Ozwald Boateng has had a transformational impact on menswear fashion for almost three decades, with a design aesthetic rooted in savile row traditions but defined by international style, detail, and artistry. His instinctive use of colour, cut and fabric fuses traditional classic British tailoring with a high end modern design focus on the refinement of a man’s silhouette, this has brought tailoring to a whole new generation of men.
Born in London to Ghanaian parents Ozwald Boateng’s talent for flare and design came very early, after dropping out of the computing course he was studying at the time he enrols into Southgate College to study fashion. Recognising that the signs for his future career had been around him all along, working from his mothers sewing machine he created his first collection which he sold to menswear fashion store Sprint in London’s Covent Garden in the late 80s.,
1986 – PORTOBELLO ROAD
In his early twenties and having dressed celebrities such as Mick Jagger, Jimmy Paige and Spike Lee Ozwald Boateng set up a design studio on London’s famous Portobello Road, where he wouldstart a journey that would see him change the course of men’s fashion and become one of the most recognisable names in the industry.
1987 – THE FACE MAGAZINE
With hisreputation as a designer of unique, dynamic tailoring quickly spreading, renowned British music, fashion and cultural bible The FACE profiles the young Designer/Tailor, the article brakes down Ozwald Boateng’s take on men’s tailoring. Referring to his works as ‘Structured Classics’ Boateng explains how he is putting structure back into men’s suits in line with classic Savile Row Tailoring as oppose to the more relaxed lose fit of the Italians which was dominating men’s fashion in the late eighties.
1994 – BREAKING NEW GROUND – THE ROAD TO PARIS, FIRST CATWALK SHOW
In 1994 Ozwald Boateng became the first tailor to have a catwalk show at Paris fashion week. With a promotion video as the in invite something that had never been done before, the critically acclaimed show sparked huge excitement in the fashion industry putting the British designer, tailor, craftsman on the world stage and would go on to spawn many firsts.
“I knew that if I did a catwalk show in Paris as a tailor I could revolutionise tailoring”
— Ozwald Boateng
1995 – REIGNITING A BRITISH INSTITUTION
In 1995 Ozwald Boateng open his first retail store on Vigo Street at the end of London’s prestigious Savile Row at the age of 28 making him the youngest tailor to set up shop on the street. A staunch supporter and advocate of the row and its traditional values, Ozwald Boateng’s fusion of traditional British tailoring with a modern design aesthetic and influences of colour from his Ghanaian heritage re-establishing the traditional street in a modern world and introducing Savile Row to a new younger clientele.
1996 – WINNER OF BEST MENSWEAR DESIGNER
Ozwald Boateng wins the Award for Best Menswear Designer at the Trophées de la Mode in Paris.
1996 FASHION SEASON
The 1996 fashion season sees Ozwald Boateng reinforce his vision for menswear with his Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter collection receiving rave reviews for there ground breaking style and innovation.
1997 – COOL BRITANNIA VANITY FAIR
Britain was out of the recession of the early 90s and with a new government in power there was a anair of excitement surrounding the whole country, with a new breed of superstars from politics, music, film and fashion leading the way. In a profile piece written in Vanity Fair’s special edition issue’London Swings Again’ a Ozwald Boateng is credited with rejuvenating the old street and leading the way in British men’s tailoring.
1998 – LOCK STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS
Ozwald Boateng provides the wardrobe for a variety of the male cast members in Guy Ritchie’s cult movie Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, which including
Jason Statham and Nick Moran. Later that year, members of the male cast would t in a special Ozwald Boateng show in London.
2000 – BRITISH FASHION AWARD
Ozwald Boateng wins the award for Best Menswear Designer at the British Fashion Awards.
2000 – GANGSTER No.1
Ozwald Boateng provides wardrobe for Paul Bettany and David Thewlis in Paul McGuigan’s cult movie Gangster No.1.
2000 – AN AUDIENCE WITH THE KING
Ozwald Boateng visits Ghana and is welcomed by the Ashanti King of Ghana Otumfouo Nana Osei Tutu II as he receives an honorary award.
