Meet Korto Momula of Bravo TV's Project Runway This Monday, 10/27, at Marimekko Silver Spring

Take a Moment Out of a Regular Old Monday to be Inspired by Bravo TV's Project Runway Finalist Korto Momula!

6 - 7 pm Meet & Greet

Open to the Public

Above: The Seat Belt Dress Coat By Korto Mormula

Bio

Age: 33,

From: Monrovia, Liberia

Education: Fashion School in Ottawa, Canada

Favorite designers: Tracy Reese, Valentino & Randolph Duke

Fashion must: Great bag

Originally from Liberia, Korto moved to Canada to attend fashion school. After school, she moved outside of Little Rock, Arkansas, where she now resides with her husband and daughter. Drawing from her African roots, Korto infuses tribal details into her classic designs. She is inspired by rich fabrics and textures and says her designs are intended for real, full-figured women. In her spare time, Korto works as a freelance fashion photographer, dances in an African dance troupe and does African hair braiding and makeup. She says her family considers her to be fun and easygoing.

Marimekko Contacts: Michael Ross or Candace Long on 301-565-4705

More Information About Kioto

Korto was born in Monrovia, Liberia. Her family left Liberia and became refugees in Canada. This has had a profound impact on Korto and her family, and she's called herself a “poster child for never giving up.”

She has said that in her life, “The most traumatic [experience] would have to be the civil war in Liberia and how it tore apart my family and the only place that I knew as home. The devastation alone was bad and even though I was blessed to not have to be in the country at the time it affected me the same. My parents were greatly affected. They worked so hard for everything they achieved and to lose everything and start from scratch was hard but we did it and kept the family and our traditions as tight as we could. What doesn't kill you will make you stronger and it did, for all of us.”

Korto was always interested in design, and was encouraged by her high school art teacher to pursue it as a career. She wasn't able to immediately attend fashion school due to the turmoil her family was going through, but eventually she did attend L'Academie des Couturiers in Ottawa once the family settled in Canada.

This early educational experience within the rigors of fastidiously-made couture would appear to have been crucial to some of her success in Project Runway. She admits, “I was not a great seamstress then but design-wise, I was good. It took a while to get my trade together.” She says that when her first design, the yellow tablecloth dress from the Gristede's challenge was called “impeccably made” by the judges, she was gratified, she said, “that all my hard work paid off.”

When Tim Gunn visited her in Little Rock, he saw that Korto's creativity extended beyond clothing. She performs drumming and dancing with an African dance troupe, dabbles in fashion photography and does make-up. Additionally, her fashion talents extend to beading and making cowhide handbags, “complete with cow horn handles.”

In addition to the influence her African roots have had on her fashion, there's another nuance to her work that differentiates it from many of the designers we've seen on Project Runway. Korto says she does focus on making designs that are accessible to women of varying shapes and sizes.

“My designs are flattering to women of all sizes even though they have a lot of detail on them,” she said. “They can be worn by anyone from a size two to a twenty. Women of all sizes are beautiful, and they all want to look great. In the real world, people look like me and they want to buy clothes.”

Above excerpted from a piece by Leslie Seaton