Selly Raby Kane

Selly Raby Kane is a Senegalese fashion designer who launched her eponymous brand in 2012. With a degree in Management / Business Administration and a Product Manager Master for textile and clothing Industries (MOD’SPE Paris), this young entrepreneur with unbridled creativity gradually built a surreal universe around her brand that overturns Senegalese fashion codes and trends.

SRK has deep fantastic and cinematographic influences; she develops over the years an edgy and avant-garde line which earned the brand international media attention from platforms such as WAD magazine, VOGUE IT, ARTE, Okay Africa, AFROPUNK etc.

SRK is noticed at her first appearances on the Senegalese art sceneand quickly considered as a rising figure of Africa’s fashion arena.
Since 2012 the brand builds a reputation through its Fashion Performances. From street fashion shows to unusual venues, SRK swims counter current, building bridges between different forms of art and fashion. Gradually, Selly Raby Kane lends her style to numerous icons such as: Beyoncé, Nai Palm

(Hiatus Kaiyote), Daara-J Family, Tiwa Savage, Solange Knowles, Lil mama, Rokhaya Diallo etc
Her 2014 collection “Alien Cartoon” was presented last May at Dakar’sold Train Station which was transformed for the occasion into an invaded alien city, surreal and unlikely in the heart of Dakar. It was enough to fuel the buzz around this UFO of Dakar’s Fashion scene. Thebrand has strong affinities with the Art world which made her exhibit pieces in collaboration with Cristina De Middel at the MoMA PS1. Pieces of the Alien Cartoon collection, have been exhibited at the Louisiana Museum (Denmark), the Vitra Museum and Design Indaba between 2014 and 2015. In 2016, Selly Raby was chosen as one of the 12 designers working in collaboration with IKEA on the overallt collection inspired by everyday rituals in urban Africa.

Among SRK’s latest project, there is Elsewhen. A Sci-Fi project exploring the Future of the continent through virtual reality and digital media. The Trans African collaborative project was presented at Dakar’s 2016 Biennale and gathered 12 African artists invited to reflect on the identity of an African City in the Far future. In 2017, Kane was appointed as DesignIndaba’s first ever Creative Director. The same year, she presented her

first VR Film the Other Dakar at international festivals such as: The Berlinale, Tribeca Film Festival, The Virtual Encounters etc.
The Other Dakar is homage to Senegalese mythology co -produced by New Dimensions, Electric South and Big world Cinema, champions of alternative storytelling. They launched the VR Africa workshop where the Other Dakar was born and introduced SRK to VR. In late 2017, the brand opens its Showroom and a Co-creative space in Dakar named Muus Du Tux (cats don’t smoke). In parallel with these activities, SRK co-founded in 2018 the RUKKI BUKKI company specialized digital storytelling, creative marketing, and digital media.

Today Kane is working on several projects bridging the gap between fashion, immaterial heritage, and technology.