Creative direction
AnyeMakeeva
Founder & Creative Director
In the studio.
From childhood drawings in Buea to building a fashion house in Paris, Anye Makeeva’s journey has been driven by a desire to give his imagination a tangible form.
01Buea
Born and raised in Cameroon
Born and raised in Cameroon, Anye grew up with his mother and two brothers. His early interests moved between drawing, football, dance and performance. At school, he took part in competitions and extracurricular activities, drawn to opportunities to create, perform and express himself.
- Drawing
- Football
- Dance
- Performance
02Music
Music opened another world
Style as a formof identity.
Music opened another world. The sounds of Makossa and African popular music existed alongside the imagery of 2000s hip-hop, fashion campaigns and music videos. He became interested in the complete presence of an artist: the clothes, the movement, the image and the confidence with which they occupied a space. Those early observations helped shape his understanding of style as a form of identity.
03Drawing
His first way of exploring
Drawing was his first way of exploring that connection. Long before formal training, he sketched clothing and collected creative ideas. When flooding at his family home destroyed those drawings, the loss stayed with him. It strengthened his determination to build a future in which he could develop his creativity and give his ambitions a lasting foundation.
04Paris
Paris
Design, constructionand the study of clothing.
That determination eventually brought him to Paris, where he studied Fashion Design and Technology at IFA Paris, graduating in 2021. Formal training gave him the practical means to develop the ideas he had explored since childhood, bringing design, construction and the study of clothing into his creative practice.
05The house
A house of his own
Carry their originswhile remainingopen to change.
In 2023, he founded Maison Makeeva, bringing his cultural background and evolving design perspective into a house of his own.
His work draws on the relationship between personal history and contemporary life. Cameroon remains a source of memory and cultural reference; Paris provides a setting in which those influences continue to develop. Across clothing and imagery, he explores how a person can carry their origins while remaining open to change.
- BueaChildhood drawingsDrawing, football, dance, performance
- 2021IFA ParisFashion Design and Technology
- 2023Maison MakeevaFounded in Paris
- TodayWaka ManCreating and performing music
06Waka Man
Also creating and performing as Waka Man
Music remains part of that perspective. Also creating and performing as Waka Man, Anye approaches clothing with an awareness of movement, character and visual storytelling. His interests in sound, performance and fashion inform a connected creative practice.
- Movement
- Character
- Visual storytelling