A Night of Enchanment

The Royal Affair at Towson University hosted by their African Diaspora Club was as the M.Cs would say.........FANTASTIC!! If you were there you would know what I mean.

Everyone was in the house from Mali, to Senegal, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Uganda, Cameroon, Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Liberia, Togo and many more... everyone left with something to cherish.

We spoke with the president of the African Diaspora Club, Ms. Gboyinde who informed us of their interest in featuring us at the African Explosion Event. The show, which had been planned for over a year now was a wonderful success. There was not a single moment of boredom.

The evening began December 1st, 07, with dinner which took place at the .....at 4pm. The crowd was filled with people from various backgounds. All ate as we listened to African music excited about the show's future unravelling. The room was full. Its funny...many people evening had even skipped dinner because the wanted to be first in line when the door was open.

Doors for the cultural event opened at 6:30pm on the dot and in 10 minutes most of the seats were occupied. The Royal Affair was rich with musical performances, comedy, skits, fashion segments and of course dance performances. Côté minou was in the house and the action was definetly not missed.

This show was one that was really appreciated because it had so much diversity yet unity was definetly felt. Throughout the show many noticed a number of similarities among countries. Even the ones in East Africa compared to those in West Africa. The show began with belly dancing from Egypt and another traditional dance from club members from Ethiopia. The show was featured musical performances from Ghananian duo the "Afro Kings" and the Nija group called APEXX who were crowd pleasers. Dance Performances from Les Femmes D'Afri'k and Fusion Dancers were spectacular.

The show also had an funny skit with a prize called "African Idol Live". You know 50 cent; well he ain't got norring on Towson's Lenny and female duo Rising Star took our Francophone audience back home with the dramatic zouk performance.

The fashion segments occured at different intervals throughout the show. It featured the tribal scene where we saw styles from what the M.C called the first Fashion Capital- AFRICA!. It was accompanied with accessories to capture aspects of ancient African lifestyle. The show also had a clothing from Stylz couture designed by a Morgan Graduate and of course us....

We got great feedback. I came ready with business cards this time so people could know how to get their orders.

The best part of the show would have to be the fundraiser. It was for the PANZI Hospital in Congo. Many women in Congo have been suffering human violence and rape. The speaker for the fundraiser who was actually from Ghana expressed that this act of injustice was one which was not just an African, Congolese or woman problem but one that we ought to make our problem as well for the sake of humanity. The Panzi Hospital is one of the fewer organizations with a health proffesional which stayed in the country even during its times of uproar to help many women regain their dignity and stand up for their rights. The fundraiser was concluded by a mini documentary showing the effects of the whole matter. You had to be there it was heart wrenching!

Ohhhhh...The show also had an After party which many enjoyed. I have to say after a long year's preparation I am sure that members of the African Diaspora Club were exhilerated about the show's success....WE were!!

for more on the show visit the link for the Towerlight, Towson University's Newspaper at http://media.www.thetowerlight.com/media/storage/paper957/news/2007/12/03/News/A.Night.Of.Enchantment-3127258.shtml

Big ups the the Explosion Crew...and special thanks to Valerie, Doyin, and Louise.

You all know who you are ;-))

Again signing off.

xoxxoluvlvuxoxo

Maryanne and Da gurl Nini

And There Was The Photoshoot...

So we decided to work with a friend Jonathan Harden and some HU model friends of ours on a little photoshoot this past sunday......Well the shoot was preety GREAT I must say. Good job guys!!
Special thanks to our make up artist Alisha Croom, and Johnathan the photographer.

Johnathan........
Alisha......

Shout out to Jamila, Bianca, Comfort and Titi. You guys were great.
It was cold and rainy but no one could tell.....(Well now you do..haha :-))

Watch out for us our upcoming event at Blu Lounge for the BCBG Productions (Party Promoters) on Dec 29th 2007 as Cote Minou tries to close the year with more noise.

All thanks to God ...without Him nothing is Possible.
Here with pics of the photo shoot crew.

Bianca..............
Jamila.........


Comfort............

Titi.......

Study Smart!! Stay Focused. and for all those not in school...I think we envy you-but that's okay ;-)

xoxoluvluvxoxo

Maryanne and Da gurl Nini

A Blast at G.W!!

......So Ms. Fumi from George Washington University called us and informed us of their cultural event entitled "Taste of Africa" hosted by their Organization of African Students.

The show was to be on Friday November 9th 2007 at the Marvin Center Grand Ballroom.

It was a wonderful event which raised awareness on the stereotypes people have on or about the African continent. It was enriched with, a series of short skits, fashion, African jewelry expo, comedy, quizes, dance performances and what we call in Cameroon "Item 11" (Food :-)).....Don't Ask!

