in Dar es Salaam and Madrid by each creative team, the garments have been used in the styling of the music video for “Restart” -single by Tanzanian singer and songwriter Tofa Jaxx, which combines soul, bongo flava, afro-fusion and R&B influences-. The video will be released in February 2022.

Farggor, creative director of MERVKi: “It has its source of inspiration in urban African culture, where a myriad of rural lifestyles converge and mutate. So approaching the construction of an aesthetic identity between Tanzanian and Spanish fashion codes has led to an interesting exercise of introspection, projection and acceptance”.

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“We use the Spanish dress tradition, our folklore, as a source of inspiration. It was very positive to be able to add codes from traditional Tanzanian clothing, especially from the Maasai culture. Realities that we had known through literature, cinema or photography, brought to our fingertips with this collaboration”, explains Miguel Becer, founder and creative director of MANÉMANÉ.

Through this co-creation project, the Spanish Embassy in Tanzania not only aims to promote Spanish culture abroad, but also to create a space for Spanish and Tanzanian creators to meet, to support the creative industries of both countries, to strengthen the capacity of the agents involved and to encourage the mobility of cultural products.

Now… Why don’t you take a look at Henrik Vibskov’s collection presented at Copenhagen Fashion Week?