Interview: Malakh & Sco

Malakh and Sco is a new online fashion retailer focusing on providing a platform for African designers in a British market. As fashion diversifies and expands as rapidly as it does each season, it's always interesting to see the companies that develop. Malakh and Sco aims to be an extension of independent designers, providing a retail and social media service that larger fashion brands are able to incorporate in house. 

For me, the beauty of the brand is that the pieces aren't limiting. While they stand alone as designs with gorgeous, unusual fabrics and cuts they are not outside of a typically European style and could easily have been bought from a British house. What is being showcased is new talent that may not otherwise have been accessible but it is none the less perfect classic, and most importantly different.

Pieces that stand out for me include Berba Blouse, Lions Mane Shorts (below) and Sparkly Dust dress. The prices are also amazing and often come in under that of the higher end British market, making the designs accessible.

I had the opportunity to put some questions to Demilade Adenuson, co founder of the brand, about the founding of the company, inspirations and goals. 

Can you describe Malakh and Sco for those that aren't familiar with the company?

Malakh & Sco is an online retailer for African fashion designers; we work with African fashion designers from all across the globe with the goal of showcasing and retailing their work to the world. Our mission is to get African fashion lovers and African fashion designers on the same page, well webpage.

What was the inspiration behind the company? How did you start?

The whole team is very passionate about fashion; we are equally passionate about African culture. We believe that African fashion is almost at a stage of maturity. The industry in itself (the designers and their creations, not just the African fabric ) is being accepted in by a world wide audience. There is an opportunity for the designers from the continent to compete on a world stage and we are excited by the prospect of facilitating this.

It started off as a service we were going to offer to an existing online retailer but after we thought about it and did our research, we realised that the industry needs a company that is willing to listen to the designers and help promote them and their brand, which we didn’t feel we would get from this company. We also wanted to have creative control over the website and how to run our business in the most ethical way and this led us to start our own company.

You're both still at Uni aren't you? How do you juggle your studies with developing the brand? It must get chaotic sometimes!

It’s exciting more than anything. It helps a tonne when you are passionate about what you are doing, it makes the work more fun. Having a very competent and supportive team is awesome in terms of finding balance and shifting the weight from one member to others.

What can we expect from the new season? Will there be any new designers coming on board?

We are working hard to update the website with new features that will bring our users into a deeper knowledge of the brands we work with and the apparel on the website.

With regards to new designers, there are a number of very exciting designers that we are currently seriously with we should be introducing to our website them very soon. Like our facebook page www.facebook.com/malakhandsco and follow our twitter @malakhandsco for updates!!

And what's your favourite piece from the collection?

Hmm, that’s a tricky one. We are really careful with the pieces we select and we make sure we are in love with every piece that goes up on the website. That being said, we feel the more important question would be asking you the consumer what your favourite piece is or what your favourite African designer is (regardless of if they are on our website or not) because we live for your feedback and suggestions. So contact us through our website or on facebook and twitter with ideas, suggestions and the like.

Have you got any upcoming showcases?

Currently, we do not have any on the cards, but we are working on photo shoots and videos for the new collections of our designers coming to a social media site near you.

Any tips for readers looking to get into fashion buying or styling from your experiences?

What I have had to learn is culture; each look, each piece, each outfit is an extension of a certain culture. So with regards to buying and/or you have to think of what culture does the brand or company you are buying for represents and what items best exude or celebrate that culture. Once you truly understand that, the rest is up to your creativity.

And finally, what are your plans for the future?

As a company we are really interested in showcasing the whole creative class of the continent on a world stage and we are in the conception stage of diversifying into another industry. So expect to see something else asides fashion from us in the near future.


For more information on the brand and to explore the collection visit www.malakhandsco.com