Afrinity Production draw attention to Mariatou Sarr, a 24 year old entrepreneur, beauty queen and a Journalist. She have been contesting in beauty pageants since 2013 and have won many crowns and awards both in national and international pageants.

She made us proud in the global forefront and why not? She is one of the well known queens around with charming personalities. But what really leaves us enamoured by Mariatou is that she stopped at nothing to prove her worth. She is highly respected now not only for her beauty but for her keen sense on how to survive in the pageant world. She just refuses age, or grows stronger with age.

The Young Gambian beauty went to Armitage where she was crown Miss Armitage twice in a row. She won the Miss Armitage and Miss CRR which paved a way for her contesting in the Miss 22nd July Scholarship Pageant Organized by the former president. She is also placed top 10 out of 48 countries at the Miss Heritage global beauty pageant 2019.

Truly a beauty queen both inside and out, Mariatou has been active in social and civic works especially for promoting peace and livelihood as part of way of giving back to her community. She also promotes arts and culture with her tailoring shop “Yatou’s Dream Cut”.

Being a beauty queen in the Gambia to Mariatou is very Challenging due to the misconception surrounding it. She said beauty pageant is not just modelling, is about being an ambassador and pushing courses for change.

Mariatou want the world to know that she is a woman, whose gender doesn’t define who she is. Regardless of the misogynistic society she come from, where women are suppressed or box to be who the society wants them to be.
She grab every opportunity that comes her way regardless of the challenges life throws at her. The Young queen is perseverance, resilient and will want to serve as an inspiration to as many lives as she can with her story.

She is a firm believer of Expressing herself through what she wear. What a person wears speaks volumes about them and their personality to Matiatou, being a beauty Queen has ignited her love for fashion and the art of cloth making . Their is nothing more beautiful to her than wearing a right outfit for the right occasion and being comfortable in what you wear.

The birth of her fashion and design business was as a result of a pageant that she won, the pageant money prompted her to take a leap of faith and start a business with the help of family. Though she is not currently an active title holder of a pageant so there is nothing to balance at the moment it’s fully business for her.

Mariatou believe The Gambia can make a name in the international market if people start to set standards for the Gambian business and make sure we embrace our locally made fabrics. These things for Mariatou will make Gambian outfits stand out, if we embrace what makes us unique then we can have a space in the international market as Africans.

She makes public appearances in her own taloired gorgeous outfits and that signature style of hers takes away our heart. Whatever Mariatou does, is always off the beaten track and wins accolades. She chose the path her heart has led her to and results are before us!

By Amie T. Camara