Maimuna Cole, designer and founder of Stockholm-based brand Aajiya, is determined to make a change in the industry.
I started the concept of Aajiya when I was 16, and I’m 27. I was 16 when I moved back to Sweden, [and] I began small projects here and there. My first [one] was batik blazers, and the response from that [was such that], I was like, Okay, maybe I’m good at this, so let me just start to do it. So I [did], but then I felt like I was lacking the business part of it. So I studied business management.
[After that I was] just kind of like, Do I want to stay here in Sweden? Because I never felt like I belonged in Sweden. I’ve never been comfortable. Growing up, I felt like I was always the outsider. I always felt like I was different, the only Black girl in the classroom. [In fashion], it felt as if there was no door for us at all, like there was nowhere for us to turn, so we had to just move out of here. It’s like, you guys don’t want us to be part of this.
I can speak for a lot of Black people here, creatives; we always have to adapt. My story is I had to change my name to Maya because people couldn’t pronounce my name. It’s like, I’m losing my identity to adapt to you. I shouldn’t have to do that. You always have to adapt and it always feels like you don’t belong here. They speak English when they see you. And it’s like, No, I speak Swedish. Or it’s like, “How long have you been here?” No, I was born here.
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