Katoucha Niane

Katoucha Niane (known professionally simply as Katoucha) was one of the first African supermodels to attain international fame on the haute couture runways of Paris.

The daughter of celebrated Guinean historian and playwright Djibril Tamsir Niane, Katoucha became the beloved muse of Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Lacroix, and Paco Rabanne in the 1980s and 1990s.

Retiring from the catwalk, she established the association KAF (Katoucha for the Battle Against Female Circumcision) and published her courageous bestselling autobiography 'Dans ma chair' (In My Flesh), breaking silence on female genital mutilation.