- Title: The designer keeping Mali's women trendy and authentic
- Date: 6th January 2020
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (French) NAMISSA THERA, FOUNDER AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF IKALOOK, SAYING: "The modern Malian woman, she is like me, like all my women customers. In terms of dressing, she wants to wear clothes which have a story, authenticity. Clothes that reveal their personalities, without needing to say much. With their clothes they want to show self-esteem, pride in wearing
- Embargoed: 20th January 2020 09:46
- Keywords: Malian fashion designer Namissa Thera designer fashion
- Location: BAMAKO, MALI
- City: BAMAKO, MALI
- Country: Mali
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Fashion
- Reuters ID: LVA003BV6AP95
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The fashion designer behind the Ikalook label is 34-year-old Namissa Thera whose artistic ambition is to bring back the 'Mali' into everyday smart wear.
Thera says she prefers to sell her clothes from her boutique in the Dar Es Salaam district of Bamako rather than online because her clients kept telling her they wanted to see, feel and try her creations.
Her clientele is young, strong, professional and proud to be African.
One of them, Anna Konate, who commutes between New York and Bamako for her work at the United Nations says she loves to show off Ikalook clothes abroad because they are modern, practical and are "undoubtedly Malian".
"I like the materials used. I find it cheerful and it really fits with my style as an active woman. Wearing Ikalook is very practical. And when I wear Ikalook outside of Mali I feel like I really represent Mali," said Konate.
Thera launched her new collection at a fashion show in Bamako late in 2019. It's called Bara which means 'Work' in Bambara.
The Bara range is smart, light and practical she said.
"Bara 2019 is a collection that is made from 100% Mali cotton. The collection is inspired by everything denim, and the spirit of work because it is 'Bara'. The inspiration for the collection comes from the denim thread, from djemebe (African instrument), and the Bobo (Malian community), for what we can call the smart look," said Thera.
Thera says she gets inspiration from bloggers and fashion shows. Her target are young, professionals who are rejecting the mass produced western clothes and want more than the traditional Malian style. She says there is an increasing number of designers coming up in Mali and she enjoys the competition.
"The modern Malian woman, she is like me, like all my women customers. In terms of dressing, she wants to wear clothes which have a story, authenticity. Clothes that reveal their personalities, without needing to say much. With their clothes they want to show self-esteem, pride in wearing African designers."
Known for its quality because it is picked by hand, African cotton makes up 10% of world production. Mali is the lead producer in Sub Saharan Africa.
Thera makes her clothes with materials woven at the state-sponsored Bamako center for textile and handicraft development. She also uses Bogolan, which means 'from the earth' in Bambara and woven 'pagne', a wrap, often bursting with color and which forms the basis for most West African women's clothes.
Using traditional fabrics Thera injects a modern touch into her dresses, tailored suits and evening outfits to create practical yet chic outfits.
"The modern Malian woman, she is like me, like all my women customers. In terms of dressing, she wants to wear clothes which have a story, authenticity. Clothes that reveal their personalities, without needing to say much. With their clothes they want to show self esteem, pride in wearing African designers," said Thera.
Thera is self-taught. After ditching her studies in medicine and a short career in events management, she gradually moved towards fashion, and started designing the Ikalook brand.
At the beginning Thera used the internet and social media to build a following and get more visibility but, she told RFI radio, it didn't really work because customers wanted to try on the clothes. So in 2016, she opened her first boutique in Bamako. Today her Instagram account has thousands of followers and her clients are both in and outside Africa, many from the diaspora.
Ikalook gets orders from Senegal, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, France and the United States.
"What really motivates me in this industry is job creation, developing the workforce here, making sure things are created here, used widely, with the creations I make," she said.
(Arouna Sissoko, Yvonne Bell) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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