Sustainable fashion took center stage at this year’s Dakar Fashion Week. It is the 21st edition of the annual showcase of African fashion.
The launch was attended by a dozen designers from Senegal and the sub-region.
Adama Amanda Ndiaye, better known as Adama Paris, Senegalese fashion designer and founder of Dakar Fashion Week, said sustainability was on her agenda for this year’s event.
“What’s new this year is that for four or five years now, during Dakar Fashion Week, we’ve been supporting designers who make sustainable, recycled fashion. And this year their collective will be participating in the main fashion show, so I’m very proud of them. And then of course innovation, it’s always the designers, they’re always innovative and new. We’ve got Angola, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Congo, we’ve got a lot of nationalities. I’m very happy with this diversity,” said Adama Ndiaye, the organizer of Dakar Fashion Week.
Adama Paris spoke of the importance of Dakar Fashion Week as a platform to promote and celebrate African creativity in fashion. She highlighted the diversity of emerging talent and “invites major designers to support the growth, success and international visibility of these ‘newborns'”.
Speaking to the press, Adama Paris shared her pride in seeing Dakar Fashion Week evolve over the years to become a must-attend event for fashion enthusiasts from home and abroad. As usual, Adama Paris doesn’t set a specific theme for these designers, leaving them free to express their creativity.
” Adama has put the spotlight on young Senegalese designers. She is used to saying that there are no young designers, all designers are great, but these are designers who haven’t had the opportunity to be known, but they have a talent that everyone can see through their creations,” said Massamba Ndiongue, a Senegalese designer.
Given the situation that has plagued the country for some time, with irregular migration, lack of jobs and unemployment, Adama Paris calls on young people to become entrepreneurs. She emphasizes the importance of empowering African fashion designers and preserving artisanal traditions, without forgetting the economic and cultural impact of the fashion industry in Africa. For her, “Dakar Fashion Week” is not only for designers, but also for artisans and shoemakers.
