Inglewood, CA – Today was the unveiling of Mahriama “Mahri” Suma 2016/17 Spring Summer Sumahhrie Collection. Mahri has had some pieces of her previous collections in fashion shows in the past, but those fashion shows showcased her and several other designers. This show was her first exclusive fashion show. It was a intimate lively affair.
Sumahhrie Collection was a absolute reflection of Mahri’s West African roots and her California lifestyle. Western coordinates, party wear, and resort wear all done in traditional West African wax prints and dashiki fabric. With bold shades of pink, electric blues, and yellows against chocolates, olive greens burnt oranges and cranberry. The resort wear was given a real organic feel with crochet skirts, halters and dresses all of which were hand done by Mahri herself. With texture of rayon and cotton, all of which were embellished with either carved wood button and or wooden beads.
This collection also stood out to me because there was no typical size 0 on this runway. When I asked Mahri what size woman is she designing for she said she was her own original fit model at a size 8, and she wants her collection to be worn by real women so she has he designs cut to fit a size 8 through 14.
There were also exotic accessories in the collection like African print quilted patchwork clutch purses, stacked bangles wrapped in wax fabric, Kente fabric neck ties, infinity scarves, mixed fabric backpacks and messenger bags.
As Mahri prides herself on being a family person she wanted to include fashions in the collection that her son, nieces and nephews could wear, so the collection had little jumps suit and short sets all done with that African flavor for little girls and a few dashiki print button down dress shirt that were actual modeled on the runway by her teenage son.
If you’re looking for unique eclectic fashions then the Sumahrie Collection is for you. These pieces will be available for the public early 2016. I look forward to seeing where this collection goes next.
