It’s the pausing of an era.

After nearly 15 years, Anifa Mvuemba announced she is pausing production at her label, HANIFA, saying she “doesn’t really feel inspired right now” and needs space to figure out what’s next. The decision — shared in a candid statement to The Cut — follows weeks of customer frustration over delayed Hanifa Friday preorders and intense social-media backlash that landed directly on the founder as she contended with postpartum life and crisis management. 

Mvuemba’s statement to customers was blunt and personal: “I don’t want to rush just to prove resilience. I don’t want to pretend everything is fine just to keep momentum,” she wrote, adding that the last months had taken an emotional toll. “There were nights where I was sobbing in one room and then wiping my face to go be the best mom I could be for my children in the next room.” That honesty, she said, informed the choice to pause rather than push through and risk producing work she didn’t believe in. 

Hanifa Friday was the brand’s Black Friday sale and is reported to be the catalyst of the chaos. Preorder designations and manufacturing delays created long ship times after the sale. Some customers say they never received communications as weeks stretched into months. Mvuemba and her team moved quickly to refund and expedite where possible, and she emphasized accountability, but also the unique pressures founder-led, Black-woman brands face when scrutiny and community expectations collide. 

She also pushed back on what she described as the harsher side of public response, arguing that “Founder-led brands operate under a different kind of scrutiny. And when you’re a Black woman, the margin for grace is thinner.” That line highlights the double burden many founder-CEOs — especially Black women — report: navigating both business logistics and the high emotions of an invested customer base.

Mvuemba shared that the pause is not necessarily permanent. The brand has attempted to satisfy customers where possible and Mvuemba said the decision is a search for a sustainable path forward, rather than a retreat.