Def Ci Benn × A.D.Deertz

I met Mame Ass last year. He was wearing his own design — embroidered, precise, unmistakably his. I asked him on the spot if he'd make me one.

He did. I loved it so much that I wanted to bring his work to the store.

This is how it works with him: the embroidery comes first. No template, no sketch. Hours at the machine — freestyle, meditative, drawing on traditional Senegalese ornamentation without copying it. This kind of ornamental embroidery is traditionally made for the Grand Boubou — a three-piece formal outfit. Mame Ass adapted it for simpler tops, and together we took it further, placing it on the classic A.D.Deertz Yucca shirt with its band collar. 

We made a small first run. 

A shirt like this is not just clothing. It is the skill, the craft, the culture,the meditation of the embroidery stitching that makes it an object you hold onto.

Available in store and online.

Available in store and online. Mame Ass runs his own label — Def Ci Ben. Wolof for: doing it together. Follow him.