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In September 2025, during Milan Fashion Week, the Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI) presented The Cotton Road at 10 Corso Como in Milan, an exhibition tracing cotton’s journey from soil to seed, fiber to fabric, and finally to garment. I was invited to design the scenography and bring this story to life visually and spatially. Through my platform, Manju Journal, a global art and culture initiative dedicated to amplifying young African creatives, my work has always centered on storytelling and narratives that reflect who we are and where we come from. That same ethos guided The Cotton Road. I sought to understand and convey cotton’s full journey, from soil to hand to cloth, and to illuminate the human connection woven into every step.
The Cotton Road has been one of my favourite projects so far. My approach to the scenography was shaped by the story of cotton itself, that transformation from soil to seed, to fibre, to fabric, to garment. I wanted visitors to feel that journey and sense the rhythm of the work, of the labor and the humanity within it. The space at 10 Corso Como was very industrial, so I brought in natural textures like fabric and other organic forms to soften it, to let the craft breathe. Having artisans demonstrate their weaving live was key; it brought the story to life and turned the exhibition into a dialogue. In the end, it became less about display and more about connection, inviting people to pause, to reflect, and to feel part of the process behind the cloth.
Milan Fashion Week is known for luxury and bringing something artisanal and craft-based into that context was exciting. I wanted to make sure the artisanal story could hold its own in a space known for fashion spectacle, keeping things minimal and fresh without letting one world overshadow the other. In that sense, The Cotton Road became a counter-narrative, a story about value, ethics, and origin, bridging West Africa to the world. Being part of Milan Fashion Week through EFI rather than a luxury brand made it even more meaningful. It felt powerful to represent craftsmanship not as a trend but as culture and to do so at a moment when the industry is re-examining sustainability.
The roundtable during The Cotton Road exhibition was one of my favorite panels I have participated in to date. What resonated most deeply was the conversation about infrastructure, the support systems that sustain creative work, from funding and networks to spaces that help creativity grow.
For me, that means support that begins locally, at home in Ghana and Africa before reaching outward. We need systems that can hold us: funding, networks, and opportunities that are consistent. I’ve been fortunate to have a strong community that connects me to projects and people, but not everyone has that. Systemic change must start from the ground up, because your network, the people who truly believe in what you do, is your real value. The roundtable reminded me how vital these exchanges are. They connect us, introduce us to one another’s work, and spark future collaborations. It made me feel hopeful that there’s a bright future ahead if we keep building together, supporting each other, and ensuring our stories and authorship remain in our own hands.
If I were to write a creative manifesto today, it would be titled “Creativity and Culture as Remembrance”. To create is to remember where we come from and who we are, what we tell the world about our stories, not just as Africans but wherever we find ourselves as creatives. Success isn’t about scale or visibility, it’s about impact, about what the work gives back to the people, the community, and the culture that shaped it. That’s what made The Cotton Road so meaningful. EFI created a platform not only for me but for artisans and designers from West Africa to show their craft honestly.
Looking ahead, as Manju enters its tenth year, I keep asking myself: What are we building that will last? Impact is what matters, the relationships, the meaning, and the memory the work leaves behind.
written by Richmond Orlando Mensah
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The Ethical Fashion Initiative is a programme of the International Trade Centre, a joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization.
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