Lessons some people learned:

-Africa is not a country
-People from Africa come in different complexions (skin tones)
-Wild animals in Africa are seen only in reserves, wild parks or zoos.
-Africans do not all speak the same languages
-Africans know how to have to good time.....LOL (That is (cough-cough)...a personal analysis!)


I have to say this was another memorable night. We laughed and laughed and laughed.
HI 5s to the models and OAS Team. You guys were awesome.


We got again a lot of good feedback from this show and we were also featured in G.W school's newspaper__ the HATCHET. Here with the link from the 11/12/07 issue.
http://media.www.gwhatchet.com/media/storage/paper332/news/2007/11/12/News/A.Night.Of.African.Culture-3094129.shtml&sourcedomain=www.gwhatchet.com&facebook


Enjoy your Day ;-)


xoxoluvluvxoxo


Maryanne & Da gurl Nini

R.A.R.E .....Howard Homecoming Show

Our latest show was the Howard University's Homecoming 07 Fashion Show.

We were contacted by the H.U. Fashion Show coordinator Ms. Yasmine over the summer and were excited to participate in the event. Homecoming Fashion shows which occur at Howard University's Cramton auditorium has graced the presences of notable clothing lines such as the Sean John, Rocawear, Baby Phat and Phat Farm. This year's Homecoming theme was called "R.A.R.E" as in Rekindle an Amazing Remarkable Experience. Their goal was to create a homecoming experience which would be memorable;

and so they did.....

This year's Fashion theme was entitled "Art of War". It featured scenes such as street war, glam war, and ours "tribal warfare" which we thought to be an interesting title. We worked with the commitee to extend a political statement on the effects the on the War on the African continent and the paralyses in infringes on its people. Trying to make some fashion out of that our scene was choreographed to resemble a civilian uproar that would occur after a coup d'etat. The models strud our wares looking like warriors "standing for their rights to be free to live life".

It was superb!!

The show was published on the Howard University's Hilltop Magazine. Here with an excerpt on our the Côté Minou scene from the 10/19/07 issue.

"In the scene "Tribal Warfare," guests watched models adorned in African-inspired

patterned clothing with a modern and stylish twist as cultural music was played."

Our scene was accompanied with music from the renowned Mali song artist Salif Kieta.

We were also highly excited to debut our dear friend Ms. Moyin Ayanbiola's accessories from her upcoming boutique called "Finishing Touches". The duo of our clothing and her accessories was dynamic.

Homecoming was great!! The show also included a performances by the wonderful Janelle Monae. The show also featured the works of Bravo's Project Runway finalist contestant Mychael Knight, HU's Cranberry and of course Sean John and Rocawear.

Special thanks to Ms. Raquel and Dayo for being there when we needed help.

Here with the video from YOUTUBE

http://youtube.com/watch?v=uP1lekEngOk#

xoxoluvluvxoxo

Maryanne & Da gurl Nini

Work work work don't be tired.....

Hey guys and gals......

As always we have been busy .....however we are proud to say we have good news.

We recently had an article on the Howard University Hilltop Magazine Sept. 23rd issue on Africhic designs with a traditional twist. Just a little gist as to what our line is all about. This article is not available via online. Thanks to Ike who wrote and helped publish the article.

So what is Côté Minou all about??? You may ask.

We are about making the african cloth an element you can wear all the time as opposed to just on special occasions. Our designs are unique as they put a twist to the traditional way one may observe and experience African material. We enjoy, pattern, rythmn and texture.

So many people often ask what does the name itself- Côté Minou mean....here we go!!!

Well it is derived from two french terms. Côté is french for corner and Minou is a combination of both myself and Stephanie's nickname. Coucou (mine) and Nini (hers). With M being the first letter in both our last names, Minou is coincidentally also a cute pet name you would give a kitten.

Okay so there you have it. The long and short story of the formulation of our name.....;-)

Côté Minou will be featuring designs at the following shows:


Howard University Homecoming Fashion Show October 18th 2007


George Washington University Nov 9th 2007


Towson University African Explosion IV - Dec 1st 2007


Penn State University February 15th 2008


Also check us out in the future God willing on the BHF Magazine (made in Nigeria)

and check us out at the entertainment section of the new African TV Show hosted by our friend and top model Ms. Malaika from Cameroon coming soon.

Here are some pics from the cminou mini shoot.~~

xoxoluvluvxoxo

Maryanne and Da Gurl Nini

Summer is at its end

So school is back.......

school assignments, projects and college life mania......but we all can handled it right??


