In Dakar, Style Is A Lived Experience
When a photographer Trevor Stuurman He went to Dakar for fashion week for the first time in 2018, and he didn’t expect to fall in love like he did. After all, visual artists and photographers from South Africa and one of the most popular creatives on the continent have spent years documenting the most dynamic cities and influential tastemakers – Barack Obama Obama, Naomi Campbell and Beyonce all surround the world. Nonetheless, there is no place in the world that attracts him as much as Senegal. “Dakar is my favorite place to visit,” he said.
“Dakar is so art that you feel it from the moment you arrive. The art here begins when you arrive at the airport and continue into the street. He is the person you meet for the first time and they wear in the clothes.” he explained.
Below, Stuurman reviews some of his favorite photos of visiting and documenting Dakar in the past seven years, as well as the inspiration behind it.
“Khadija Aisha Ba, the founder of local fashion brands CraftsmanshipI filmed this in 2022 at Chanel’s first runway show in Africa. Khadija is one of the most fashionable people in the world – her style is so stable and bold that no one has the same clothes as hers. She borrowed it from the past, but stared at a very moving gaze, a bold and expressive style. For example, she would pair the traditional Senegalese Boubou with teddy bear pins and cool canvas high cans. I love the metal bags she carries from her own collection with huge safety nail handles.
“This was taken with Khadija from Gorée Island, a short ferry ride from Dakar. Our guide stopped here to tell us about the Bougainvillea (Dakar) We all grew up seeing a flower but never stopped to think. Do you know that the colorful parts are not flowers? They are actually leaves.
Gorée Island is a very complex space because it is an island with a long and dark history, many people are enslaved. This is also where you find the doors that have no reward, now there are museums and memorials. The island is now UNESCO Heritage. It’s also a stunning place, a sunny island filled with these quiet and beautiful moments. ”
“Mamy Tall is an architect in Dakar, and every time I visit Dakar, she takes me to visit its heritage buildings and precints’ trips – her heritage and preservation of Dakar and full of confidence. Here she stood in a building under construction and they covered it with these beautiful braided mats, creating a lovely backdrop. This is what I have for Dakar Love – its wit, and its ability to make beauty from everyday situations and objects. I love the symmetry between her image and the patterns in the building on the right.”
source: Conde Nast Traveler
