A runway fit for a queen

There once was a West African queen named Pokou, or Abla Pokou, who, in the mid-18th century, ruled what is today known as Côte d’Ivoire. Queen Pokou (c 1730 to 1750) was born a Kumasi princess in Ghana and was the niece of Osei Kofu Tutu I, a prominent king and cofounder of the Ashanti Empire.

Following a series of violent disagreements with the Ashanti confederacy of the time, the young woman led a breakaway group on an arduous journey westwards to the Komoe River, where they became stuck with no way to cross.

At the river’s edge, she asked her priest for advice on how to cross the river safely and he told her that she would have to sacrifice her son. She dressed her infant son in regal golden clothing and placed him in the water and called out, “Ba ouli”, which means “the child is dead”.

After the sacrifice, some hippopotami emerged and formed a bridge. After crossing the river safely, Pokou and her people settled into the territory between the Komoe and Bandama rivers.

Her descendants are the Baoulé tribe, the largest in today’s Côte d’Ivoire, having assimilated smaller tribes over time.

Last weekend, Ivorian designer Loza Maléombho released images of her latest collection on Instagram. She kept fans hungrily refreshing their feeds as she ceremonially dropped image after image of model Fanta’ Styck wearing Maléombho’s interpretation of traditional and cultural elements of the Ashanti of Côte d’Ivoire. The collection is called Queen Pokou.