PARIS — As Chanel prepares to unveil its Métiers d’Art show in Dakar on Tuesday, WWD takes a look at three contemporary designer stores to visit in the Senegalese capital.

Le Sandaga

Khadija Ba Diallo has always felt out of sync with her peers. While her brand, L’Artisane, is famous for its contemporary take on the traditional Senegalese boubou, the garment hasn’t always been fashionable.

“I’ve always made my own clothes, my own necklaces. People usually make fun of me, so I never thought I would make a living from it,” she recalled. 

Ba Diallo, who has an MBA in luxury brand management from Paris business school ISTEC, originally wanted to launch a concierge service in Dakar, but decided the local market wasn’t ripe for it.

After stints in marketing and luxury real estate, she started her label in 2009 with accessories and handbags in oversize, flashy styles, like her signature Pingu bag, with a handle shaped like a giant safety pin.

But she found little success at home. “At that time, people didn’t necessarily buy Made in Africa,” she said. “It’s as if it were a form of education to buy African, to buy local.”

Likewise, it took a foreign fashion icon to make her camouflage boubou a hit. “It also didn’t sell for two years. Then Naomi Campbell wore it on a Tuesday, and by Wednesday, it was sold out,” Ba Diallo said. “That’s how the boubou became trendy. Everyone started wearing it whereas…