She’s “the girl with the headscarf” as she’s been called since childhood. Khadija Aisha Ba never shows up without a turban that seems to wrap over her head to the ceiling. This piece of fabric, often in sparkling colors, has become his visual signature. This 38-year-old stylist, in boubou, sneakers and imposing hoop earrings, is one of the essential faces of fashion in Senegal who has been able to impose, in just a few years, an offbeat vision of clothes or objects. traditions of his country. All you have to do is take a stroll through Sandaga, her small high-end boutique, located in Plateau, a slamming corner of Dakar, to understand the crazy world of this designer and her brand L’Artisane, launched in 2018.
The Sandaga, named after the local market in the capital, is a round trip between her past and her country which she seeks to magnify. On the walls, black and white photos of his family stand alongside other frames in which proverbs in Wolof are written. “Better to share an ox than each go with a chicken,” read one. Further on, on the shelves, spread out crockery found in Paris and insanely large rings, some of which were made from a candlestick from her mother. “It was broken, I thought, ‘Why not make rings out of it,'” she says. And why not.
On hangers, embroidered boubous bear names as whimsical as their creator: the “boubou camouflage” because of its military motif, the “boubou zebra” or the “boubou burger” because it is adorned with a huge patch in the shape of an American sandwich, found on a stall in Dakar. “The shopkeeper had 150. It had been lying around in a box for years. I bought everything,” says Khadija Aisha Ba. And it is she who wants to sew this patch on the dress once made.
Handmade
“When I was younger, when I wore my grandmother’s or my grandfather’s boubou, they made fun of me, they told me that I dressed like an old woman. Me, I want to make it cool,” she says. Today, the “boubou burger” is his “best seller”, selling for 250,000 CFA francs (380 euros). A few days ago, she shipped an order to Sydney. The first models, made in 2018, took two years to sell.
It took international stars like British model Naomi Campbell snapping a photo of themselves in one of these revamped tunics on Instagram, for Senegalese – and Senegalese – to tear them off. “It’s a shame that we wait for African creations to be validated in Europe or the United States to wear them here, she regrets. African fashion will be boosted when Africans will actually consume African. »
In her shop, she sometimes meets customers – especially from the diaspora – happy to wear Louis Vuitton or Dior, but who negotiate discounts to afford a few items. It annoys her because her clothes – and even the packaging – are handmade. “I’d rather they didn’t buy anything and just come to smell the incense.” I want to force them to understand that the handmade has a value, she gets carried away. Me, I understood it in France. »
After her baccalaureate in 2004, Khadija Aisha Ba, from the middle class, arrives at the University of Orleans for studies in business law and continues after her master’s degree with an MBA in luxury brand management in Paris: she sees then becoming the marketing director of a large company or opening a top-of-the-range concierge service in Dakar.
Fashion as a matter of course
“In France, I get a cultural slap in the face,” she says. I am shocked to discover that the wax is not from the continent but from Holland and I see that big names in European luxury are using symbols of Africa to look chic. Which is not the case with us, we were never told that. And during my first MBA course, we explain that luxury is everything that is handmade. I’m like, “So, I was born into luxury.” A reference to his grandmother and his mother who made, with their loom, loincloths. “Even they never explained it to me,” she adds.
Back in Senegal after several experiences in communication and marketing, fashion will become obvious. Today, through her diverted traditional models, she “militates for Africa”, to make it more “glamorous” too, and above all so that her story is written, told and woven by children of the continent “There is a slogan that marked me as a child: “Who better than Renault can maintain your Renault?”. I say, “Who better than Africans can represent Africa?” “, she lets go.
As proof, placed on a shelf, these Pinton cans, a real institution in Senegal. Inside, instead of the sardinella pâté, a red and white T-shirt, the colors of the brand. This cotton top is even made in the firm’s factory, located at the port of Dakar. “The Pinton brings together all Senegalese, from the poorest to the richest. It is the taste of our childhood, of our memories, which accompanies us throughout our lives, she underlines. We did not realize its sentimental value, it is our Nutella. “Listening to him speak, there would be almost a political message in this T-shirt sold at 35,000 CFA francs (53 euros), another way of saying that “we are all equal”, she underlines.
In a few days, she will hang posters of the great classics of Egyptian cinema on a wall. One person remarked to him: “When you walk into your shop, you will immediately see these Arabic letters. Response from Khadija Aisha Ba: “So what. Egypt is not in Africa? »