Her entrepreneurial determination, exquisite taste, and daring editorial work are just some of the reasons why Sarah Diouf is one of today’s most interesting young entrepreneur to follow.
Raised in Abidjan, Sarah is now living in Paris, the city where she was born and where she returned after the political events divided her country, Côte d’Ivoire in 2000. Her entrepreneurial adventure started in 2008, when a road accident forced her to put on hold her studies, cutting her off from daily life. A fashion devotee she decided to launch Ghubar, a digital fashion and lifestyle magazine for women of all backgrounds, after feeling frustrated with the lack of representation of black women in other mainstream publications. Only 21 years of age at the time, she dared to take the fashion industry by storm by shooting editorials featuring models from all backgrounds. Launched in January 2009, the magazine quickly found an audience of raving fans and propelled Sarah as one of the most exciting young online media editors.“I created Ghubar to showcase all the different types of beauty that are too often forgotten by other publications.” she writes in her website, “I – personally – felt like I wasn’t included in their representations of what was considered trendy or beautiful, so I caught the opportunity given by Internet at that time to raise my voice and create a space where all (white, black, yellow, etc.) the girls and boys around me could feel like they belong to.”
” I created Ghubar to showcase all the different types of beauty that are too often forgotten by the top publications.”
“I – personally – felt like I wasn’t included in their representations of what was considered trendy or beautiful, so I caught the opportunity given by Internet at that time to raise my voice and create a space where all (white, black, yellow, etc.) the girls and boys around me could feel like they belong to.”
Today, the sleek fashion editorials and daring articles, are still all art directed and written by Sarah herself but her ambition has spread beyond online publication. Thanks to her portfolio and wide network of contributors she now runs her own media agency, Ifren Media Group, offering brand consulting and visual image creation for emerging designers targeting new markets around the world, and has also co-founded Tongoro, a Made In Africa online clothing store, with the long-term goal to bring structure in the retail and clothing production industry in Western Africa.
After two years of preparation she now just launched NOIR a new pan-African magazine, catering primarily to black women around the world, as a way to “celebrate the renaissance of a color, a community, a continent, through the lifestyle and achievements of its feminine actors, and those who feel this is what and where they belong to” she writes on her editorial.
Her ambition and drive make her definitely one to watch.
Follow Sarah’s work on her Website, and discover Ghubar and Le Noir Magazine.
All images from Sarah’s Website
