Welcome to Unstyled. I'm your host, Christine Barberick, co-founder and global editor-in-chief of Refinery 29.

Each week, I invite a notable person to come in and talk with us as we explore the funny, inspiring,

sometimes heartbreaking tales of life, work, and love, as told through the things that we wear.

Amy Saul has spent her life negotiating two continents. As a first-generation American, she was born and raised in New York City. However, with a father who spent 20 years in the UN and both parents hailing from Senegal, her ties to West Africa run deep. On one hand, she's had a pretty cosmopolitan upbringing, studying at the new school and earning her master's at Columbia University, pausing only for an internship at Vogue and the UN. On the other, Amy has spent extensive time in Kenya,

working with victims of female genital mutilation, enforced marriage, and speaking out about the political and cultural exploitation of Africans and African Americans. This bicultural world has inspired

Amy to found Sunu, an evolving publication that focuses on the

African voice in critical thought and aesthetics. I don't think there could be a better moment to

discuss Amy's personal experience and perspective of these two very unique worlds. How can fashion

become global without turning culture into fleeting fads, how do we explore unfamiliar foreign places

without stripping them of context? These are questions that seem crucial to creating a more

responsible and respectful pursuit of a globally infused style industry. As a lifelong devotee to

African and human rights, Amy knows that politics and style start at the same exact place with the individual.

Good morning, Amy.

Good morning, Christine.

Thank you so much for being a guest on Unstyled.

Thanks so much for having me.

Happy to be here.

Thanks.

So you grew up in New York, and your parents are both from Senegal.

Yep. So tell me a little about what it felt like to be a first generation American growing up in New York and really having these strong ties to West Africa.

Yeah. So we lived in the Bronx for a long time so my family moved to. You know, it was an interesting upbringing.

We grew up in a very Senegalese home, you know, the food, the music. We kept the culture very

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