West African Inspiration: Nio Far by Milcos

One of my favourite things about producing Madame Tây garments in Senegal was meeting young Senegalese creatives working in fashion, photography, graphic design, music. cultural promotion, theatre….everything! Dakar, the capital city of Senegal, is such a buzzing, vibrant city with a really tight-knit creative scene. This kind of atmosphere has bred a whole range of innovative and clever artists, and over the next few weeks I will be sharing with you the work of a few of these emerging creatives.

Nio Far by Milcos

El Hadji Malick Badji wearing Nio Far
Photo by Djibril Dramé 

El Hadji Malick Badji, like many young Senegalese designers, fell into his work in the fashion industry. Driven by his love of natural fabrics like linen, and disillusioned by the lack of such fabrics in contemporary Senegalese fashion, Malick soon realised that if he wanted to wear linen shirts, he’d have to make them himself.

 Luckily for Malick, his sister owns a fashion boutique in the leafy suburb Liberté 6 in central Dakar, and she was quick to help him learn the basics. Working closely with his sister and her tailor, Malick was able to design a range of beautifully detailed shirts, pants and dresses. Malick spends hours trawling through markets all over Dakar (his favourite is Colobane) to find high-quality linen to make his pieces. Nio Far’s aesthetic is perfect for balmy Senegalese nights, and features a lot of beautiful neutral colours with accents of marine blue, dark sea green and warm orange hues. Malick tends to favour contemporary silhouettes – most of his collection consists of loose fitting mens shirts and pants, and a few casual dresses, but he also creates traditional Senegalese outfits with his trademark Nio Far linen at the request of his friends.

 

For more information and to see more of Malick's creation you can check out Nio Far's Facebook Page

If you’re in Dakar and you’d like to meet Malick and visit the Nio Far boutique you can contact him on 77 251 32 81 or 77 456 21 88.

All photos courtesy of Guillaume Bassinet, Skillzography, Djibril Dramé and Djibril Ciao