{{Short description|American fashion designer, curator, and educator}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = Erika Massaquoi | honorific_suffix = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = Erika Massaquoi 1.jpg | image_upright = | landscape = | alt = | caption = Erika Massaquoi | pronunciation = | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = | nationality = | other_names = | citizenship = American | education = University of Chicago | alma_mater = New York University | occupation = Fashion designer, museum curator, educator | years_active = | era = | employer = Fashion Institute of Technology<br>Seattle Art Museum | organization = | agent = | known_for = | notable_works = | style = | title = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | mother = | father = | relatives = | family = | callsign = | awards = | website = {{URL|https://erikadalyamassaquoi.com/}} }}
'''Erika Dalya Massaquoi''' is an American fashion designer, curator, and educator.<ref>{{cite web |title=Black-Owned Fashion Brands |url=https://www.townandcountrymag.com/style/fashion-trends/g35844919/black-owned-fashion-brands/ |website=Town & Country |date=2021 |access-date=2025-09-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Black-Owned Fashion Brands to Know |url=https://www.thecut.com/article/black-owned-fashion-brands.html |website=The Cut |date=2021 |access-date=2025-09-10}}</ref> Massaquoi served as Assistant Dean of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and as a consultant curator at the Seattle Art Museum. She has written and lectured on contemporary art, black visual culture, and fashion. She also founded The OULA Company, which manufactures garments in the United States using African textiles.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |last=Moore |first=Booth |title=How The OULA Company Is Turning Ankara Wax Cloth Into a Contemporary Fashion Brand |url=https://wwd.com/fashion-news/designer-luxury/oula-company-nordstrom-ankara-1235309757/ |work=Women’s Wear Daily |date=28 April 2022 |access-date=2025-09-10}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Massaquoi grew up in Miami, Florida. She holds a BA and MA from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in Cinema Studies from New York University.<ref>{{cite news |title=Undergraduate Excellence |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1993-09-08-9309080169-story.html |work=Chicago Tribune |date=8 September 1993 |access-date=2025-09-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=PhD Graduates: Muhammad, Erika Dalya |url=https://cinemaresourcesnyu.org/dissertationsSite/indices/phd_graduates/muhammad_erika.php |website=NYU Cinema Resources |access-date=2025-09-10}}</ref> She also has a certificate in Culture, Media & History from New York University.<ref>{{cite web |title=Erika Dalya Massaquoi |url=https://lectures.org/profile/erika-dalya-massaquoi/ |website=Seattle Arts & Lectures |access-date=2025-09-10}}</ref> In 1993, during her senior year at the University of Chicago, she was listed in ''Glamour'' magazine's Top 10 College Women in America list.<ref>{{cite web |last=Content |first=Contributed |title=Undergraduate excellence: Amy Friedman of Northwestern University… |website=Chicago Tribune |date=September 26, 1993 |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1993/09/26/undergraduate-excellence-amy-friedman-of-northwestern-university/ |access-date=September 10, 2025}}</ref>
==Career== Massaquoi began her career at the Museum of the Moving Image and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.<ref name="seattle">{{cite news |title=High Style: Erika Dalya Massaquoi |url=https://seattlemag.com/food-and-culture/high-style-erika-dalya-massaquoi/ |work=Seattle Magazine |date=30 July 2013 |access-date=2025-09-10}}</ref> She later held teaching appointments at The New School and New York University, and served as Assistant Dean of the School of Art and Design at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT).<ref>{{cite web |title=Finding Inspiration with Erika Dalya Massaquoi |url=https://www.cherrycreekfashion.com/issue/erika-dalya-massaquoi-the-oula-company |website=Cherry Creek Fashion |date=2021 |access-date=2025-09-10}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> She also worked as a commentator on NPR’s ''All Things Considered'' and served as an on-air correspondent for the Oxygen network from 2000 to 2004.<ref name="seattle"/>
