The Front Lines Of Fashion In Sierra Leone

This was originally posted at GOODMagazine.com.

By Andrew Price
Photos by Henry Jacobson

Adama Kargbo was born and raised in Sierra Leone, but moved to New York when she was 12. After graduating from the famous fashion design program at Parsons, she returned to her home country, ravaged by a desperate and brutal civil war, to launch her high-end line.

Sierra Leone isn't the first place you'd think of finding couture, but the country is changing. According to filmmaker Eric Becker, who helped with her first shoot, "It is a world of rural, mud hut villages where cell phone ring tones mix with the sound of baying goats, where chiefs have business cards and gmail accounts. ...where the bottom--still brutally victimized by the trappings of poverty--has begun to connect to a global world at a rapid pace." In this context, Adama's case of reverse brain-drain makes more sense. And while fashion might not heal the wounds of civil war, it may help Sierra Leone realize a more beautiful future.

Adama's line, called Aschobi, is based in Freetown.

Adama had only one model for her shoot. She found the other two girls at a local ex-pat bar.

Adama's clothes give traditional African style an urban twist.

Comments

[mamacat]

Nice looking clothes. The cloth is beautiful. Very sexy, which goes over with the young people today.

[ZimboChick]

I always laugh at how gullible some of the Westerners are. Sierra Leone may have been ravaged by war but it doesn't mean the whole country ground to a halt and that there are no 'modern' conveniences - same goes for Afghanistan, Lebanon etc. There are problems everywhere. You also keep your Native Americans locked away but if we had to go and look at their living conditions we would barf. I will be like you as well and go with what I saw on Extreme Home makeover - heartbreaking and disgusting in one breath. What you see on TV is exaggerated and you all believe everyone lives in a mud hut and herds goats. We have satellite dishes at our homes, computers, hot tubs, pools, couture clothing - the list is endless..... and we also have things that you would never dream of having. Just thought I would clarify.

PS Her line is the biznis and am looking into it pronto

[AmbroseChapel]

Very provocative.

[Waitaminute]

Pay no attention to the haters. Nuff said about that. Now to these beautiful women and fashions. I absolutely love these kind of images coming from Africa. I have noticed many things since surfing the web, that contradict the constant negative images shown us for centuries.

[Huffyfan]

True . I always imagined Beinjing to be poor full of dusty roads and thousands of bikers with large chinese hats , but the day i travelled to Beinjing . first of all the Beinjing Airport took my breath away , and my hotel Beijing international was the best 5 star hotel i have ever seen , and the dozens of malls in the same streets and the fashion shops and the fabulous restaurants . and my kids were happy too , not fond of chinese food much , they found TGI Fridays, Hard Rock cafes , Mcdonalds, KFC , so they were happy to have burgers and other junk .

[SgtLucifer]

Porn for the poor. Count me in.

[TheBlackCat]

Wow that dress second from the bottom is FANTASTIC!!

Forgive me, but I do love one quote from "The Devil Wears Prada"...

"Fashion is art, but more important, because you live in it"

[cybertoothcat]

The second from the bottom is my favorite dress, too, Black Cat. The shoulder and built-in bra are quite unique and along with the beautiful textiles, it qualifies as a real work of art...not that I know a thing about art or fashion.

Addressing some of the nastier comments....
No, these gorgeous young women DON'T have to adhere to European standards of beauty. Let's celebrate our differences.
Exploitation of the poor? Don't be quite so fast to judge Adama. By the appearance of some of the textile designs alone, it might take an experienced weaver/dye­r/needlewo­rker to achieve them. There are sites online such as Novica where 3rd world artists get fair market prices for their creations and competitive wages for skilled employees, so we know that there is a general awareness of fair trade. In a perfect world (and in a not-so-perfect world, too) improved standards of living generally translate into a larger payback by providing better living conditions and PEACE.
Give Prada a chance!

[despike]

I think the first one is porn. She only needs to stand tall and the nipples are out.

[Tamalpais]

Porn? Don't be such a puritan.

[hoodrat]

There was a time, before the missionaries, that there wasn't tops at all. The same in the Pacific. Beautiful women period. Porn is what you make it - if she turned around and her ass was in the wind - that might be porn. We one of the few cultures that consider nudity provocative - STILL. Beautiful women in beautiful clothes.

[LostinNOLa]

My God, these women are awesome. The first girl pictured on the left....br­eathtaking­. So beautiful.

[commissaris]

There is no God - and I kind of like it.

[AlligatorShuz]

These are women of color they don't have to go by the EUROPEAN STANDARD OF BEAUTY?

[Cellphonebraindamage]

you're an ignoramus

[loki]

Is she there paying low wages and selling to the world at high prices? Could that be the reason for her return? I think some of the designs are great, and its good she is trying to help the people there, but I only hope she is paying them a wage that will reflect the price she will sell the clothes for. Somehow , I doubt it.

[Henk]

Ahh, yes, while she spent her formative years in Sierra Leone, she was educated her in the US, so we can be sure that she is well versed in the ways of greed and exploitation. Thank you so much for pointing this out.

We here in America know all too well that no one ever ever does anything for altruistic reasons. Money, greed, power are what drive our world. That's why we are such a well adjusted happy country, right? All of our money does buy happiness. We don't whine or say nasty things about people who try to do good in the world, because we are a happy, not self-centered, not egotistical not spoiled people, no no no.

Setting the side her very American tenancy to exploit her native people, one has to admit that her creations are quite fetching.

[Wildcatdiva]

National Geographic for the demented.

[AnotherToerag]

I think the clothes and models are absolutely beautiful!

[mrmetoo]

A lot of ignorance going on here with the comments. Starvation, whether or not they deserve fashion and so on. Pls do not let movies be your only source of information. Not everyone is starving, not everyone is poor, not everyone lives in mud houses (not even most) as you're made to believe. I lived in a so-called third world country for 21yrs and we wore and competed amongst each other with the versaces, guccis, ralphs mixed with the native fashion designers and so on and I would say I lived at most an upper middle-class life. So an indigenous fashion designer in a previously war-torn region is a very normal progression its not like someone invented a time machine

[DCDan]

After reading this short article of interest I decided to scan down the comments until I found something stupid, ill-informed or offensive. Well ...

DING! DING! DING! We HAVE a winnner. And you achieved the trifecta of "stupid, ill-informed AND offensive." Nicely done!