2002 – 12A SAVILE ROW
In May 2002 Ozwald Boateng opens his first Headquarters on Savile Row.
2002 – DRESSING WILL SMITH FOR THE OSCARS
For the 2002 Academy Awards Ozwald Boateng dresses Will Smith who is nominated for his role in the Mohammed Ali biopic Ali. Renowed British journalist and esteemed fashion critic Suzy Menkes OBE writes in the International Herald Tribune that Smith should have won the award for best-dressed man.
2002 – OZWALD BOATENG CLOSES SAVILE ROW
To celebrate the opening of his first Headquarters on Savile Row along with the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, Ozwald Boateng close the Road to traffic to host the first ever fashion show on the Row. The last time the famous road was closed to traffic proir to this event was by the Beatles in the 60s.
2002 – PARFUM BESPOKE BY OZWALD BOATENG
Ozwald Boateng launches his first fragrance for women. Inspired by his wife, he develops a unique fragrance concept – double vials of two synergistic fragrances in a single bottle, allowing the wearer to layer and mix a ‘bespoke’ perfume for themselves
2002 – OZWALD BOATENG DRESSES WILL SMITH FOR BAD BOYS 2
Ozwald Boateng dresses Will Smith in his lead role as Mike Lowery in Bad Boys 2
2002 – CREATIVE ISLAND
Ozwald Boateng is profiled in John Sorrell’s book Creative Island, an in-depth look at the extraordinary range and quality of recent British design thats taking the world stage, covering work from all disciplines.
2003 – AWARDS SEASON DRESSING DANIEL DAY LEWIS
For the 2003 award season Ozwald Boateng created a special wardrobe for Daniel Day Lewis. Nominated for his role in the movie The Gangs of New York Day Lewis wore hand-crafted Bespoke suits for the BAFTA and SAG Awards, culminating in a spectacular diamond cloth suit, worth over $150,000, which he wore to the Oscars. The fabric for this special suit was created in conjunction with De Beers.
2003 – DESIGN INDABA CAPE TOWN
Ozwald Boateng is invited to be a headline speaker at the famous Design Indaba in Cape Town, South Africa along with other dignitaries from the world of design, such as Sir Terence Conran, Neville Brody and Javier Mariscal. His speech is attended by over 2000 young South African designers and students and wassaid to be overwhelmingly influential to the young black community in South Africa.
2003 – SEX & THE CITY
Ozwald Boateng dresses Stanford Blatch one of the key male characters of the hit show Sex And The Cityover several episodes. The brand is verbally
credited in the show.
2003 – THE MATRIX: RELOADED
Ozwald Boateng is commissioned to dress the male cast of the Matrix Reloaded – the single most anticipated film of the year – for its premier’s around the globe. From Los Angeles and New York, to Cannes and London.
2003 – GIVENCHY
In 2003 Ozwald Boateng made an other mark on fashion history when he was appointed by Bernard Arnault as Creative Director for menswear for French Fashion House Givenchy. With Hubert Givenchy as his inspiration Ozwald Boateng reinvented the Givenchy style to suit the modern French man
“I am delighted that Ozwald has joined Givenchy. His expertise in cutting and his original talent – which fuses the best of tradition with a taste for modernity – fit perfectly with the Givenchy Homme style”
— Marianne Tesler, CEO of Givenchy Couture, stated
2004 – A NEW CHAPTER
Ozwald Boateng presents his first collection for Givenchy at a spectacular show in Paris. His dedication to making short films is taken to a new level as he also presents his first animation – a Japanese, manga-style piece that he wrote and directed
2005 – DRESSING JAMIE FOXX FOR THE 2002 OSCARS
Ozwald Boateng dresses Jamie Foxx as he wins the Academy Award for Best Actor in his role as Ray Charles in the biopic Ray.
