A Vivid Tour of the “Venice of Africa” From Designer Duro Olowu Inline
Photo: Courtesy of Duro Olowu1/9Au Fil du Fleuve is a small, discreet, and quiet 19th-century guesthouse, beautifully restored with a contemporary, minimalist “chic Afrique” decor. It’s owned by a charming Senegalese-French woman named Marie-Caroline Camara and is located on the southern side of the old town. Marie-Caroline makes the most scrumptious but light breakfast I’ve ever had, with her homemade jams and preserves alongside fresh bread, goat cheese, local fruit, eggs, and traditional baobab and bissap juices.
Photo: Courtesy of Duro Olowu2/9An elegant woman and her children on the way home from school. I love watching the island’s stylish women in their simple but chic boubous, billowing head ties, and filigree jewelry.
Photo: Courtesy of Duro Olowu3/9This was a faded building facade of a hairdresser, which was closed for siesta when I walked by. I enjoy spending the afternoons in Saint-Louis wandering through the winding streets of the old town center past buildings with decaying pastel plasterwork and beautiful wall-painted shop signage.
Photo: Courtesy of Duro Olowu4/9The sunrise over the water.
Photo: Courtesy of Duro Olowu5/9The men in Saint-Louis are also very well dressed. I always see elegant gentlemen in the streets going about their daily business, lunching on chicken or seafood yassa at the cool Siki restaurant or having post-siesta tea and delicious crepes at the tiny La Crêpe Saint-Louisienne.
Photo: Courtesy of Duro Olowu6/9Another beautiful local woman on a morning stroll.
Photo: Courtesy of Duro Olowu7/9Hanging kettle lights in the tiny new music and coffee shop Ndar Ndar.
Photo: Courtesy of Duro Olowu8/9A great vintage find at Ndar Ndar.
Photo: Courtesy of Duro Olowu9/9Me in front of my favorite painted door. I first visited Saint-Louis in 2014 while I was on a trip to Dakar, and I was so taken by its mysterious and somewhat magical charm that my Spring 2015 collectsion became inspired by it.