In 2001, Massaquoi co-organized and curated ''Race in Digital Space'' at the MIT List Visual Arts Center.<ref>{{cite web |title=Race in Digital Space |url=https://listart.mit.edu/exhibitions/race-digital-space |website=MIT List Visual Arts Center |date=2001 |access-date=2025-09-10}}</ref> The exhibition later traveled to the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art. Participating artists included Sanford Biggers, Beth Coleman, Prema Murthy, Mendi & Keith Obadike, Paul D. Miller, Paul Pfeiffer, and Keith Piper. The project is archived at the Getty Research Institute.<ref>{{cite web |title=Race in Digital Space Archive |url=https://primo.getty.edu/permalink/f/1s3og9b/GETTY_ALMA21245055280001551 |website=Getty Research Institute |access-date=2025-09-10}}</ref>
In 2015, she served as Consultant Curator at the Seattle Art Museum, where she co-curated ''Disguise: Masks & Global African Art''.<ref name="Disguise">{{cite web |title=Disguise: Masks & Global African Art |url=https://seattleartmuseum.org/Exhibitions/Details?EventId=28613 |website=Seattle Art Museum |date=2015}}</ref> The exhibition later traveled to the Brooklyn Museum and the Fowler Museum at UCLA, and was reviewed in ''The New York Times'', ''The Guardian'', and ''The New Yorker''.<ref name="nytimes">{{cite news |last=Cotter |first=Holland |title=Review: 'Disguise' at Brooklyn Museum Examines the Globality of Masks |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/15/arts/design/review-disguise-at-brooklyn-museum-examines-the-globality-of-masks.html |work=The New York Times |date=14 April 2016 |access-date=2025-09-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Disguise review – a revelatory show about masks and identity |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/jul/03/disguise-seattle-art-masks-global-african-art |work=The Guardian |date=3 July 2015 |access-date=2025-09-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Disguise: Masks and Global African Art |url=https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/art/disguise-masks-and-global-african-art |work=The New Yorker |date=2016 |access-date=2025-09-10}}</ref> Massaquoi co-authored the exhibition catalogue published by Yale University Press in 2015.<ref name="Disguise"/> The exhibition included various aspects of African traditions such as masquerades. Featured artists included Brendan Fernandes, Nandipha Mntambo, Emeka Ogboh, Wura-Natasha Ogunji, Sondra Perry, Zina Saro-Wiwa, Jacolby Satterwhite, Sam Vernon, William Villalongo, and Saya Woolfalk.<ref name="nytimes"/> She also co-curated ''Genius / 21 Century / Seattle'' at the Frye Art Museum in the same year.<ref>{{cite web |title=Genius / 21 Century / Seattle |url=https://fryemuseum.org/exhibition/4837 |website=Frye Art Museum |date=2015 |access-date=2025-09-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Genius / 21 Century / Seattle |url=https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/genius-21-century-seattle/Content?oid=22920917 |work=The Stranger |date=2015 |access-date=2025-09-10}}</ref>
In 2015, Massaquoi launched The OULA Company.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nishimura |first=Kate |date=2021-02-17 |title=Black History Month at Nordstrom, Steve Madden, Banana Republic and Gap |url=https://sourcingjournal.com/gallery/topics/business-news/nordstrom-steve-madden-black-history-month-gap-banana-republic-262489/ |access-date=2026-03-17 |website=Sourcing Journal |language=en-US}}</ref> Nordstrom began carrying the line in 2021.<ref>{{cite news |title=How This Designer Turned Admiration for Her Mother Into a Brand Sold by Nordstrom |url=https://www.essence.com/fashion/erika-massaquoi-oula-company-nordstrom/ |work=Essence |date=2021 |access-date=2025-09-10}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> The company designs and produces caftans, tunics, and dresses that feature global textiles.