Finally, an unsung African style icon, Marie-Thérèse Houphouët-Boigny, gets the exposure she deserves, although in the most unexpected way. The first First Lady of Côte d'Ivoire, now aged 92, is the star of the debut collection by new Abidjan-based streetwear brand Djainin. Founder Jean-Yves Kouassi wasn't born when President Félix Houphouët-Boigny ran the country in its fabled, post-Independence golden era, but that hasn’t stopped him taking inspiration from the leader’s graceful wife.

Launched late last year, the first drop is based on a simple yet powerful concept – denim shirts, jackets and trousers sporting all-over portraits of Mrs Houphouët-Boigny, Andy Warhol-style. The pictures are screen printed on pieces of fabric, then left to dry in the sunshine, before being sewn together by Kouassi's tailor, Modeste Aka. Every item can be ordered and delivered within four days, in Abidjan as well as abroad. "Young people were my first customers, but now people of all ages are buying the clothes," says Kouassi as we sit down together at Abidjan’s hip Dozo store, where his line was first stocked. Now such stars as Nativ and Serge Beynaud have also worn his pieces.

Kouassi inherited his fascination with Mrs Houphouët-Boigny from his mother who, like almost everyone in the country, has always admired her natural beauty, her decorous manners and her incredibly chic wardrobe (much of which by Hubert de Givenchy). The pictures of her state visit to Washington DC in 1962 with the Kennedys is the stuff of legend. The former First Lady now lives between Abidjan and France, and her style has been celebrated by dedicated Facebook and Instagram pages. Before working on this shrine of a collection, Kouassi went so far as to contact Mrs Houphouët-Boigny's community manager, who gave him permission to use her portrait.

The designer is part of a generation of young Ivorians who are fascinated with an era going roughly from 1960 to 1990, when the country was still basking in its economic miracle and had been spared the kind of political turmoil that plagued so many of its West African neighbours. Kouassi is so infatuated by those bygone times that he almost exclusively listens to such classic Ivorian singers as Ernesto Djedje and François Lougah. "People find me weird for that," he says with a smile.

A fresh audit graduate, Kouassi hasn't yet worked as an auditor, nor does he intent to. Djainin (which is Ivorian slang for jeans) has become a sheer obsession, so much so that he barely goes out and his life now exclusively revolves around the brand. The night before our interview, he had slept at his atelier in order to meet a delivery deadline. The wonder of it all is that he has no formal training in fashion. Djainin's next collection will be unveiled in March, and will put another African icon to the fore. The brand dubs itself the ‘African Denim Studio’ and aims at telling the history of the continent through style.

Looking ahead, Kouassi has high ambition for Djainin, and he has recently started working with a business partner, the London-based Gaston Ouedraogo, whom he met in an extraordinary way. "One Saturday, I was so tired that I told myself that I needed a business partner to take the brand further," recalls Kouassi. "Around 6pm, I made a prayer, asking God to send me one." By 2am, Mr Ouedreago had dropped him an email.