Anifa Mvuemba

• Name — Anifa Mvuemba • Birthplace — Nairobi, Kenya • Occupation — Fashion designer • Years Active — 2011–

Anifa Mvuemba was born in Nairobi, Kenya to parents of Congolese origin and immigrated with her family to the United States at age three, in 1993. She is one of seven children. Mvuemba was first exposed to fashion by watching her mother get dressed every morning. In 2005, her brother was murdered in Maryland. She attended Gaithersburg High School and then Morgan State University, where she studied fashion merchandising. She later dropped out of college and quit her retail job at Nordstrom, citing a rough transition to adulthood as the cause.

Mvuemba began designing garments after taking a fashion design course while in her junior year of high school. She began creating dresses for friends and other clients in 2011, at the age of 21, after posting a picture of a dress she made out of fabric scraps to Instagram. Mvuemba then taught herself the technical knowledge of sewing by watching YouTube videos and examining her aunt, a seamstress, while working. She launched her own fashion brand, Hanifa, in 2012. In 2020, she presented a digital fashion show via Instagram Live entitled "Pink Label Congo". In 2021, her debut in-person fashion show "Hanifa Dream" was held at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. That same year, she was named as an awardee of the annual CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, as well as the recipient of InStyle's Future of Fashion Award. In 2022, two of Mvuemba's designs were included in "Those Who Dress Better", a fashion exhibit curated by Black Fashion Fair and the estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. In August of that year, she confronted fast fashion brand Fashion Nova for copying the design of her Jax Knit Gown, which resulted in the removal of Fashion Nova's version from their website. In 2023, Hanifa debuted its first bridal collection in Middleburg, Virginia. Mvuemba's garments have been worn by celebrities such as Beyoncé, Gabrielle Union, Ashley Graham, Sarah Jessica Parker, Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, Michelle Obama, Zendaya, Iman, Cardi B, Bella Hadid, Lizzo, Padma Lakshmi, Fantasia, Kylie Jenner, and Ciara. She additionally designed Savannah James' look for the 2025 Met Gala.

Mvuemba is based in Washington, D.C. She has one child, a daughter born in 2023.