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Siré Kaba, resolutely Belgian and African designer
Siré Kaba, designer of Guinean origin, based in Brussels.
© Sabine Cessou/RFI
Text by: Sabine Cessou Follow
4 mins
Siré Kaba, 40, a designer of Guinean origin, has made his place in the sun in Brussels.
Founder of the Erratum Fashion label, she designed the wax outfit worn in 2021 by Princess Delphine, the illegitimate and finally recognized daughter of King Albert II.
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Siré Kaba, a sparkling personality, receives in his shop on avenue Georges-Henri, in the residential district of Woluwe, in Brussels.
European-cut dresses, batik kimonos from Guinea, wax bombers, boubou embroidered on cotton jersey… The place is full of colors, the culmination of a whole journey.
The daughter of a diplomat, the designer grew up between Tanzania and Ghana before arriving in Belgium as a teenager, aged 15.
She studied journalism and communication in Brussels, then cultural management, with an enchanting four-month trip to Canada.
She is looking for herself, works in insurance, becomes a mother and “
asks a lot of questions
”.
She spent a decisive stay in Senegal in 2014, during a vacation.
"
A creative desire and an overflowing energy came to the surface
," she says.
Her relationship with her mother, whom she lost when she was 19, becomes obvious.
"
I hadn't taken the time to mourn.
I was stuck in my studies in Belgium, which I had to pass because my mother was very keen on it
”.
Having a child makes her think about her family culture, her heritage and what she will pass on to her daughter.
A child's question for click
In Dakar, she reconnects with Africa and spends hours at the market.
Also comes to the surface “
a great memory that I kept from my years in Africa.
A continent where I was very well and of which I was not ashamed.
I had a hard time finding a positive narrative on this subject in Belgium.
She buys a lot of fabrics, way more than enough to make the jumpsuit she's thinking of.
“
It was stronger than me.
Without knowing it, I had started the first stage of my project.
»
All the “
pieces of the puzzle come together
” when his daughter, in an exhibition in Brussels, notices the monochrome character of the families described on a prospectus.
“
So what about us?
she asks him.
Siré Kaba launched Erratum Fashion in 2016, a brand that wants to be resolutely Belgian, promotes interbreeding and color.
Its name aims not to point out errors, but to correct them – it is a question here of the “
lack of visibility
” of African diversities.
One thing leading to another, success
When she started out, she had a few “
cold showers
”.
In particular after a first appointment for
coaching
at the Brussels Center for Fashion and Design, where his interlocutor does not "
understand the project, to make a Belgian brand to standards, with an African accent and these colorful textiles
".
She stays the course: there is no question for her of doing “
ethnic
”, while wax, when used by European designers, seems “
trendy
”.
Its brand will be inclusive or it will not be.
“
The fabrics are African, but the production is Belgian
,” she says.
She first sells in small events, by word-of-mouth and
pop-up stores
, notably at the Afropolitan festival, organized at the Palace of Fine Arts (Bozar).
She applied in 2018 to work in the boutique of the Kanal Center Pompidou museum, in the heart of the city, and was selected.
Which earned her to be spotted by the organizer of an exclusive event for the BNP-Paribas bank, a fan of her creations.
This contact will earn her to also be noticed by Delphine Boël, before she is recognized in 2020 as the legitimate daughter of King Albert II, after a long legal fight.
A princely dress that makes ink flow
In 2021, despite the pandemic, everything is happening quite quickly.
In May, it was nominated by the RTBF show “C'est du belge” and
Paris-Match Belgique
, then voted “best Belgian brand of the year”.
Two months later, the media can only be interested in her: she signs the dress, the headdress and the mask in wax, sensational, sported by Princess Delphine, on National Day, for her first royal outing, July 21, 2021.
“
She didn't say anything, didn't make a speech about her clothes, but people saw so much meaning in it
,” comments Siré Kaba.
“
Clothing, by nature political
”, seems to her to be in line with the spirit of her brand: Erratum Fashion, which seeks to correct errors, is validated by Delphine.
Quite a symbol.
“
I'm very proud to have the clientele I wanted, with diverse backgrounds!”
continues the stylist.
I've had clients who wondered if my pieces were for them, if they weren't going to involve cultural appropriation..."
In keeping with her time, Siré Kaba reassures them: she is there to create "
good culture which is addressed to all
”.
Accompanied by her husband, Jim O'Hare, Princess Delphine attends the Belgian National Day parade on July 21, 2021, wearing a dress signed Siré Kaba.
Getty Images - Olivier Matthys
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