Selly Raby Kane on creating sci-fi fashion in Senegal

“I want people to dive into a universe, I want them to dive into a story and I want them to feel like they’re in a timeless space.”

From the Series

In this interview with Senegalese fashion designer Selly Raby Kane, she speaks about her African sci-fi-inspired designs and the burgeoning creative energy that Dakar holds.

Kane’s designs are eclectic and defy regular fashion aesthetics. Kane says she draws this inspiration from her childhood: “I used to watch a lot of horror movies and a lot of fantastical movies, which infused the whimsical and the supernatural.”

“When I present a collection,” she says. “I want people to dive into a universe, I want them to dive into a story and I want them to feel like they’re in a timeless space.”

Kane says that the first collection she created was impulsive, but now her work is approaching crescendo as she investigates more conceptual fashion

Selly Raby Kane is also a member of Les Petites Pierres, a Dakar-based creative collective. Kane met the collective in early 2009 and made a natural connection through the things that she had in common with them:

Our love for the city, our impulse to create change in the city through our creativity, through the images we propose, through the way we invest in the city and the way we build bridges with different populations in the city.

Kane’s latest collection, “Birds of Dakar” includes her trademarks such as transparent inset panels, recurring animal and insect motifs and a Pop Art-inspired use of pattern.

Giving away no clues about the future Kane simply says, “I’m curious to see what will happen next.”