Christian Diboko
For Christian Diboko, fashion isn’t just something to wear. It’s a way to make a difference.
His clothing line ProBantuStyle repurposes pieces, including shoes, backpacks and denim and leather jackets, with designs inspired by art and symbols from Africa, where his parents are from. He was born in Brussels, but his family moved to the Democratic Republic of Congo when he was about 5 years old.
He launched the line last year with his fiancee Binay Geathers, the brand’s CEO and a freelance model who regularly appears in ProBantuStyle shows and shoots. The idea for it came to mind after watching a documentary about the hazardous working conditions of some garment factories overseas in places such as Bangladesh.
“You may buy jeans that you’re never going to wear. What’s the point? There’s someone out there who’s being paid $2 and suffering for you,” says Mr. Diboko, 32, of Whitehall. “Why can’t I do something with things that other people don’t want?”
The desire to do something in fashion and the arts has stirred within him since he was a kid. After winning an immigrant visa in a lottery, he moved to the United States in 2009 and attended Baltimore City Community College on a basketball scholarship. He studied fashion design but had to put his degree on hold so he could help support his young family when his first child was born.
In Maryland, he sharpened his English (French is his first language) and learned about day-to-day life in America. But he never quite felt like he fit in there, he says. A quick trip to Pittsburgh for a friend’s birthday introduced him to the city he now calls his promised land.
“Pittsburgh gave me the feeling of a fresh start,” he says.
After settling here in 2015, his fiancee encouraged him to turn his love for fashion into a full-time career. She picked up extra work to help make ends meet so he could focus on creating the business. His mom back in Africa pushed him to take the leap, too.
So far, the risk is paying off. ProBantuStyle has been featured at Style Week Pittsburgh events and the inaugural Fashion Week Downtown in September. For 2017, he’s adding to his website at probantustyle.wixsite.com, designing more pieces and hopes to finish his fashion degree at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh.
“The fashion community [in Pittsburgh] has been great to me,” he says. “They encourage you and give you a shoutout and then make sure other people know who you are.”