Mimi Plange is a

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

ian-born fashion designer. She moved as a child to America, where she studied architecture and fashion.

Early life

Plange was born in

Accra, Ghana Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

. She moved to California with her family when she was young. She was raised in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

and

Rancho Cucamonga Rancho Cucamonga was a Mexican land grant in present-day San Bernardino County, California, given in 1839 to the dedicated soldier, smuggler and politician Tiburcio Tapia by Mexican governor Juan Bautista Alvarado. The grant formed parts of pr ...

. She received a BA in Architecture from the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

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 Rachel Irene Roy (born January 15, 1974) is an American fashion designer. Early life and education Roy was born in San Bernardino County, California, and raised in Seaside, California, as a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. She grad ...

. 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. Her designs are influenced by African heritage. Her customers have included

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...

Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for ...

and first Lady

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...

. 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. In a 2011 article in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 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." In 2015, she collaborated with furniture designer

Roche Bobois Roche Bobois is a French company that designs and retails furniture and home accessories. History In 1960, having become acquainted at the Copenhagen Furniture Fair, Philippe and François Roche joined forces with Jean-Claude and Patrick Cho ...

to create Mahjong tiles and sofas dressed with her materials that were made in

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plange, Mimi 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women African-American fashion designers American fashion designers American women fashion designers Ghanaian emigrants to the United States Ghanaian fashion designers Ghanaian women fashion designers High fashion brands Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Ontario, California People from Rancho Cucamonga, California