Exploring Life & Business with Liajuana Clark of Cokianna’s Fashion & Apparel

Today we’d like to introduce you to Liajuana Clark.

Hi Liajuana, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’m Liajuana Clark — I go by Laghacy Cokianna — and I was born and raised right here in Cleveland. My beginning wasn’t easy. I was raised mostly in my grandmother’s house, both of my parents were incarcerated, and I became a mother at fourteen. I learned early that nobody was coming to save me, so I saved myself.

Creativity was my way out. I wrote, I sang, I performed — and eventually everything I loved came together in fashion. I started designing for myself, then for other women who wanted to feel powerful in their own skin, and that grew into Cokianna’s Fashion & Apparel. I built it out the mud — no investors, no handouts, just faith, work, and a community that believed in me because I never stopped showing up for them.

Today I’m the CEO of my own fashion house, with a shoe line and my own fragrance, Laghacy’s La’Mour. I’m a mother and a grandmother. And because this city raised me, I’m giving back to it — through my reentry nonprofit, Fallen Angels LLC, and by telling my whole story in my memoir, A Bloody Rose. To whom much is given, much will be required — that’s the scripture I live by, and it’s the road that got me here.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been a smooth road at all. I built this brand while raising my children, working, and funding everything myself — every design, every show, every dollar came out of my own pocket and my own grind. I’ve had my work stolen and copied. I’ve had my pages deactivated and had to start over from zero, more than once. There were seasons I was surviving things in my personal life that nobody saw while I was still posting, still designing, still showing up smiling for my customers.

What kept me going was faith and my “why.” My children were watching. My stepson inspired me to start building Cokianna’s Place, a safe haven for children with autism. When you know your pain has a purpose, you don’t quit — you turn it into triumph.

As you know, we’re big fans of Cokianna’s Fashion & Apparel. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Cokianna’s Fashion & Apparel is a Cleveland-based womenswear brand built on one idea: luxury energy at a price real women can reach. I design contemporary, statement-making pieces — the kind of look that walks into a room before you say a word — along with a shoe line through AliveShoes, my signature fragrance, Laghacy’s La’Mour, and our children’s line, Cokianna’s Fashion Kids.

What sets Cokianna’s apart is that it’s personal. I’m not a corporation guessing what women want — I am my customer. I wear my own designs, I listen to my community on social media every day, and I design for women who have survived something and still want to shine. And this is truly a family business: my daughters Royalty (12) and Lyrikal (9) are my business partners and the designers behind Cokianna’s Fashion Kids, and my older daughters Taraji (16) and Jai’mionna (14) create with us too. Everything I’m building is meant to be handed down — and they’re already building it with me.

Brand wise, I’m most proud that we got here with no shortcuts — and we’re just getting started. I signed a fashion week contract, and my sights are set on Paris, Milan, and London. When you shop Cokianna’s, you’re not just buying an outfit; you’re wearing a story of survival.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
My favorite memories are the quiet ones. I could always smell snow in the air before it came — I’d sit at my grandmother’s window watching the leaves fall, admiring the colors, dreaming about the life I was going to have. And my sister was my protector growing up; any moment I was with her, I felt safe. Those little pockets of peace carried me.

Pricing:

• Cokianna’s Fashion custom backpack: $279

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.aliveshoes.com/cokianna-fashions
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cokiannas_fashion
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laghacy.cokianna
• Other: http://liajuanasconfessions.wordpress.com

Image Credits
Royalty, Lyrikal, Jai’mionna, Taraji