Senegalese entrepreneur and designer, Adama Amanda Ndiaye is the talented designer behind the brand “Adama Paris.”
Also known as “Adama Paris,” the African designer was born in 1976 in Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly known as the Republic of Zaire) where she spent her first three years as a child before moving to Paris. Because she was the daughter of a diplomat, Adama spent her growing up years in several cities and countries around the world. As a result, she became a true cosmopolitan.
Before becoming a designer, Adama had a banking career in Europe but abandoned it to pursue a career in fashion designing in her native country, Senegal. Today, the fashion designer lives in Paris, France but travels frequently to the French capital and New York, Brazil and Senegal.
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Adama’s designs symbolise the multicultural fashion designer of the new millennium. This is attributed to her growing up in several cities around the world. As such, her designs are inspired by cities and globalism. In an interview with Vogue Italia, the African designer said,
Much of my inspiration comes from the big cities, for I am a true city girl who loves buildings and concrete. I love to travel and each stop in a concrete jungle is an occasion for inspiration. My aim was and still is sharing with all modern women one fashion without borders.
Adama Paris was born from my desire to share my passion for fashion as well as fulfilling my will for displaying diversity.
Her pieces are sold worldwide with three points of sales shop in Paris, two in London and one each in New York, Rio de Janeiro and Dakar.
At the time Adama went back to Senegal to start her fashion-designing journey, there was little or no acceptance for African fashion in the mainstream. To promote global visibility and acceptance for African fashion, she created the Dakar Fashion Week exhibition 11 years ago. “I wanted to share modern African fashion with the rest of the world and highlight the savoir-faire of my African peers,” she told Vogue Italia.
Last year, about thirty designers from nine African and Asian countries showcased their collections at Dakar Fashion Week. It also had audience members coming from around the world. She is also the organiser of Black Fashion Week . A fashion event that has been organised in cities such as Prague, Czech Republic, Bahia, Brazil, Paris, France and Montreal, Canada.
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See another photo of Adama and some of her collections below
