With the holiday season approaching, we have decided to take you on a 4-page trip to Dakar in this issue. The famous fashion magazine, GQ, pays tribute to Senegal’s beautiful people for this season’s fashion shoot.
“Dakar is a very cool and relaxed place,” says Mobolaji Dawodu, GQ Style’s fashion director. “If there’s one thing that stands out from the crowd, it’s the clothes. The colours and prints are modern and dynamic”.
Dawodu and French photographer Fanny Latour-Lambert landed in Senegal on the last day of Ramadan with several suitcases of clothes and photo equipment. The plan was to meet and photograph a few dozen Dakar residents who exude freshness and natural class, whether they wear a traditionally patterned boubou or a floral Off-White costume. “There are many beautiful and elegant people in Dakar,” notes Dawodu. In this very busy fashion season, the pieces that have left the deepest impression on Dawodu are the prints and patterns that are as festive as the clothes found on the streets of Dakar.
Thus, each piece of haute couture brought to Senegal by Dawodu was accompanied by the most daring design pieces of the season. The main trend is the juxtaposition of local clothing and designer fashions. This creativity proves that for some, style is simply inherent.
The capital of Senegal is the westernmost city on the African continent, a hook-shaped peninsula that extends into the Atlantic Ocean, with vast beaches and excellent waves all year round. It is the epicentre of Senegal’s highly connected economy and a hub for the new generation of young Senegalese artists, models and students. As Ramadan came to an end and the national football team was about to make a name for itself at the World Cup, the main squares of Dakar were filled with hundreds of partygoers.
Dawodu made a casting call for models but ended up finding most of the models on the street, in bars and at a dance party that had to be interrupted by the police. The next day, as the city slowly came alive again, the models gathered and dressed by GQ magazine, personified the soul and spirit of Senegal.
Source Samuel Hine
