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Initial Press Kit for 21MC, a streetwear brand.
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21ST CENTURY MAROON COLONYWWW.21MAROONS.COM
Dear Editor,
Fashion has forgotten the African Diaspora. Sure some fashion houses are occasionally inspired by African textile designs for their Summer collections but where is Africa represented on the runway in the Fall, Winter and Spring?
And where do we see Africa represented in everyday collections? We don’t. But all of that is about to change now that 21st Century Maroon Colony (21MC) has been established.
21MC is a conceptual streetwear brand heavily influenced by the African Diaspora. Each design is reminiscent of traditional African and West Indian patterns and prints. 21MCs purpose is to provide Tropical Wear garments to the urban Maroon Colonies of the 21st Century.
Each collection 21MC creates, tells of our rebellions on the plantations from yesterday, and of our inner-city survival today. 21MC also draws upon inspiration from multicultural leaders in art, music, film and civic government.
Yes, we have a story to tell. Attached you will find a copy of our Fall/Winter lookbook filled with tropical tees and scarves for men and women.
Created in the Spring of 2007 by childhood friends Emeka Alams and Yego Moravia, 21MC released its first collection in the Fall of 2007 and has been well received. The line is based in San Francisco and is in stores in Chicago, Seattle and New York.
Sincerely,
Lola SmallsLola from 21MC
21MC14328 22ND AVENUE NESEATTLE, WA98125
"Don't you know that it's true, that for me and for you, slavery is abolished."Big Youth-"Streets in Africa"
21MC (21st Century Maroon Colony) is a S.F. based conceptual streetwear company representing the western hemisphere of the Afro-Triangle.
To be a maroon is to be constantly confronted with the reality of survival. The development of a reborn maroon identity is the first step of survival in the 21st century. 21MC is that first step. Live from Afro-Triangle, our purpose is to provide Tropical Wear garments to the urban Maroon Colonies of the 21st century. The patterns, rhythms, textures, and colors of Africa and Her Diaspora, passed on to us by our ancestors, influence the way we create our collections and the way we wear ourselves on the streets. By combining ideas and symbols of the past with our visions of the future we illuminate the Afro-Frontier of tomorrow. Each collection 21MC creates, tells of our rebellions on the plantations from yesterday, and our survival in the cities of the beast today. We are part of the evolution that will ensure another era of cultural survival and liberation, for the luxury of hesitation and the uneasy comfort of the plantation or the corner is (still) no longer affordable.
The Afro-Frontier of the future will be ours.
"I had to run like a fugitive to save the life I live."Mr. Marley-Lion Zion
Emeka Alams and Yego Moravia began 21st Century Maroon Colony (21MC) in the Spring of 2007, but they have been friends since grade school. Both, after weighing the options, dropped design jobs working for the beast to do 21MC full-time. One is African the other West Indian both born in the U.S. When they aren't designing they enjoy dub, history, traveling, post-colonial theory, Nas, dominos, reading, and Black liberation.
Spring will bring back the ancestors in foil prints and embroidery on an array ofcrewneck sweaters, t-shirts, fitted caps, jackets and leggings, focusing on opening ceremonies.
21MC has been featured in the following print and online publications:
As well as: PARQ, Riot Television, In The Mo and Clutch
TROPICAL WEAR GARMENTS BECOME FASHION’S HOTTEST NEW ACCESSORY
(SAN FRANCISCO)—Africa is back in the fashion forefront. 21st Century Maroon Colony (21MC) delivers designs from Her Diaspora to our streets.
21MC is a San Francisco based conceptual streetwear brand founded in the Spring of 2007 by childhood friends Emeka Alams and Yego Moravia. 21MC’s elaborate and intricate designs mirror traditional African and West Indian prints over t-shirts, scarves and crewneck sweaters.
The work that goes into each piece’s construction inspired the designers to create a new fashion sub-genre—tropical wear.
“With 21MC being a conceptual streetwear brand we decided to carry the concepts all the way through. Referring to our brand as tropical wear is just another way for us to differentiate ourselves from the mass influx of conceptual streetwear brands today,” Moravia said.
For inspiration Alams and Moravia draw upon the history of their own heritages, Nigerian and West Indian respectively. Designs for the upcoming season are slight tweaks of everyday garments in these countries.
“I spend a lot of time in Nigeria. I don’t want my family and friends there to feel like everything I do is ‘American’. I want something they can be proud to wear without feeling somewhat ‘Americanized’,” Alams said.
And 21MC tropical wear has become quite popular internationally, getting orders from countries such as Nigeria, Canada, Portugal and Great Britain.
21MC released its first line in the Fall of 2007. For more information on the brand please visit www.21maroons.com or www.myspace.com/21mcduds.
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L A N D
21MC14328 22nd Avenue NE
Seattle, WA98125
C Y B E R L A N Dwww.21maroons.com
www.myspace.com/21mcduds
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P R E S S
Lola [email protected]
650/814/1219
S A L E S
206/755/2520
G E N E R A L I N F O
