Fashion
Ly Dumas has seduced the world stage with the vitality and splendour of her African Universe. As the granddaughter of the Bamileke queen Maveun Tawa, her “kwing” childhood taught her the duty of adorning and dressing herself to perfection. But beyond the glittering pearls, the pomp of palace ceremonies and attire, and the poise of royal bearing, there was something more. Her homeland awaited her with the coolness of cascading waterfalls, the sombre vicinity of megaliths and millennia-old menhirs, the colours of the earth, and the trees whose blue branches reach for the sky. Mesmerized by all these, Princess Ly feels the need to touch everything, caress structures and surfaces, and read with her fingers the veins of leaves, the tree bark striations, or the density of fibres in a fabric.
A fascination for traditional, mysterious fabrics from Cameroun end everywhere
Her blood sings of the loom of an ancestor who, with the rigour of a mygale, weaved miles and miles of thin cloth at the Sultan of Bamoun’s court. Ly Dumas grew up deciphering the Secret of Ndop Symbols written on ancestral materials. Their manufacture took at least two dry and three rainy seasons. Through them she decoded the meaning of life, the cardinal points, the world of the ancestors and the living, the animal double of kings – the panther, the lion, and the crocodile. All these ennobled her creations, in pure Ly Dumas style. They later ennobled her books, exhibitions, and life, as well.
A particular mixture of East and West
The labyrinth of the Bamoun alphabet painted on sophisticated silk, in a call to discovery and wisdom, enticed the eyes of the world. And so did the vivid colours of nature after (the) rain, royal materials from other lands, with their laborious manufacturing techniques, or dresses made from veils more transparent than the wind.
Through her voyages, the other continents permeated her creations, resulting in an ideal world, made of the best of each fusing component. This particular mixture of East and West manifested in the Ly brand through the refinement of brocade, the unctuous cashmere, or the soft muslin.
Honouring an Africa of beauty and excellence
For over ten years, Ly Dumas shone in the international fashion arena, joyfully and tenderly celebrating an Africa of beauty and excellence, little known to the European stage.
She respectfully collected precious fabrics from the entire African continent and gave them a voice through her creations. Her designs honour and highlight the millennial savoir-faire of the great African artisans. A cultural and influential artist, Ly Dumas was an inspirational role model for many young African designers.
The press revels her achievements
Throughout her decade-and-a-half career, she starred in the most prestigious fashion and lifestyle publications as well as daily and weekly newspapers such as Le Monde, L’Express, Le Figaro, The Los Angeles Post or Afrique Magazine. Extensive coverage of her collections, work, ideas, pure and innovative design, talent and elegance has graced countless pages of the most-read fashion columns of the moment. Her dresses appeared several times on the cover of Elle, Vogue, Brune, Madame Figaro, Divas and Amina Magazines, where the pieces she created have shone in large pictorials.
You can read these articles, and more, on our Press page.