A little note : Let me introduce myself.

Hey Esthets,

Some of you already know me and for the others, let me introduce myself: Faou, founder and creative director of Esthet Studio.

First, thank you for following us and for your interest in Esthet. I hope to build with you a beautiful family, free, open, authentic, and resolutely bold.

It’s been a few months since we launched our first drop and I’m finally taking the time to write to you and reveal a bit of the behind-the-scenes of our brand. It’s a fairly new exercise for me, but I really enjoy it. Who knows, maybe I’ll get into it?

Esthet. is first and foremost an entrepreneurial adventure in which I embarked almost 4 years ago and which is the result of both a combination of circumstances and a deep, almost instinctive desire; the dream of a life more free, more in movement and with which I am more aligned. A life that has a real meaning. What seems obvious today has not always been so, but comes from a journey that has lasted several years.

Esthet. is also a story of passion. I have never been guided by “being fashionable“, but rather by living a fashion that I like, that looks like me and through which I can embodies my personality. I remember a quote from Rihanna that I can totally relate to. Maybe you remember it too?

She can beat me but she cannot beat my outfit.

It is partly from this attachment to a personal style that Esthet. was born.

I have also been willing to reconnect with Africa, with my birth country Benin, and contribute in my own way and with my vision to highlight a cultural, creative, and distinctive identity. 

It was quite natural that I decided to gather in the same space my stylistic vision, my interests in music and art to create the Esthet. concept; which is essentially fed by my cultural heritage, my encounters, my travels, my inspirations, and the artistic network I am lucky enough to be close to.

Coming back to the concept…

I define Esthet. as a style designer and an art curator.

My ambition is to showcase talents from the African alternative scene through the prism of fashion, contemporary art and music. 

We offer a contemporary and playful wardrobe. Our products are a materialization of the African pop art universe that is dear to me. But they are also inspired by my obsession for details, by my passion for vintage and thrift market pieces, by an irresistible love for the workwear and by the combination of timeless and maximalist pieces that I like in the Scandinavian style.

Wearing Esthet. means daring a total block monochrome look with a surprising color combination. It also means playing with arty prints for a bold and sophisticated look.

When I design Esthet. pieces, I want them to be both functional and identifiable. To be noticed without overdoing it.

We design genderless pieces and offer a unique clothing line in which each piece is designed to be worn by both men and women. With Esthet. I claim a freedom of dress and the right for a man to wear pink or accessories usually attributed to the feminine wardrobe if he wishes or for a woman to feminize a masculine look.

But beyond fashion, my ambition with Esthet. is to be a voice of a new artistic expression of young African creativity; an identity marker, a cultural trendsetter which offers a modern, powerful, bold, artistic and stylistic journey. 

I believe in the essential contribution of a young African creative force that thinks differently, that has so-called “alternative” cultural practices in the sense that they are on the fringe of the mainstream culture. A youth that is unlike any other and has decided to tell their story, their daily lives and their dreams in their own way. A youth that is self-confident, freedom and unconventional. A youth that has a cultural and creative aura beyond their borders and that to me represents the future of Africa.

We co-designed some of our products with emerging artists who inspire us and whose creative universe is close to ours.

Discover our first collaborations.

Tiffanie Delune et Samsouky are two inspiring and talented artists, respectively painter and poet, whom I am lucky enough to count among my friends and who have accepted with enthusiasm and creativity to interpret the Esthet. vision in their own way. With their sensitivities at their fingertips, they are accomplished artists who, supported by their personal experiences, have made their art the vector of their messages and observations on the world.

With Esthet., I also offer an immersion in the House music culture, which in Africa takes several forms gathered under the term  Afrohouse. I personally prefer the terms African House Music or African electronic sounds. It goes from Kwaito, to Gqom, to Amapiano which currently encounters a huge success or to Ancestral soul. 

With Esthet. I want to highlight artists who tell their stories through electronic music.

In July we launched our first musical format, the ESTHET. MIX available on our platforms. I invite you to discover our first 2 mixes created in collaboration with Ivan Diaz and Jozi Nights. I will come back on these musical collaborations in a special article and how House music is for me a story of friendship and sharing.