
Introducing OZWALD BOATENG:


VISION: a black Brit born in London but culturally rooted in an African sensibility that reflects his Ghanaian heritage. At 39, Boateng (bo-TANG) has emerged as the hottest designer on the British menswear scene, having been the youngest tailor and the first black to open a shop on London’s legendary Savile Row 11 years ago. With his hip and colorful, elegant, slim-fitting suits, worn by such U.S. A-listers as Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Will Smith, Robert Redford, and Jamie Foxx, Boateng is now something of an A-lister himself in the male fashion world.
Boateng’s Bespoke line did £10 million in retail sales last year; he runs the manufacturing end of the business as well, and has been creative director of menswear for the Givenchy design house since 2003. Earlier this year Boateng was awarded the Order of the British Empire, an honor dating back to a time when recognition was bestowed for chivalry. And over the summer he starred in an eight-part television documentary, House of Boateng, a half-hour weekly series on Sundance Channel that follows him as he opens a flagship store in New York City. It would appear that Boateng has smoothly moved from point A to point B in a straight line, having achieved success, wealth, and recognition all before the watershed age of 40. Yet the African in him knows that individual, commercial success is but one part of the journey. The more meaningful part is using your success and recognition to help the people in whom you are rooted by giving back to a motherland sorely in need.