Aristide Loua was born in western Côte d’Ivoire, in the village of Gadouan. His mother says she gave birth to him with the help of her sisters, naturally and using whatever was at hand, behind her mud-brick kitchen. Two years later, Loua’s family—all of whom were of Bété descent—moved to Korhogo in the far north, where they lived for seven years.

The family then moved to Dikodougou before settling in Yopougon, Abidjan. In late June 2005, Aristide’s family moved to New Delhi, India. As a teenager, he then moved on his own to Pondicherry, where he spent his last two years of high school. After graduating from high school, Loua took a gap year, then moved to Utah and later to New York to continue his studies in mathematics and actuarial science. After traveling the world, Aristide returned home in 2015 to reconnect with his roots and actively launch Kente Gentlemen.