00:00What if Africa's future wasn't managed in Silicon Valley, but sown in Dakar's alleys?
00:07Fashion entrepreneur Selly Rabikan believes time is ripe to bring Senegalese mythology into fashionable streetwear.
00:17My designs are really enmeshed with Dakar pictograms, graphism, colors, sense of patchworking, everyday designers.
00:30The mentality that we have in the streets of Dakar, I think I have that in my designs because I
00:34proceed with a lot of contrast, with clash rather than coordinating things.
00:41Her designs pulse with futurism, but how does her bold vision fit into a conservative society where religion, femininity and
00:51politics are regulated?
00:54Yes, I think first, Islam in Senegal is mostly a Sufi Islam, so it's a bit different than what we
01:00may imagine a conservative Muslim society to be.
01:05So that context is important, but I think what it costed me at the beginning was a lot of time
01:13explaining why my language existed, basically.
01:19Because people will ask you, who is going to wear this? So no one is going to wear it, so
01:24why are you doing it?
01:24And I was here trying to explain that, yeah, it has hair, yeah, it has this, it has that.
01:30The shapes are uncommon and impractical sometimes, but it says something about a world where this inspiration comes from.
01:40It says something about the body of a woman at that period of time.
01:44But I think that repetition created just a space for different voices, such as mine.
01:52Selly is building a youth aesthetic that is radical, but culturally grounded, not imported.
02:01Yes, I think when I use them together, first is the mentality of loving mood boards, loving collages, everything collage
02:09I love.
02:10And I love as well, the fact that there's a bit of a bifal culture into it, patchwork, the tapestry
02:19of society, you know, people from coming from different paths, different people, different species, all of that in the same
02:26environment and trying to coexist together and have a singular voice when it's needed.
02:31I think there's a lot of that, trying to make a sense of the world we're living in and speaking
02:40about community through the elements that I choose to work with.
02:43At her studio in Dakar, Hans, trained in the city, are building the next collection.
02:51There's a certain way of working that you will see nowhere else.
02:54It's when I started working for Selly that I saw a lot of changes.
02:58Usually, I don't work for others.
03:00I wouldn't work on a design that would make people stop to take a second look in appreciation.
03:05But since I've started working for her, she's been really supportive and boosted my confidence.
03:10Honestly, I can say this is all thanks to her, because us artisans, we're just out here trying.
03:16But we have been really thankful since we've started working for her.
03:19And that's really it.
03:23Born in Dakar, trained in Paris, she chose the sketch over the spreadsheet and came home.
03:31I don't know why it was obsessive for me at first, but I think now I understand that what I
03:36was feeling in the 2008-2010s is that something was happening in the city of Dakar that I didn't see
03:43in Paris, that I didn't see elsewhere.
03:45Beyoncé wore a Selly Rabikan kaftan.
03:49The world noticed.
03:51Selly kept working.
03:53I've been listening to Beyoncé my whole childhood.
03:59And we were making jeans with Destiny's Child references.
04:04So it was kind of, yeah, it was a great moment, really.
04:06For this innovative style explorer, African fashion in 2026 is no longer a footnote.
04:15This is our kimono, and it's a very important piece for the brand.
04:20I think it's one of the most recognizable pieces of the brand.
04:24And what we are talking about is here, you have the hair, the synthetic hair here, leather cutouts, wax, quilted
04:36motifs.
04:38You have a seahorse here, shrimp.
04:40So it's kind of a marvelous universe that is embedded into one piece.
04:46And I really like this piece.
04:48The 26th collection is about friendship of two people that are very creative.
04:57And the collection is about that type of encounter between two creative women.
05:01And it tells that story of creativity, soul-searching, friendship, etc.
05:08Selly Rabikan is building worlds and inviting the next generation to walk into them.
05:15One son alive and made in the car.
Comments