Fashion: Fallou Ngom wants to break the barriers of luxury

An engineer by training, Fallou Ngom finally found his passion in fashion. The initiator of the “Mi Kooy” (“And me?” in Serer) festival wants to revolutionize haute couture through an artistic approach that advocates inclusiveness and ecology.

Dakar is suffocating under the September heatwave. Despite this intense heat, the Senegalese capital vibrated on Saturday September 19 to the rhythm of the “Mi Kooy” festival (“And me?” in Serer). A multidisciplinary fashion event which brought together nearly five hundred participants around creation in real time. Led by designer-engineer Fallou Ngom, precursor of haute couture based on inclusiveness and ecological awareness, the festival is open to all and democratizes access to a luxury hitherto reserved for the most well-off. Through this cultural initiative, Fallou made the prices of exceptional handmade clothing more accessible and thus helped to remove the budgetary barrier. He offered luxury fashion items with entry prices varying between 3,000 and 15,000 FCfa. A perfect example of rapprochement between the elite and the middle class, over the course of a weekend. Tuesday evening, fifteen minutes before boarding for Paris, where he is to hold his first international fashion show as part of the Togo International Fashion Festival (Fimo228), scheduled for September 25 to 27, the artist took stock of the first edition of “Mi Kooy”. With 475 entries, it almost achieved its objective, that of “making haute couture and urban cultures accessible”. Between fashion design masterclasses, gaming areas, collaborative painting workshops, live musical programming and DJ sets, it was a complete creative and festive universe that welcomed the public. A program designed with watchmaker precision to integrate this notion of inclusiveness so dear to the initiator of the “Mi Kooy” festival and which, over time, has nourished its artistic direction. “I have been an excluded person, like many others, even like almost everyone, because I think that everyone has, one day or another, experienced a form of social exclusion, whether they are aware of it or not. As far as I am concerned, this exclusion was more linked to my body shape when I was young,” recalls Fallou Ngom.

“Ibadou” parade

This exclusion, very anchored in Senegalese society, he emphasizes, also affects young “Ibadou”, who are distinguished by a certain style of clothing. The latter also took part in the parade. “These are people who have never marched, who didn’t even think about marching. They had just come to participate in the event and we selected them. They were taught to parade the same day, with teachers. Our approach is to do everything possible so that everyone feels involved,” explains the young stylist. During the festival, the inclusive pop-up store, an exclusive sales space, offered 200 unique high-end upcycling pieces at prices accessible to all budgets. It is this same collection that Fallou intends to present at Fimo228. With the emblematic Collé Ardo Sow, they constitute the two candidates selected to represent Senegal at this major event dedicated to fashion. Then, Fallou Ngom will hold exhibitions and sales in the French capital, then in Barcelona and Morocco. Finally, the designer plans to return to Senegal for the Youth Olympic Games. Originally from Sandiara, Fallou Ngom is a trained IT developer. It was over the years that he definitely caught the fashion bug. Present in this sector for years, the stylist ended up, through determination and perseverance, establishing his mark. His narrative fashion house, Fang, is today the pride of Senegalese creativity. It is not only aimed at a handful of wealthy people, but opens up to all levels of society to break down the traditional financial barriers of fashion. Luxury.

Ibrahima BA