VIBRANT VIBES

CAMEROON-BORN DESIGNER CLAUDE KAMENI DAZZLES ON THE RED CARPET, THE BIG SCREEN—AND SOON A SHOP NEAR YOU

The road to success for fashion designer Claude Kameni stretches from Cameroon to Maryland to Hollywood’s red carpets—with a virtual stop-off at YouTube, where she taught herself to sew.

Raised with three brothers and three sisters in the Cameroonian capital, Yaoundé, and the coastal city of Douala, Kameni, now 27, moved to the U.S. with her family when she was 8. After taking a fashion class at High Point High School in Beltsville, Md.—she gives a shout-out on her website to her teacher, Mrs. Upadhyay—she began sewing clothes for classmates using a small sewing machine, a gift from her aunt. She scoured YouTube for the finer points on how to sew a circle skirt, pencil skirt, pants, and so on.

She began posting her creations on Instagram, and Hollywood noticed. First was Janet Jackson, who tapped Kameni to create an elaborate beaded gown for a music video. Then came looks for Tracee Ellis Ross (at the 2018 American Music Awards), Viola Davis (2021’s Golden Globes), and this spring’s Eddie Murphy film Coming 2 America (featuring her 83-pound African-print wedding gown).

Her label, called Lavie by CK, bears a distinctive African vibe, featuring high-wattage “ankara” prints. She made her New York Fashion Week debut virtually last year, and her NYFW runway show in September 2021 unveiled her first ready-to-wear collection.

Now based in Los Angeles, Kameni recently chatted with us about fabric, family, and cultural appropriation.

You’ve worked a lot with ankara—ethnic prints often used on wax-cotton fabric. What does it mean to you? Ankara [pronounced an-KAH-rah] is so special because it’s where I’m from. I come from this tribe in Cameroon called Bamileke [bah-MIH-leh-KAY]. We wear a lot of ankara prints. In Africa in general, every tribe has its own traditional print, so what I try to do is look for a print that attracts me—and we both have to attract each other. Once we attract each other, it’s just magic, right there.

So it’s a coming together, of sorts. Yes. When I go to stores, I think, oh my God, we have to get that fabric, that’s me, right there. I just know it’s going to look good in a dress. It’s really amazing. I never imagined getting this far sticking to who I am.

What brought your family to the U.S.? My dad brought us here. He owned a bus company in Cameroon. He wanted better opportunities for us. I don’t know how they did it, especially when my dad passed away [in 2007, three years after moving to the U.S.], and my mom had to take care of seven kids by herself. I look up to my mom. What I’m doing now is for her. I’m not doing it for myself. I’m doing it to help my mom out and make her proud.

So you started designing clothes at home in Maryland. Janet Jackson really opened the door for me. Then I started getting [dress orders] for award shows in L.A. I kept flying back and forth, six hours from Maryland to L.A. I quickly realized I didn’t want to do that all the time, so I made the big move—without thinking. You know how you just…go? I was deciding between New York and L.A. I love New York, but the awards shows mostly happen in L.A., and that’s what my brand was becoming known for. So I moved to L.A. in 2019. I had no business plan, no nothing. I just knew I was coming here, that was it.

How does the West Coast influence the line—is there something about L.A. that inspires you? I’m going to be quite honest. Nothing here really inspires me. I came here strictly because the work is here. I want to establish my business here, then I’ll decide where I want to live myself.

You’ve been well-received in L.A., right when Hollywood is thinking hard about inclusivity, and there’s more support for Black-owned businesses in general. It seems like you’re in the right place at the right time. Yes, which is crazy. I never imagined this happening so fast. You’re in a moment, but you don’t know you’re in a moment.

It’s also a moment where people are more concerned about cultural appropriation, and who can wear or make certain styles. Do you worry about that? As the years progress and I’m getting bigger, I’m realizing, OK, everybody needs to wear this print. So I started designing my own patterns, my own fabrics, instead of using the wax fabric, which can be uncomfortable. I want anybody to wear this, without other people asking, “Why are you wearing an African print?” I personally don’t see anything wrong with any race wearing my work, as long as they love the culture. You can wear the print as long as you’re all about it, and love it. That’s how I feel.

So your new prints are inspired by African aesthetics, but not tied to any one tribe or culture. They’re more modern, more me. And everybody’s just lovin’ it.

Opposite page and below: Tribal-inspired prints from Claude Kameni’s fall 2021 Lavie by CK collection. Top: The designer.