<ref>{{cite news |title=Best Flowy Dresses for Women |url=https://www.harpersbazaar.com/fashion/trends/g37136442/best-flowy-dresses-for-women/ |work=Harper’s Bazaar |date=2022 |access-date=2025-09-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=10 Emerging Creatives Who Inspire Innovation in Design |url=https://www.oprahdaily.com/style/g36410379/emerging-creatives-innovation-design/ |website=Oprah Daily |date=2021 |access-date=2025-09-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Meet Erika Dalya Massaquoi of The OULA Company |url=https://thescoutguide.com/denver/editorial/meet-erika-dalya-massaquoi-of-the-oula-company/ |website=The Scout Guide Denver |date=2022 |access-date=2025-09-10}}</ref> OULA sources textiles in Africa, Asia (primarily India), and Europe. OULA and Prairie Underground collaborated on a denim project, and OULA has also crafted its silhouettes in Liberty London fabric.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gray |website=Prairie Underground |date=September 11, 2020 |url=https://www.prairieunderground.com/press-mention/gray/ |access-date=September 10, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=GRAY No. 28 |website=Issuu |date=May 31, 2016 |url=https://issuu.com/graymag/docs/gray_no._28/47 |access-date=September 10, 2025}}</ref>
The exhibition ''AFRICA FORECAST: Fashioning Contemporary Life'', which Erika Massaquoi co-curated with Andrea Barnwell Brownlee, opened in 2016 and focused on art that documents African women's history and emotions towards clothing and fashion. Featured artists included Amy Sherald, Fabiola Jean-Louis, Ayana V. Jackson, Zohra Opoku, and Deborah Roberts.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.artsatl.org/legacy-series-andrea-barnwell-brownlee/|title=Legacy Series: Spelman's Andrea Barnwell Brownlee|date=April 18, 2018|website=ARTS ATL}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Robinson |first=Shantay |title=Review: "Africa Forecast" shows how convention inspires Black women's spirit |website=ARTS ATL |date=2016-11-11 |url=https://www.artsatl.org/review-africa-forecast/ |access-date=2025-09-11}}</ref>
In 2018, Massaquoi curated ''Taking Tea'' at the Seattle Art Museum, an installation in the Porcelain Room featuring work by ceramic artist Claire Partington.<ref>{{cite news |last=Keimig |first=Jas |title=Porcelain's Deadly Secrets |url=https://www.thestranger.com/visual-art/2019/01/30/38418031/porcelains-deadly-secrets |work=The Stranger |date=30 January 2019 |access-date=2025-09-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=McMichael |first=Barbara Lloyd |title=Ceramic Artist Offers a Different Take on Teatime |url=https://freshcup.com/ceramic-artist-offers-different-take-on-teatime/ |work=Fresh Cup |date=2018 |access-date=2025-09-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Ceramic Artist Breaks Porcelain Room |url=https://crosscut.com/2018/11/ceramic-artist-breaks-porcelain-room |website=Cascade PBS |date=2018 |access-date=2025-09-10}}</ref>
==Personal life== Massaquoi relocated from New York to Seattle<ref>{{cite web |title=30 Women Who Run This City |url=https://www.seattlemet.com/style-and-shopping/2018/11/30-women-who-run-this-city-november-2018 |website=Seattle Met |date=2018 |access-date=2025-09-10}}</ref> in 2012 and again to Denver in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schirmacher |first=Abby |date=2021-06-03 |title=The OULA Company Relocates to Denver |url=https://303magazine.com/2021/06/oula-company-relocates-denver/ |access-date=2026-03-03 |website=303 Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Schirmacher |first=Abby |date=2022-09-08 |title=Erika Dalya Massaquoi on The OULA Company and Finding Balance as a Business Owner |url=https://303magazine.com/2022/09/the-oula-company/ |access-date=2026-03-05 |website=303 Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> She and her husband, Joe Massaquoi, married in 2009 and have one daughter.<ref>{{cite web |title=Erika Muhammad, Joseph Massaquoi |website=The New York Times |date=August 1, 2009 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/fashion/weddings/02MUHAMMAD.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare |access-date=September 10, 2025}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{Official website|https://erikadalyamassaquoi.com/}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Massaquoi, Erika}} Category:Living people Category:American women fashion designers Category:Fashion Institute of Technology alumni Category:University of Chicago alumni Category:American women company founders Category:Year of birth missing (living people)