How math changed a Senegalese designer's brand

Equations and fashion may not seem to go hand in hand - but Senegalese designer Diarra Bousso believes otherwise.

And she would know, because she's done the math.

"So that flower that we saw earlier can turn into this, this by changing the variables. In this case it's scatter, going from 0 to 12pi."

The artist and former Wall Street trader can usually be found exploring mathematical equations and algorithms - that will go into the designs of her textiles.

At her Silicon Valley studio, Diarra turns plots lines and curves into shapes that are then hand-painted based on a color scheme of her choice.

"Each shape can be represented by a mathematical equation, and now when you put all these equations together, you can create lots and lots of shapes, which is nothing new. I think what the part that makes this different is that when you can actually code it all and generate it with an algorithm, meaning a process telling the computer, graph this line, graph this equation, find where they intersect, make it blue, do this, do that, now the computer is drawing for you."

Diarra claims she's ahead of the curve.

She has also developed a digital-first, on-demand production line to avoid creating excess inventory.

And says she doesn't produce anything unless she has an order.

"I think in terms of innovation, it's allowing me to be quite ahead in terms of cost savings. I produce in a fraction of the time, and I produce a hundred times more in terms of design ideas. I like to say ideas because I don't actually print the fabrics until I know I need them. So I am able to know from a customer preference standpoint, I know what customers want because I can generate so many other ideas and test them live every single day without having to spend anything on production and I can produce what is needed from a sustainable stand point, we don't have wastage."

Diarra travels between her native Senegal and San Francisco, where she still teaches high school math.

That's also where her first flagship store is.

95% of Diarra's products are handcrafted in her Dakar workshop, where she employs 15 people.

The remaining 5% is made through collaboration with ethical factories around the world.