PicoBlog

Kader Diaby is many things: a visionary clothing designer, a talented photographer and artist, a business management consultant for one of the Big Four accounting firms, and a karaoke king who does an excellent rendition of Adele’s “Easy On Me.” Most importantly, though, is that he is thoroughly Abidjanais, a man who loves Côte d’Ivoire’s main city with an infectious passion.

His new collection, “Boulevard Lagunaire,” the third collection of his unisex brand Olooh, is a testament to that love. Inspired by one of the main thoroughfares of le Plateau, Abidjan’s business district, the collection of oversized shirts, suits, pants and vests in elegant solid colors, soft local fabric, and the iconic gold Olooh logo adornments, “Boulevard Lagunaire” is unique in its versatility, breathability and refined originality. I spoke to Kader recently in his showroom in Zone 4, Abidjan, la plus doux au monde.

Where is Boulevard Lagunaire and what is the inspiration behind this collection?

We call it Boulevard Lagunaire because it’s a road that passes by the lagoon. Its official name is Boulevard De Gaulle, like the former French president. I don’t like to call it Boulevard De Gaulle, I prefer to call it Boulevard Lagunaire. For the last few years, everyone in Côte d’Ivoire began calling it Boulevard Lagunaire.

The collection is about the what I consider to be the birth of Ivorian urban culture. For me, Ivorian urban culture as we know it now was born in the 1990s with Zouglou. It’s at this moment that we began to have a really distinct urban cultural identity, with the birth of nouchi, when we started to have more mainstream musical artists performing zouglou, it was the birth of Ivorian rap as well. This period forged the cultural identity of Abidjan as we know it today. And I wanted to celebrate that moment with this collection.

Why the Boulevard Lagunaire? Because the Plateau was an iconic location. When we look at the music videos and films from that time, they were mainly filmed in the Plateau because it was the symbol of economic growth in the country in the 90s. So I chose Boulevard Lagunaire because it synthesized everything I loved: Ivorian culture, the Plateau, which to me represents Ivorian architecture, and the lagoon is right there.

You launched Olooh in 2018. How has your vision of the brand and of the market evolved since then ?

Since the launch there have been two major changes. The first change is in Olooh itself, and then there has been a change in the market. The change in the market is that I've noticed that people are more and more willing to wear African designers. I feel like there have been two periods in the consumption of African designers. In the beginning people were saying “we need to support African designers, we need to buy African,” and everyone wanted to be part of the movement by supporting African designers.

But I think now people have been seduced by the products themselves. They're not buying out of support anymore, they're buying because they like it, and because the demand is high. It's really starting to become a part of everyday life.

With regards to Olooh, the team has grown and we’ve grown structurally and organizationally. But especially in terms of artistic direction, the Olooh universe is a little more distinct, it's more defined. We always had a vision of what we wanted and where we were going, but now the vision is clearer and clearer and we know more and more how to communicate and how to reach that vision.

Your brand is really representative of Abidjan but it's also quite universal. How do you strike that balance? What is Abidjan in Olooh and what is universal?

It's not voluntary actually. We don't say, "We're doing something that's going to look like Abidjan and at the same time be international.” I draw from my experiences, I tell my story and the story of others like me, who grew up in Abidjan, but who grew up in an open, international environment.

Ivorian culture is very strong but at the same time we are a very diverse country. We have all nationalities in Abidjan. We have all the international channels that are there. If you speak to someone in the street, they will immediately tell you about an Ivorian television program than about French or American, or Chinese or even Indian, Brazilian programs. On TV we have everything.

What do you love about Abidjan? What gives you life in Abidjan?

First and foremost, Ivorians themselves. It's their mindset, their way of behaving, their way of thinking, their mood, their good humor. I love their elegance, their finesse. Ivorians are very elegant. It's the Ivorian joie de vivre, it's their sense of humor—Ivorians have a very developed sense of humor—their welcome, the ability they have to get over difficult things. We manage to transform everything, to turn everything into something funny. We don't really have big problems, really. It's just, oh, it'll pass, we laugh about it, and then it passes. 

