The troubled life and death of Katoucha Niane, the Guinean supermodel who rose to fame in the 80s

Someone once said: “Fear blocks the intelligent understanding of life”. He explained that to protect ourselves from fear, we have to expose ourselves to our deepest fears. He was certainly right.

Life is a struggle. It is filled with many ups and downs. Some of them can be circumvented, but others are inevitable. And when that happens, the way we deal with them becomes very significant.

Today, we are going to talk about a woman like no other. A woman who had to face many things, which she was certainly not afraid to face. Difficulties might seem insurmountable to us “common people“. But this woman used them as a propellant to reach the top she probably always dreamed of.

Let’s talk about the famous top model and the muse of the brand Yves Saint-Laurent : Katoucha Niane.

Her birth

Katoucha Namsir Niane was born on October 23, 1960, in Guinea. She is the daughter of Djibril Tamsir Niane, an African historian, writer, archaeologist, and intellectual. Raised in a relatively conservative family, her childhood was not the easiest. Indeed, several acts, considered barbaric – cruel – inhuman – and savage will mark her all her life until she died in 2008.

Drama – excision – sexual abuse – expatriation: a very eventful life

In her childhood, she experienced a tragedy – a real tragedy. When she was barely nine years old, she underwent what is called “excision“. For those who don’t know, Exision is a practice of mutilation of the female genital area. It refers to the total or partial removal of the external female genitalia or any other lesion of the female genitalia.

Traumatized by this drama, she will carry the weight of it all her life. A drama that she depicts very well in her book entitled “Dans ma chair“, translated into English, “Into my flesh“.

At the age of twelve, she was sexually abused by one of her uncles. That same year, her family decided to leave the country and move to Dakar, Senegal. At the age of seventeen, she had her baby girl, Amy, and decided to move to Paris.

Beginning of her career : legacy

Only a few months after her arrival, she is recruited as a model cabin at Lanvin. Katoucha Niane, nicknamed ”Princess Peule” saw her career take off in 1980. She had just been hired by the famous Thierry Mugler and many other fashion designers flocked to her right after.

It is in 1987 that Katoucha Niane reaches the peak of her career. That year, she signed with the “master and precursor” of fashion, Yves Saint-Laurent. She became the muse of the brand Yves Saint-Laurent until 1992.

Other successes

In 1994, Katoucha Niane launched her own company in partnership with the rich Russian businessman Sergei Mazarov. She founded the brand Katoucha.

For reasons still unknown, he was coldly shot nine times on the landing of his duplex in Paris. Some say it was the work of the Russian mafia, others say that it was a simple settlement of accounts.

In 2001, she decided to retire from the catwalk and became a juror on the show “Top Model” on M6 in 2005. The following year, Katoucha created her modeling contest in Dakar, “Ebène Top Model“, to offer other African beauties the opportunity to emerge in fashion.

Katoucha Niane made her first steps as an actress in the film Ramata, directed in 2007 by Léandre-Alain Baker and in which he played the title role. In September 2007, she published her autobiography, “Dans ma chair”, in which she reveals her excision, as mentioned above.

Her whole life has been dedicated to the fight against this mutilation. For this reason, she created the association KPLCE (Katoucha pour la Lutte contre l’Excision), which aims to support the victims and to explain to the excisers why this act is barbaric and cruel.

Her untimely death

Unfortunately, the star died in unexplained conditions. On January 31, 2008, while returning from a party at night, she fell into the Seine while trying to reach the barge moored near the Alexandre III bridge, where she lived.

At the end of her modeling career, Katoucha became involved in the fight against the ancestral practice of female genital mutilation – excision. She has certainly proven, through her struggle, that she can do much more for the world with her strength and determination.

Katoucha’s life was probably not as light and glamorous as the world that idolizes her, but her impact and contribution to the world of fashion is undeniable.