Adama Amanda Ndiaye is a Senegalese fashion designer and entrepreneur promoting African fashion, women’s empowerment, and sustainable creativity globally.
Adama Amanda Ndiaye, known globally as Adama Paris, is a Senegalese fashion designer and entrepreneur who has played a central role in reshaping the African fashion space. Born in Kinshasa to Senegalese parents and raised across Europe in a diplomatic family, she grew up surrounded by multiple cultures, which later defined her “fashion without borders” philosophy. Before entering fashion, she worked as a banker in Europe but left the corporate world to pursue her passion for design and the promotion of African creativity on a global scale.
In 2001, she launched Adama Paris, a fashion label that captures the spirit of urban globalism while staying rooted in African heritage. Her collections, produced mainly in Morocco and Senegal, combine Western trends with African aesthetics to produce modern silhouettes and bold prints that appeal to women who live between cultures.
Adama Paris is also deeply committed to sustainable fashion, using handwoven Senegalese cotton, organic fabrics, and locally produced textiles such as Bogolan and wax prints. Her dedication to “Made in Africa” production supports artisans and also helps redefine African fashion as a sophisticated and self-sustaining industry.
Ndiaye’s vision quickly moved beyond clothing. In 2002, she founded Dakar Fashion Week, one of the longest-running and most influential fashion events in Africa. The event began modestly but grew into a major platform that attracts designers from more than fifteen countries, including Morocco, Mali, Egypt, and Côte d’Ivoire.
By its tenth anniversary, Dakar Fashion Week had become a meeting point for creative talent across Africa and Asia, featuring over thirty designers from nine countries and drawing international media attention. It gave African designers a place to showcase their work within Africa itself, connecting them with buyers, journalists, and collaborators. The event also made fashion more accessible to local audiences and helped turn Dakar into a thriving cultural and economic hub.
Beyond Dakar, Ndiaye expanded her mission to elevate African fashion globally. In 2010, she launched Black Fashion Week, with editions in Paris, Prague, Bahia, and Montreal, each one amplifying African and diaspora designers on international stages. She later founded the Afrika Fashion Awards (now called the Trophies of African Fashion) to celebrate outstanding African talent and launched Fashion Africa Channel in 2014 – the first television network dedicated entirely to African fashion.
Through these platforms, she has built a bridge between African and global fashion capitals, ensuring African designers are no longer peripheral voices but recognised creatives.
Adama Ndiaye is also a passionate advocate for women’s empowerment. At the 17th Dakar Fashion Week, for example, 80% of the featured designers were African women, a deliberate choice that reflects her belief in women’s leadership.
Her work provides mentorship, market access, and visibility for young female designers who might otherwise remain unseen. In addition, she consistently calls for government policies that support women entrepreneurs through access to credit and funding, arguing that fashion is not just art but a serious economic force capable of creating jobs and driving development.
Over the past two decades, Adama Amanda Ndiaye has become one of the most influential figures in African fashion. Through her brand, events, and advocacy, she has contributed to transforming the continent’s creative industry infrastructure, inspired other African fashion weeks, and helped position African designers on the world stage.
