Nelson Mandela, Morocco's King Mohammed VI, Rwanda's Paul Kagame, Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote... all wore Pathé Ouédraogo creations.
Nelson Mandela wore his shirts. A small, self-taught neighborhood tailor in his early days, the Ivoiro-Burkinabé Pathé'O has become the couturier to African heads of state and is celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of his brand, leading the "fight" for fashion recognition on the continent.
"Fifty years ago, I never imagined I'd get here. It's extraordinary!" declared Pathé Ouédraogo - his real name - a few days ago at a press conference in a grand hotel in Abidjan.
The face of a wise old man, still wearing the famous shirts in richly colored hues that made his reputation, the 70-year-old has remained humble despite international recognition that led him to collaborate with the renowned French fashion house Dior in 2020.
Born in 1950, during the French colonial era, in Upper Volta, which became Burkina Faso on August 4, 1984, Pathé'O emigrated at the age of 19 to Côte d'Ivoire, then in the midst of an economic "miracle", with "his parents' blessing" as his biography De fil en aiguille, to be published this month, recounts.
In a dozen countries on the continent
Like many of his compatriots, he first sought work on cocoa plantations, but was turned away because he was too frail. He then moved to Abidjan, where he improvised as a tailor in a small workshop rented for a few francs in Treichville, the working-class heart of the Ivorian economic capital.
Training on the job, he patiently built up his success. In 1987, he won a major local competition, the Ciseaux d'or, which put him on the map. Ten years later, South African President Nelson Mandela wore one of his shirts during an official visit to France.
The publicity generated by the anti-apartheid icon was extraordinary. In the days that followed, Mandela's stores were packed with customers. Morocco's King Mohammed VI, Rwanda's President Paul Kagame, Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote - Africa's richest man - and many other celebrities and showbiz stars are now among her customers.
An African fashion success story, Pathé'O has boutiques in ten African countries and employs around sixty people. An accomplished entrepreneur, married with three children, Pathé'O continues to visit his workshops in Treichville every day, where an AFP team met him.
Intricately patterned cotton fabrics
Dozens of workers - tailors, seamstresses, ironers - squeeze into three large ant-like rooms, barely cooled by ceiling fans. All garments are made entirely by hand, using old Singer cast-iron sewing machines.
Pathé'O controls the work, taking over a cut himself. He's "a simple man, always available, who takes time to listen and explain", says his workshop manager, Léon Ouédraogo, who has worked with him for forty years.
"In this business, you have to know how to do everything," confirms the couturier, who can't stop talking about his famous intricately patterned cotton fabrics, dyed in another workshop in the same neighborhood, which he lovingly shows off.
The house's know-how is unique: there's "mouchetée" dyeing, "mouchetée imprimée" dyeing, "salade" dyeing, "nuage" dyeing, "faso dan fani" weaving (a fabric from Burkina Faso).
"You have to create something new every day, surprise your customers - everyone wants something new," says Pathé'O, who draws her inspiration from the street, from the women who go to the market decked out in multicolored garments and scarves.
"Bringing out a new generation
"He brought the pride of wearing African fabrics," explains fashionable Ivorian designer Gilles Touré, who considers Pathé'O his "mentor" and the man who gave him the chance to embrace the fashion profession.
Pathé'O intends to use his commercial success and honors to serve his "fight": to change the image of fashion in Africa, to have it recognized as an economic sector in its own right and an instrument for development.
In the minds of many people here, tailoring is a job for those who didn't go to school, a job for losers," he says with a smile. But African fashion and African fabrics interest the whole world! And there's an abundance of designers and talent. We need to move from craft to industry, to produce more, to move Africa forward.
The Pathé'O fashion house has just inaugurated its new head office, a vast, modern building in the upmarket Cocody district, which will also house the eponymous foundation, whose aim is to "nurture a new generation of African designers".