Moshood Creations

(Source: Moshood website)

The name MOSHOOD/Afrikan spirit has become synonymous with a style that personifies the “spirit” of Afrikan pride. Originally from Lagos, Nigeria, Moshood arrived to make his mark in New York in the early 1980’s. After years of tireless effort and hard work he opened his boutique in Brooklyn, New York. This year marks the 22th anniversary of Moshood’s flagship Brooklyn store. Moshood’s timeless pieces bring together the traditional beauty of Afrikan tailoring and a taste of western flavor. His fluid and elegant designs have been embraced from Harlem to Soweto, Lagos to Bahia, London to Tokyo, and New York to Kingston.

Moshood is known as a kind, sincere and honest man of Africa. He is viewed as a man of distinction for his community work mentoring aspiring designers and entrepreneurs, donating clothing for fundraisers, loaning clothes to charity organizations and student fashion shows and his overall love and support for all things African. For these reasons Moshood has been recognized locally, nationally and internationally by bodies such as the Harlem Y/BAI Mentor Committee, the New York City Council and New York State Senator Marty Markowitz. In 1998 he was seen as one of “The Most Successful Urban Designers” of the year, alongside Phat Farm, 1020 Blues, Wu-Wear and CMYB.

Moshood is known and supported by many celebrities such as Bertice Berry, C.C.H. Pounder, Isaac Hayes, Lorraine Toussaint, Wesley Snipes and Debbie Morgan, to name a few. If you walk into Moshood’s store at 1360 Fulton Street in Brooklyn you will see walls of photos of people like top model Tyson Beckford, Reggae artist Maxi Priest and many of the adoring fans and patrons who wear his clothing line.

His fashions have appeared on television (BET’s Teen Summit, Queen Latifah’s sitcom Living Single, and Brandy’s sitcom Moesha) and in magazines (ESSENCE, JET and various locals). Journalists have recognized the creativity of his designs as well as the fact that he is the first designer to showcase live mannequins in his windows. Articles have been written for the NY Times (Mannequins Come To Life For Designer, September 22, 1996 and New Roots For Black Culture, August 20, 1999), New York Post (Funk’n Out On Fulton, November 15,1998) and the New York Daily News (Live Models Bringing Buyers, September 7, 1999). But despite all these accolades and the fanfare surrounding his artistry Moshood has managed to maintain his humility.

Moshood teaches us through his fashions to love and respect ourselves and the traditions, our traditions, from which we come.