In the glamorous, exclusive world of French haute couture, Sakina M'Sa is an unlikely star. Like her creations, M'Sa is the sum of many parts - a tiny woman from the Comoros, an immigrant from a working-class neighbourhood in Marseille, and a designer who follows her own dreams and embroiders the fashion world with a social conscience. "My only strength in life is my difference," says M'Sa, dressed all in black and sitting in her workshop and showroom in La Goutte d'Or, a working-class neighbourhood in Paris which is home to a large population of Africans.
Sakina M'Sa has Comoros origins.