Senegalese Designer’s Formula for Success

Maths teacher Diarra Bousso Gueye was grading a set of algebra papers when she had a Eureka moment. Gueye, who had long harbored fashion aspirations from her childhood when she made clothes for her dolls, pondered what if she took the equations she taught to create drawings and prints for clothing? Her brand Diarrablu started using math concepts such as geometric transformations and quadratic transformations to create multiple prints in bold colors. Her brand Diarrablu started using math concepts such as geometric transformations and quadratic transformations to create multiple prints in bold colors. Gueye launched the clothing label in 2015 and started using maths equations in her designs a few years later. She currently shuttles between the US, where she teaches maths in a Silicon Valley high school and Senegal, West Africa, where her clothes are made. Her place of birth features heavily in her work and one of her current collections, the Joal print, is inspired by a Senegalese coastal town. One of her prints — the Joal print — was inspired by a class on exponential and quadratic functions, she says. According to Gueye, the seashell shapes were digitally-generated and graphed to create clam seashell shapes on swimsuits, kimonos, and dresses.

SOURCE: CNN