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The Artist - Nicholle Kobi is a French illustrator based in Paris who’s best known for her natural hair and Black girl drawings. B*Real is a huge fan and we got the chance to chat with the artist about the inspiration behind her fashion-forward illustrations and how she celebrates Black girl magic through her craft. (Photo: Niki KOBI /Nikisgroove) 

Photo By Photo: Niki KOBI /Nikisgroove

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To the Drawing Board - Kobi says of her inspiration, “My desire to focus on Black women is simply because I had the impression that they were excluded from the greater world of beauty, art, fashion and especially in the intellectual sphere. Some people have the tendency to think that we are the exception in these types of spheres." (Photo: Niki KOBI /Nikisgroove) 

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Inspire - “And when I see all these beautiful and clever Black women around me, I am infinitely inspired. And social media like Tumblr, blogs and street style help me so much.” (Photo: Niki KOBI /Nikisgroove) 

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Art With a Voice - She continues, "They [white media] very rarely hold Black women in high regard. They criticize and analyze her curves, her skin color and her hair texture." (Photo: Niki KOBI /Nikisgroove) 

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Making Her Mark - Kobi believes her purpose is “to try to give [Black women] their rightful place in the world of beauty, art and more. We are not less than other women. We are beautiful with our curves, our skin tones — from the most light to the most dark. We can be whatever we want!” (Photo: Niki KOBI /Nikisgroove) 

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Be Proud - “I think it’s very important to be proud about our diversity of color and hair texture because sometimes people will try to use this to divide us.” (Photo: Niki KOBI /Nikisgroove) 

Photo By Photo: Niki KOBI /Nikisgroove

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Be Your Own Shero - Kobi draws illustrations for naturallycurly.com, Labor ethnic, Showroomprive, Owen Mumford, Ntutu.com and other young Black girl companies. She has an eShop where she developed her own brand, Nikisgroove by Nicholle KOBI, which has been going strong since 2012. (Photo: Niki KOBI /Nikisgroove) 

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Boldly Beautiful - Many of Kobi's sketches are so stylish, it's a wonder why she hasn't started to materialize any of these cool fashions (Hint, hint!). (Photo: Niki KOBI /Nikisgroove) 

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Fashion Forward - "I love fashion because fashion is a form of art. You can create who you want to be and show who you want to be or who you are. I really think that fashion is powerful to telling people about whom you are and where we want to go." (Photo: Niki KOBI /Nikisgroove) 

Photo By Photo: Niki KOBI /Nikisgroove

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Black Girls Rock - “What you wear says a lot about who you are so I want to see my Nikisgroove girls, my Black sisters being a big part of the fashion industry because in fashion I think there’s not enough Black beauty! And it’s unfair because we, Black girls, we are so fashionable and we spend a lot of money in the fashion industry but it’s like we do not exist.” (Photo: Niki KOBI /Nikisgroove) 

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Don't Box Me In - Some of Kobi's other pieces include mothers, romance and just Black women doing their thing, like this one aptly titled "Sunday Night Be Like." (Photo: Niki KOBI /Nikisgroove) 

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Taking Back Our Beauty - “We inspire so many designers and creators, but they never say that it’s inspired from Black beauty." (Photo: Niki KOBI /Nikisgroove) 

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Create - Take a page from Kobi, and let your talent speak for itself. What do you want to say? Support Black Girl Magic with Nicholle at Nikisgroove. (Photo: Niki KOBI /Nikisgroove)