Movers, Shakers and Groundbreakers: Oroma Elewa
- Candice Brew
- Oct 8, 2014
- 2 min read
The world isn't changed by routine. The world evolves when individuals create, innovate and curate to their own beats. Progress is made when rebellious minds and creative spirits stir off road and create their own paths.
This is inspiration.
There are artists, philosophers and modern minds all over the globe who have taken multiple industries by the reins and have launched new, peculiar things.
In this series, Movers, Shakers and Groundbreakers, I will highlight modern minds, artists and creators who inspire me to set myself apart from the crowd.
Oroma Elewa
Photo Courtesy of Elewa's Instagram
Similar to the Pop Art Movement of the 50s, Oroma Elewa took aspects of her culture and presented them to the world with a splash of innovation.
In a world ruled by European aesthetics, this former model, socialite and DJ wanted to shed a positive light on Africa and its growth in the art world.
In 2009, she launched Pop Africana.
Photo Credit: Oroma Elewa
Photo Credit: Oroma Elewa
"I set out to... move very far away from trite ideas and opinions that plagued the black body in fashion and the creative space; to tell a different story and deliver the idenity that captured Africa as I knew it and hoped it to be perceived: rich, sophisticated and cultured," Elewa says via Instagram.
Said to be the "African version of Nylon," by Afripop magazine, Pop Africana is in the works of further developing a never-before-seen aesthetic and cultural view of Africa.
Photo Courtesy of Elewa's Instagram
"A lot of people don’t get it and I don’t expect them to – unless you are African and have lived life as an African or have operated with that salient identity, it’s quite hard to fully understand or wrap your head around the psyche, or know how to fully present who we are as individuals to the world," Elewa says in an interview with Vogue.
The icon-in-the-making was named a "Rising Style Star" by Vogue in 2011.
Despite her recognition in the fashion and publishing world, Elewa did not recieve a journalism degree and doesn't consider herself a professional of any sorts.
Photo Courtesy of Tumblr
Photo Courtesy of Elewa's Instagram
"I work, I hustle, I suffer and hardworking girls go [through] hardworker’s shit," Elewa says to Vogue. "My sister isn’t famous, my boyfriend isn’t rich (yet) and I don’t live at home. [I've] worked since 16 to be here and this shit isn’t easy."
Despite announcing a 2012 shut-down of the publication, a new issue of Pop Africana is set to be released this month.
Check out a Vogue video spotlight on Elewa here.
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