Born in Zambia and raised in Portland, Ore., Asùkùlù Songolo, ’25, is the son of Congolese refugees—a biographical detail, he says, that has heavily influenced his path. He expected to study international relations at Stanford with a focus on Africa (which he did), then attend law school and perhaps become a professor of African history. But Songolo’s professional interests took on new character after he received a fellowship named for the late Lyric McHenry, ’14, which enabled him to spend the summer of 2023 in Paris as an intern at French vintage fashion boutique Marché Noir Lomé-Paris. His internship coincided with Haute Couture Week. “I’d always liked clothes. I’d always liked the way my parents and aunts and uncles dressed, and I’d observed the way that people put clothes together and mix and match,” Songolo says. “I just never necessarily considered fashion as something that I’d go into. Seeing people [during Haute Couture Week] from different backgrounds all be interested in a brand, seeing fashion as a unifying force, really pushed me toward considering this as a career path.”
Fast-forward three years—including a year of immigrant youth engagement research for Oregon’s Multnomah County, a summer at Nike’s Jordan brand, and a debut collection at Stanford’s 2024 FashionX runway show—and Songolo has doubled down on his fashion mission statement. “Policy moves too slow,” he says. “I’m trying to impact people’s lives a little faster than this whole policy thing does.” Songolo has since created his own brand, Luùndo (“love” in Kibembe, his family’s tribal language), with the aim of fusing traditional cultural dress with modern silhouettes and styles. That has ranged from everyday wear to—lately—suits and dresses. Many of his designs draw inspiration from Congolese aesthetics, and Songolo says he intends to create more buying opportunities involving African culture. He describes Luùndo as not just a brand but a celebration—one in which people can highlight who they are and where they come from, with love.
UNITY: Songolo’s first collection, called Emo (“one”), for his Luùndo brand, modeled by fellow students. (Photo: Cyprien Fasquelle, ’24)
“I’m very interested in telling stories and thinking about the clothes that I wear as telling stories of my culture.”
“Fashion is a global language that’s used not with words but through touch, through visual senses, through your hearing—like, you can hear someone coming. Anywhere you travel in the world, you’re going to find culture and you’re going to find clothing.
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“I traveled to [Democratic Republic of the] Congo and visited a displaced peoples camp, and I was able to just see the inequities that already exist in Congo and how they’re exacerbated by things like war and displacement. I think that’s always going to be something that’s interesting to me: how we find solutions to these problems and how we meet people where they are, help provide for them in their situations.
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“My dream is to build creative industries, first in Congo and then throughout the African continent. By 2050, Africa is supposed to have the largest youth population. I don’t think there’s enough emphasis and interest in building jobs for this youth population. We just continually say, ‘Oh, this continent’s the future,’ but we’re not thinking about what the future looks like in a very tangible and practical way.
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“Congo has over 200 tribes, and there are so many different identities and practices and things that I don’t even know about this country that I’m excited to explore. And I think that using clothing as a medium is very exciting.
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“My goal is to try to create that future and help broaden people’s imagination of what’s possible. I guess my dream would be to set up manufacturing in Congo and help create opportunities for people, specifically job opportunities.”
Zora Hudson, ’24, is an editorial intern at Stanford. Email her at stanford.magazine@stanford.edu.
