DrLa’tifah Qawishabazz-Muhammad

Dr. LàTifah Qawishabazz-Muhammad is an Eco Bohème Couture Designer, entrepreneur, cultural archivist, educator, and founder of House of Nwàn, a multidisciplinary luxury house dedicated to fashion, heritage, sustainability, education, and cultural preservation. For more than two decades, her work has explored the intersection of identity, ancestry, craftsmanship, and environmental stewardship. Through fashion, storytelling, historical research, and creative innovation, she has developed a body of work that challenges conventional ideas of luxury while celebrating the contributions, histories, and cultural legacies of people of African descent. Her journey into fashion began not with a desire to enter the industry, but with a desire to solve a problem. As a young Muslim woman struggling to find clothing that reflected both her values and personal style, she began creating garments for herself. What started as necessity soon evolved into a lifelong pursuit of design, education, and cultural storytelling. A graduate of the International Academy of Design and Technology in Chicago, Dr. Qawishabazz-Muhammad earned degrees in Fashion Design and Fashion Merchandising before continuing her studies in Business Administration and International Marketing. Her commitment to lifelong learning would ultimately become one of the defining characteristics of her leadership philosophy. Throughout her career, she has become known for her pioneering Eco Bohème methodology, an approach that combines sustainable design practices, natural fibers, organic dye techniques, historical research, and cultural narrative. Her collections frequently explore themes of identity, memory, resilience, ancestry, and the relationship between humanity and the natural world. Since her debut at New York Fashion Week in 2018, her work has appeared on runways in New York, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, and Los Angeles, while earning recognition through numerous editorial features, fashion publications, and industry collaborations. In 2024, she formally established House of Nwàn, a luxury ecosystem encompassing fashion, adornment, ancestral living, education, and cultural preservation. Under her leadership, House of Nwàn has evolved beyond a traditional fashion brand into a platform for storytelling, empowerment, sustainability, and creative legacy. Today, Dr. Qawishabazz-Muhammad continues to build a future-focused institution rooted in ancestral wisdom, believing that true luxury is not merely what we wear, but what we preserve, what we teach, and what we leave behind for future generations. Her work is guided by a simple principle: Fashion is not merely the creation of garments. It is the preservation of stories.