Aaaaaahhhh the break went by so quick! Agree???


Neways, we have been busy selling clothes, and taking new orders. We recently finished our involvement in the Cameroon Convention August 17th 07' which was great hosted by the Cameroon Students Association in the U.S. (CAMSA).


The Fashion Show which was part of the entertainment night was a nice show. We are proud to see CAMSA at work.

The show featured number of activities such as comedic and music performances, speeches (like always) and of course dances !


Highlights from this show featured Euphrasie designs and musical group KUMANI (a hip/rnb group all da way from CAMER)


.....Here with a few youtube links of their performances.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PQvPOHpH0k


We are as always working new designs for projects which we will disclose to you at the convenient time.

Leave comments or contact us via email if interested in any of our clothes at our inbox.
Pictures in this post are of a mini shoot da gurl Nini and I did!

Shout out to Nadege, Ashley, Bih, Tina, Valmy, Dayo, Bola and Moyin! and all our supporters :-)

as always,

xoxoluvluvxoxo

Maryanne and da gurl Nini

@ African Rebirth

Hey ladies and gents...

Hope we are all enjoying the hot sun the summer brings....

So our next show was featured at the University of Maryland College Park। entitled African Rebirth.

My homeboy Ife, the President said his African Student Association was hosting a Fashion show and was interested in our clothes.

It was to be held July 28th 2007 at their University Ballroom.

We thought the show would be a cool one to do because they were trying to raise funds to help fight Malaria in Africa.

Backstage preperations were fun, we worked on final preperations with the model, took backstage pictures and got to meet the other designers. As the start time for the show began, everyone was ready to show Maryland and all who came what they had been working on this summer.....

The show featured, African clothing by Ms. Aghogho's Soul Boutique and works from an nexquisite jewelry designer, talent from upcoming two African groups (singers) and some dancers who were our personal highlight.

It was a good show and we got good feedback! We again got to show our latest designs...and we were personally pleased....

The event also had an after party to close the whole ordeal.

Thanks again to all who came and supported. Really appreciate it.

We are working on new stuff as always and have interesting upcoming projects which we will inform you in due time. Keep posted on our blog and get your CM outfit for this summer.

Next stop। preparing for the Cameroon Convention 07' in Houston, TX this August 07' as the summers comes to an end.

xoxoluvalwaysxoxo


Maryanne and Da gurl Nini

Sexy DC Fashion Fusion

Our next exhibit was to feature in the Sexy DC Magazine's Show entitled "Fashion Fusion".

The show was to showcase some of DC's up and coming designers.

We were invited March 9th by the co-ordinators; ethiopian princess Nunu and her partner Devorne to be part of the event. It went much smoother and I believe this was one which we spent less time preparing for the show since we were no longer rookies....

We featured both our clothes and Men's wear from the Douala, Cameroon clothing store called "France Shopping" like we did at the NOIRE Show. Most of the girls fit perfectly in their clothes so we were happy.

The Show was May 5th 2007 (Cinquo de Mayo) and was to be located at DC's Zanzibar by the Waterfront. This show was cherished by its audience as their DC stars Tabi Boney and emcee Wale...performed "Sexy Ladies" and "Ice Cream Girl."

(Hmmm, not great fans of Dc's gogo music so much but don't mind these songs...actually like these and may like more if they keep it coming like this....

Again for this show, we were backstage during our scene.....we need to hire workers...lol.

Neways we were happy with the show cauz our friends got to see some new stuff from the Côté Minou closet which wasn't featured at our previous show.

So we were too tired after the show to attend the after party! It was right around finals time and our friends would rather watch the boxing game and 50 cent's bet. LOL.

Also Zanzibar is "grown and sexy" and some of our friends were under 21 anyways :-'

Thanks again to all who came by especially Bryan Jones who took pictures...You are a great photographer .

Shout out to Val, Dayo, Maximax, Eka, Funke, Gabby, Ike and our established make up artsit Raquel.

Also to Emmanuel the guy who calls himself our Ari.'

Shout out to Arrey, Raphael and Cyrille.

To those who wanted to come but couldn't be there you tried ;-) and we believe you LOL! ....

Well, now working on new projects and hope twill be exciting and exciting as always....

xoxoluvluvxoxo

Maryanne and Da gurl Nini

How it all began.....

Hey Everyone!! and welcome to the brand new blog page of

Côté Minou.

My name is Maryanne Enanga Mokoko and I am starving architecture student at the real HU–Howard of course. Myself and my sister from another mother, Stephanie Mouapi (aka Da gurl NiNI –yes another HU reppin’) are the designers of Côté Minou. Stephanie and I love and respect for the most things and people in the Arts; such as music, dance, movies, design, drawing, literature, craft and of course FASHION. This, we are intrigued, involved and inspired by.