In Abidjan, we have everything. We have the lagoon, we have the sea, we have lakes, and that's all I like in fact. Abidjan’s location and geography are exceptional.

A lot of your images are in nature. How does nature influence your work?

You have to be delusional to not love nature. It doesn’t even make sense to not love nature because we live thanks to nature. Everything we know and love comes from nature, even down to our telephones. It’s all coming from somewhere, so we need to preserve our natural environment. And I think people who love material things are the ones who need to be most thankful to nature, because if you love material things and you want to have more of them in the future, you need to be mindful of the source of those material things.

I don’t define myself as an ecologist, I just consider myself to be a conscious person, and it’s part my consciousness to take care of my environment. We only have one planet, the resources are not unlimited. We don’t need to be ecologists to be mindful, to love, or to protect the environment, it’s a question of sense.

Is there a cultural renaissance happening in Abidjan and in Africa more generally?

Yes and no. It feels like things are moving now, but exceptional Ivorian artists have always existed. It's just that they’ve found a way to express themselves and to be seen, to communicate. But Abidjan has always been the cultural platform of Francophone West Africa. It’s true that we had a few years of war, and when we are at war we don’t have much time to dance, so we danced less, but otherwise now we have a bit more visibility.

This applies to Côte d’Ivoire but also Africa in general. If we’re speaking of cultural renaissance, I think it’s makes more sense to speak of a financial cultural renaissance. Maybe now we make a bit more money because now there are more ways of making money, so we can do more things. But speaking purely of culture, nothing has changed. We have always been this creative, it’s just that now we’re getting more money and visibility.

You’ve said in the past that you don’t want to put in the “African designer” box. What do you mean by this?

I’ve said that and I continue to say that. Before being African, I’m Ivorian. That people label Olooh as an Ivorian brand, OK, it’s true because it’s what I am. It’s an Ivorian brand because I’m in Côte d’Ivoire, most of my inspiration is from Côte d’Ivoire, my workshop is in Côte d’Ivoire.

I think it’s reductive to say “African brand,” because what is an African brand? I don’t understand the meaning. In general when we’re talking about Chanel, we don’t say Chanel is a European brand, we say a Parisian or French brand. Why is it that when it comes to us, we’re all put in one big box over there, and are told, “occupy yourselves over there.” To talk of “African designers” is reductive, I think.

My clothes are not only for Africans. My clothes are for anyone, whether you’re Asian, white, Black, if you’re feeling the mood, you wear the mood. I don’t even know what makes a brand African. Don’t forget that words are not accidental. When one is speaking of an Italian brand, most people think of high quality, with Parisian, you’re thinking of luxury. What do we associate with an African brand? I don’t know, and I’d like someone to tell me. Before someone tells me I’m an African brand, I’d like to know what the connotations of an African brand are. What are we implying?

Who gave this description, and why are we all under one label of “African designers” when in Côte d’Ivoire alone we have 60 different ethnicities with 60 different cultures? When you look at the whole continent, there are thousands and thousands of different cultures, and they will all be put under one label of “African brand.” North Africa is not the same as West Africa, which is not the same as East Africa or Southern Africa. Why are we all put in the same bucket of crabs?

Is there something else you want people to know?

It’s important for people to remember that we’re artists, but we’re also entrepreneurs. And entrepreneurs need a structure, they need funds, they need states to put regulatory measures in place to help us advance. We’re not waiting for everything to come from the state, but in Côte d’Ivoire we live in a country with regulations, and we need the state to build a legal and juridical structure.

We need support at the fiscal level, we need funds because we are businesses that make money. It’s not charity, we are just asking investors to look more closely and they will realize it’s a very interesting business. If all the big fashion brands have existed for so many years, it’s because they make a lot of money. People should understand that fashion is not just about drawing robes and frou-frous. Behind that, it’s entrepreneurs with viable businesses.

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