Paris (AFP)

With its artisanal weavings and ethnic tapestries, Africa "has better to show" than "colonial" wax, assures Imane Ayissi, creator of Cameroonian origin and first South-Saharan national to present his collection of haute couture in Paris.

During his fashion show Thursday, the stylist will discover little-known African know-how: tie and dye dyed in Cameroon; kente, traditional weavings of the Akan ethnic group, found in Ghana and Ivory Coast and originally worn by the nobility; obom, a vegetable skin produced from tree bark that will decorate evening wear.

"I'm paving the way for Africa (in luxury), it's a fashion page that is being written differently," said Imane Ayissi, 51, former model and dancer, to AFP. selected to join the very closed circle of big houses of the official Parisian haute couture calendar.

Another technique dear to the creator consists in "taking less noble things and making them noble", like transforming raffia, a wild material, into a chic pink cape which is worn on a long matching silk dress.

His taboo is wax, this fabric inspired by Indonesian batik, industrialized in Europe and adopted by Africa, continent with which it is widely associated and which fascinates stylists even in haute couture.

"These days, as soon as we talk about African fashion, it's the wax that we put on the front, it's a shame, it kills African heritage," says Imane Ayissi. "We started wearing wax at the time of the settlers."

"Africa has better to show and has its own fabrics that the whole world must discover and know," he insists.

- "Save the oceans" -

In her latest collection, Imane Ayissi made haute couture dresses of environmental standards: one could read "save the oceans" or "save the forest" at the bottom of these long evening outfits decollete.

These black and mauve dresses are embroidered with plants and fish, a technique inspired by the small applied characters found in tapestries from Abomey, in Benin, or on the Asafo flags of the colonial era in Ghana.

The dress called "Black Sea" is embroidered with a blue whale and different fish with big eyes "to say + kill us, but we see you". "It refers both to the oil spill and to sadness because there are many who do not pay attention to the cause of the environment," says the stylist.

- "Clan of boxers, clan of dancers" -

He favors natural dyes and organic cotton. The thread, bought in France, is woven in Africa. "If we buy them locally, they come from Asian countries and are not necessarily organic. It's expensive, but it's a choice."

With her studio based in an apartment in Paris, Imane Ayissi feels "neither French nor African creator", even if the two cultures "enriched" her.

This couturier "autodictate", son of a famous boxer and a sacred model mother Miss Cameroon, has an atypical career. "At home, there was a clan of boxers and a clan of dancers, a little modeling, mom was immersed in all that. I did a little boxing, it was compulsory, the family tradition, then I started dancing. "

He first joined his brother's traditional dance group, then the Cameroon national ballet, did one man shows in cabarets, danced with Patrick Dupond in Paris. Then comes a time of modeling in Cameroon, then for the biggest Parisian houses. The one who, as a child, unstitched and cut dresses from his mother and aunts, does not give up his passion for sewing.

His first fashion show in Paris for friends dates from 1993 with some 200 dresses, of which "only one or two held the road a bit". "The others were bad ...", laughs the man who, 27 years later, reaches the summit.

© 2020 AFP