We are true Cameroonians and Africans at heart who are just trying to make it! We were both born in a town called Bamenda and raised in the city that never stops playing Makossa—Douala. I’ve known Nini since I were in diapers! We went to the same primary school (nursery and middle school) and parted when it was time for our secondary education (junior high and part of high school). I went to the same secondary school my mom attended and so did she. They later went on to the same college called CASS Bambilli and so did we (at HU).

See Stephanie and I were always interested in creating designing for others to wear. We were both exposed to the art when we were younger. My grandma could make clothes and so did Stephanie’s aunt. We always dreamt we will grow to be stars (Dream big and you will land among the stars)...or something like that. When we were younger our moms tried to make stars out of us (as we are sure yours did too). Ooooh! They took pictures all the time, every time. But we certainly didn’t mind always striking a different pose either. We feel quite comfortable doing this kind of thing. Lol! I can also trace my fashion history with Stephanie, when our aunt Agnes would always buy us twin outfits and take pictures. I was miss pink in the tutu and da gurl Nini was in blue. Oh dem days.

.......Fashion to me is a matter of personal taste as we say in Cameroon "ya style". It requires confidence to make others believe it is worth it. So with our style synchronized and our confidence high we started on what first seemed to be a risk.......

We decided to take the step to embark on this Côté Minou venture last year. We wanted our clothes to be mostly made out of African fabrics or other pattern type fabrics. They would be designed in ways we believe are modern. We trying to realize our dreams and by God’s grace we are on our way and it sooo worth it. We both came up with designs, picked a few for our "first batch" and began the process of making the clothes. It was fun, you know, the whole process....buying the cloths, assigning its fabrication and seeing the end product. I’d have to admit though; somewhere in between it was kinda scary. But HEY! we are still here.............

Our debut was to be featured on the Howard University African Student's Assoc.(ASA) Fashion Show entitled "Noire" (French for Black) March 2nd, 2007. I participated in the ASA shows in the previous years as a model (much fun). This time, my participation would be even more daring as myself and Stephanie would feature our clothes one of the scenes for the show. We hope they liked it as much as we did. From the onset people gave us hints of appreciation that kept us going. Hmmm....... a little relief there!

Preparing for a show sure was a lot of work. Combining with school, work and personal life it was not easy but somehow we kept on going because we were so in love with it. It felt like another class...but not just any class. This one was the kind you love to go because it is fun....Yeah we know those ones are hard to find.

The day of the show was hectic unlike the days right before. I had two tests and Nini had to go to work. We were so stressed and I was seriously crossing my fingers that we don’t forget anything and that all goes well. What were we even worried about?? When we both got in Cramton Auditorium (the venue for the show) we suddenly became extremely excited. We were internally screaming like some little children...Yep! Uhhun nobody saw it because we didn’t want others to think we were crazy.

Preparation for the show was fantastic. The model’s hair and make up was Da bomB! And we almost cried when we saw the models in our clothes backstage. It was Bellisimo! Vraiment tres jolie.... We peaked during the runway when they were struttin’ and we were very proud. Our friends said it was really nice and original. They really loved it Oh! They better! What are friends for? Lol just kiddin’ .....they really liked it. We couldn’t fully see our scene because we wanted to stay back stage to dress the models. We would rather be liable for our own clothes, so we take responsibility if something were to happen to them. After our exciting scene was done, we celebrated the whole shabang as we watched the other designers.

Four participants from the S’RAA fashion show ASA hosted last year in cramton were designers this year, except for maybe Ifueku who had designed for the ASA shows before. Yes Cranberry’s Doreen and Joan Caven and their accomplices had a glam line too. Miss Aghogho Sowho (aka HU most horrest Nigerian!) LoL... had her exquisite T-shirts from her SouL BoutiQue line. I love her mind... very creative. The show went by so fast. Trust me !Y’all that were there....It had a lot going but somehow did not seem long as i thought. Neways, everyone’s scene was pretty nice. I don’t know some of the designers names but you should definitely get the video to see it or see it again. I will.....

Oh may we add that the ASA fashion shows at Howard University are well known for their diversity in entertainment. Even better than last year they had Howard ASA dancers-"Omoge Dancers" who killed it at the end and those Roosevelt High School steppers....BEAUTIFUL. Well at the end of it all we were FULL (you know–-->satisfied).

Much love and thanks for your support.

Maryanne and Da gurl Nini

Here are pics from the show....
More updates to come;-)

~XOXOluvluvXOXO~