A Magazine Curated By

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Synthesis Curated For Youssouf Fofana

A Publisher is pleased to announce Synthesis Curated for Youssouf Fofana, a project supported by Jordan Brand that will launch to coincide with their exhibition project District 23 and the  Summer of Basketball Culture. An exploration of the African diaspora — in particular creatives  connected to Senegal and West Africa (where Fofana finds his roots) — in the 18th  arrondissement of Paris, with a look at how sport and shared culture can create community. 

From exploring the inter-African football matches at Square Leon, where aunties are selling their craft and foods to onlookers, to the exploration of Senegalese handcraft, textile and embroidery,  to new takes on French classic cuisine, the issue explores the ideas around a synthesis of  French identity, where the children of immigrants have created their own lines of creative  expression that call on their blended heritage of two homes — in Paris and from the continent. 

The 18th represents for Fofana the new — and maybe real — France; Design and art  movements in and around the base of Montmartre are contextualised historically, as the area  has been for over a century the locale of many of Paris’ creative community. Fofana calls upon  many creatives and collaborators and who have spent time in and around the Goutte D’Or  neighbourhood, including artists, photographers, designers, musicians, athletes, chefs,  historians and entrepreneurs.

The dialogue between the cultures of West and North Africa and Paris are at the heart of this  issue, brought to life in many forms including a carte blanche to director Ramata-Toulaye Sy in  her extrapolation of ‘métissage’ through stills of her film Banel & Adama, a new poem and a  letter written to her friend.

A photo reportage by Axel Auréjac documents the sport as as a social phenomenon in the  diaspora at the Paris African Cup, interspersed with portraits of Fofana’s heroes on the field and  accompanied by an essay by football historian Harlem Lamine.

The savoir-faire of West African fabric and embroidery is examined by Annie Vallet and  magnified, joined by portraits of celebrated designers and couturiers Xulybët, Laye Mar and  Alexandre Zongo with details of their ateliers, colliding the oral history of traditional tailoring and  contemporary fashion found in the neighbourhood.

Photographer Maya-Inès Touam explores the many facets of diasporic cuisine and its contrast  with traditional French cooking, placing ingredients favourited by celebrated chefs Glory Kabe,  Diadié Diombana and Mory Sacko in preternatural tableaux in a series of still-life images.

Haroun, a founding member of the legendary rap collective La Sacred Connexion, tells his  personal experience of the 18th arrondissement in an intimate poem that recounts the rhythm and ambience of the visceral neighbourhood.

The enduring icon of the 18th arrondissement, including the original Tati department store, is expanded upon in a manifesto by the sociologist Mustapha Belhocine. Along the same lines, a  conversation between Lou Assous and Fofana recalls the memories and significance of Tati to local families.

Two separate landscape series photographed by Ilyes Griyeb and Eva Diallo recall the remnants of colonialism that connect the different countries in the Francophone world,  comparing the repeating motifs and familiar ties from Senegal to Morocco.

Self-portraits by artist Marianne Costade and artworks by Djamal Saka represent the historical role of hair in African societies and its evolution through generations and geographies, now as a  tool for self-expression and reclaiming heritage.

A portfolio of artworks introduces a ‘nouvelle vague’ of contemporary artists subverting the  notion of classical French art by imbuing their own immigrant culture into the compositions,  featuring works Loick Mfoundou, Moya Diomande, Maty Biayenda, Yanma Fofana, Inès di Folco  Jemni and Wu Yué.

Accompanied by a map-guidebook-poster insert of the 18th arrondissement, places that make  the neighbourhood what it is, Fofana invites the reader to explore an often overlooked  neighbourhood to experience his — and the new — Paris. 

NB: Synthesis Curated For Youssouf Fofana is guest-edited by the French-Senegalese designer and founder of Maison Château Rouge and the Union de la Jeunesse Internationale, on the occasion of Jordan Brand’s Summer of Basketball Culture. This project coincides with the launch of District 23, an initiative creative directed by Fofana for Jordan.

Contributors include: 

Alassan Diawara, Alexandre Zongo, Amy Sall, Annie Vallet, Axel Aurejac, Diadié Diombana,  Djamal Saka, Eva Diallo, Glory Kabe, Harlem Lamine, Haroun, Ilyes Griyeb, Inès di Folco  Jemni, Khalilou Fadiga, Laye Mar, Loick Mfoundou, Lou Assous, Marianne Costade, Maty  Biayenda, Maya-Inès Touam, Mory Sacko, Moya Diomande, Mustapha, Belhocine, Ramata Toulaye Sy, Wu Yué, Xulybët, Yanma Fofana and more.

About YOUSSOUF FOFANA

Youssouf Fofana is the founder and creative director of Maison Chateau Rouge. A  native of Paris, but with Senegalese roots, many of his collections look to the mixing of  these heritages. He, along with his brother, founded the United Youth  International (Union de le Jeunesse), an organisation empowering Parisian youth —  particularly those in the 18th arrondissement —through entrepreneurship. As a part of his five year long collaboration with Jordan Brand, Youssouf is the creative director of their contributions to the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

About A MAGAZINE CURATED BY

A MAGAZINE curated by explores the universe of a chosen fashion designer in each issue. Founded in Antwerp in 2001, the magazine invites a guest curator to develop personalised content to express their aesthetic and cultural values in a unique,  collectable document. Each issue celebrates this designer’s ethos: their people, their passion, their stories, emotions, fascinations, spontaneity and authenticity. Every A  MAGAZINE curated by is a new story waiting to be told.

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