The Dakar-based creative, designer, and entrepreneur details her rise in the African fashion economy.

To put it plainly, Sarah Diouf is an image architect. The designer with a degree in visual communication spent the better part of her early twenties spearheading a magazine. She tells me over a call that this portion of her life fueled her creative passion alongside storytelling. As the founder of Tongoro, a brand that possesses a charming aesthetic, Diouf’s designs have been worn by Alicia Keys, Naomi Campbell, and Beyoncé. The latter opted to wear Tongoro alongside 30 dancers onstage during her “Renaissance” tour.

Born in Paris to a Senegalese father and a Central African–Senegalese mother, Sarah Diouf’s early life was shaped by movement and multicultural influences. Both of her parents worked for the now-defunct pan-African airline Air Afrique—her father as a pilot and her mother as a stewardess, which afforded Diouf the chance to travel widely from a young age.

For the full story, please visit essence.com