President Barrow’s designer speaks

By Baba Sillah It is not every time that a designer gets his or her work appreciated by a President. But that is the feat achieved by a young Gambian entrepreneur and designer, Aji Daffeh, the director of Excellence Fashion Design. The Gambian felt great to be the designer behind the immaculate Khaftan worn by President Barrow at his inauguration and the one he wore for Friday prayers in Dakar alongside President Sall last month. “I must first start by urging all Gambians to take the example of the President by believing and supporting our own Gambian-run businesses,” she told The Standard. She added that she came up with the initiative and was delighted when President Barrow turned up in the cloth at the auspicious occasion of the Independence and inauguration. “I was proud when I saw the President at the Stadium in such a befitting outfit and during his Friday prayers with Macky Sall in Senegal. One of the things that gave me passionate about the design or the outfit was wherever you are; you would see the design of the President’s ‘Khaftan. I would like to thank the President for choosing our design because that was not made for me and my team but for all Gambians,” she noted. Mrs Daffeh said she draw even greater please in seeing pictures of the President in Magazine covers wearing the cloth. “This is a moment of glory for me and I thank the President for being passionate about the design because this is our own thing. This shows that we have talented Gambians and we don’t need outsiders to sort it out for us: we can do it by ourselves.” Mrs Daffeh said she came out to talk about this so that many other Gambians would be inspired to patronize their own Gambian-made products by following the President’s example. “Also fellow Gambian designers would be inspired to do even better while the younger generation would begin to take interest in designing,” she said.]]>