Creators of Manganii
Could you introduce yourself?
I am a Senegalese artisan who lives in Senegal.
After a master’s degree in financial management, I have worked for ten years in research and consulting firms operating in the field of microfinance.
Working with the corporate world during my consultancy missions was revealing for me. Create, undertake, that’s what I wanted to do. This is how my first hairdresser company was born in 2010.
How was your brand born?
This first experience allowed me to better approach the different aspects of the reality of a business management. On the sidelines of this experience, I had to undertake various sewing workshops, fashion design, model making in 2017. The leather workshop was a revelation, the work of leather in all its aspects: choice of material, cutting, the design … was a real source of inspiration in the creation of my brand Manganii.
Manganii is a Wolof word that means transhumance. By this term, the stated ambition is to be a mix between this African culture through its materials, its colors and the trends of universal fashion. The enhancement of this African touch will make its identity.
Can you tell me about your achievements?
The first collection was presented through private sales in Dakar in 2018 but also during the DWG spring Bazar and during the inauguration of the Diamniadio Exhibition Center by the President of the Republic of Senegal, Mr. Macky Sall. The launch of the brand continued (Paris, Toulouse, Lyon) in 2019.
I’m working on the second collection and has the challenge to shed a little more light on the made in Senegal, all over the world and for ultimate ambition to satisfy you.
Where does your inspiration come from?
The inspiration comes from the big fashion trends. However, to mark this African identity I am essentially inspired by all these colors that offer me our textile wealth through traditional weaving and dyeing. I’m inspired by the worldwide fashion.
How do you work?
Leatherworking requires a lot of organization and a mastery of geometry. The technical nature of this profession is a challenge from the beginning to the end. First, you have to imagine the bag or cover, then put it on paper with all visible or hidden details. This first part of the design is rather aesthetic. The second step is the design of the template, which allow to materialize everything that composes the bag, in its exact measurements. The third step will lead us to cut the material in line with the template.
The following steps of gluing and assembling allow to prepare for theseam, which is essential, in leather goods, for the appearance and finish of the bag. Modeling and finishing are the final steps in the design of the Manganii product.
All these phases are developed in collaboration with a team exclusively from local crafts. Manganii wants to be an economic player in his country and thus promote Made in Senegal through local know-how, by combining all the rigor as well as modern and current techniques of leather goods craft.
Beyond these phases of design, a Marketing Strategy is essential to grow awareness of the Manganii Brand, through these collections..
Which stage do you prefer in the realization?
All the stages of realization of the product Manganii are fulfilling, but the one that I prefer remains my imagination, the creation.
What is your particularity, your singularity?
The collaboration with local craftsmen gives an even deeper imprint to my brand, thanks to their know-how and traditional ancestral techniques.
Thus Manganii shares a part of this Africa in his creations. The loincloths scrupulously made by our weavers, as well as our meticulously chosen bogolans, whose ancestral dyeing technique, speak of stories, of African symbolism.
Leather goods is a field in perpetual evolution, which gives me the opportunity to let my imagination run free.
Where to get your creations?
A Facebook and Instagram page: manganiicréations present the main lines of the Manganii collections.
A showcase is also in place at the large guest house La Résidence aux Almadies.
A collaboration with the concept store La Coop at Dakar will expand this visibility.
