Chinyemugo Obiekwugo-Charles combines fashion, social justice, and cultural heritage in a unique way. With a strong educational background from Nigeria, England, and the US, she explores how the past affects our present. As a Christian and social justice advocate, she finds inspiration in the Catholic Church, African culture, and complex colonial histories.
Her fashion brand, Mugo Mugo, showcases her creativity, blending structure, shapes, and military and antique influences. After graduating top of her class at Parsons School of Design and being featured in Vogue, Obiekwugo-Charles shares her story, passion, and future plans in this interview with MARY NNAH What informed the brand, Mugo Mugo ? Plainly and simply, what informs my collections in general is my need to create a consciousness, to make sure that people are aware of these things. A lot of people stay away from political issues, social issues, just mainly because of the looming feeling that comes with it, and just the feeling of always being party to bad news.
But I feel like with fashion, it almost kind of romanticises it a little bit, but still, while giving the information at the same time. Aside from societal issues, the main focus for my brand is to empower women. And I know that sounds almost kind of cliché, because almost every brand nowadays wants to empower women, but when I talk about empowering women, I’m talking about the woman that feels like she has lost all hope and has lost all form of power – .