About MARIMIKA
Marielle Dieng, the creator of MARIMIKA®, was born on December 26th in Carthage, Tunisia, to a Senegalese father and a French mother. She has always moved between her two countries of origin. She completed the majority of her studies in Dakar, Senegal, and holds a Bachelor's degree in Management, which she pursued for several years after her BTS (Advanced Vocational Diploma) in Executive Secretarial Studies. Years later, for Marimika®, she undertook a comprehensive training program in fashion design in Paris.
Married and mother of two. She leads a very active and sporty life (windsurfing, athletics, dance, skateboarding, motorcycling, capoeira, etc.), in addition to her work. She writes: one book already completed, the second volume almost finished, and two other books in progress.
In 2006 she founded an association for the protection of the coastline in her neighborhood of Almadies in Dakar and in 2007 created her clothing brand which is composed of the beginning of her first name Marielle and part of her children's name: Mikalef. Marielle is inspired by a grandmother who was a physical education teacher in high school and adult education, a committed grandfather who held a chair at the Sorbonne, was a writer and painter, a mother who painted in her free time and a father who was a diplomat: art, culture, sport and cultural mixing are the elements that make up the DNA of Marimika®.
She simultaneously launched a streetwear line with her logo which reads M.R.K. Numerous fashion shows from 2007 onwards in the vibrant city of artists and creators of Dakar which offered her an opening and recognition through numerous exhibitions and sales.
But the creative process is lengthy, from the initial design to the meticulous painting of the garment; it demands great precision. In 2016, she went to Paris to train in Haute Couture: a perfectionist, she wanted to understand how the "best" designers in Dakar kept repeating the same mistakes. Being a registered artisan with the Dakar Chamber of Trades didn't help with growth, managing her communication and launching each collection (both painted garments and streetwear) was a challenge. Between her family life, her volunteer work, and other commitments, Marimika® could no longer be viable in this way. Marielle would either give it all up or make a complete career change.
She had been planning to create an e-commerce site for streetwear since 2018, and a preliminary study was conducted by a Los Angeles-based company in late 2019. It wasn't until March 2022 that she was finally able to take the next step, and Marimika® became a sole proprietorship with limited liability. Marielle selects only suppliers with ethical certifications. We won't go into the details of the obstacles encountered during 2022 and the years that followed in creating this site from Senegal—something that seemed so simple at first, but that was without taking into account the realities of a country where, at that time, the majority of the economy was based on money laundering… You'll have to read her book, currently being written, to learn about this rollercoaster journey.
Welcome to the world of Marimika®, where Marielle shares her zest for life, her drive to move forward, and the beauty of a world without borders. Having a Marimika® in your wardrobe means owning a product made with love, that inspires you to be active, and an ethical product with a ten-year guarantee.