2005 – NO BOUNDERIES
For his second Givenchy collection Ozwald Boateng writes and directs another masterpiece in the Guilin district of China. The four minute short film ‘ No Boundaries ’ receives critical acclaim for its, exquisite cinematography and poignant sequences featuring over 600 soldiers from the Chinese army engaged in a masterfully choreographed fight. The film would later go on to receive 2nd runner up in the short film category at the 2006 Tremblant film festival, Montreal, Canada
2005 – FASHION IN MOTION, VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM
In 2005 Ozwald Boateng celebrated 20 years at the forefront of British tailoring with an exhibition held inhis honour at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London making him one of only a handful of designers to have this honour which include Vivienne Westwood, Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen. Suzanne Lussier, curator of his show said, “he was chosen because he has revolutionised Savile Row, fusing traditional skills in tailoring and expert cutting with this very modern use of colours”.
2006 – AWARDED AN O.B.E BY THE QUEEN
Ozwald Boateng is awarded an O.B.E by the Queen and named as an “Officer of the order of the British Empire” for services to the clothing
Industry in her New Year honours.
2006 – RESHAPING AFRICA
Frustrated with the lack of infrastructure and missed opportunities in Africa, Ozwald Boateng joins forces with friends Chris Cleverly and Hassan Kimbugwe to form Made In Africa. Using his global influence, his vision is to expose African enterprises to international investments and capital markets. The organisation is dedicated to bringing innovative ideas to Africa whilst advising governments on infrastructure, innovation and development finance.
2006 – RESHAPING AFRICA
Frustrated with the lack of infrastructure and missed opportunities in Africa, Ozwald Boateng joins forces with friends Chris Cleverly and Hassan Kimbugwe to form Made In Africa. Using his global influence, his vision is to expose African enterprises to international investments and capital markets. The organisation is dedicated to bringing innovative ideas to Africa whilst advising governments on infrastructure, innovation and development finance.
2006 – POWER OF UNITY
In recognition of 200 year since the abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the fiftieth anniversary of Ghana’s independence from the British Empire, Ozwald Boateng designed and orchestrated a historic show at the state banquet of the 9th annual African Union summit held in Accra, Ghana. The event hosted Presidents, representatives and dignitaries of the 53 African Nations, plus celebrated people of African descent from across the globe, which included Reverend Jesse Jackson, Ambassador Andrew Young, Herbie Hancock, and Author Dr Khalid Al Monsour.
2007 – YOUNG GLOBAL LEADER
Ozwald Boateng is made a young global leader 2007. This honour is bestowed by the World Economic Forum each year to recognize the most distinguished 250 young leaders below the age of 40 from around the world.
2007 – OZWALD BOATENG OPENS FLAGSHIP STORE ON SAVILE ROW
Designed by world renowed architect David Adjaye in close collaboration with Ozwald Boateng. Situated prominently at 30 Savile Row, with additional
frontage on both Clifford St and Old Burlington St, the 6000 sq ft flag ship store for the Ozwald Boateng brand offers a unique, contemporary and luxurious retail
experience with its own stand alone gallery and form the blue print for future stores in the brands global expansion.
2009 – WALKING WITH GIANTS
Ozwald Boateng stars in Johnnie Walker’s ‘Walk with Giants’ an online campaign
with the focus of capturing ‘inspiring stories of progress, shared by the world’s greatest men including, Richard Branson, Lewis Hamilton, Ranulph Fiennes, users wereable to watch a video trailer and then download a 20 minute audio walk interview. World renowned photographer Tom Stoddart shot Ozwald on his
walk around Mayfair, London
2010 – CELEBRATING 25 YEARS
To celebrate the brands 25th anniversary. Ozwald Boateng closes London Fashion Week in epic style as he staged a monumental fashion show at the Odeon Cinema in Leicester Square the show featured over 100 models and the finale saw this striking army of men march from the venue through the streets of London and back to his Savile Row Flagship Store.
2011 – MASTER OF ARTS
Ozwald Boateng is awarded an Honorary Degree (Master Of Arts) by The University of Creative Arts for his “Outstanding Contribution to the Clothing And Fashion Industries.”
2012 – A MAN’S STORY
The highly anticipated documentary film of Ozwald Boateng’s life ‘behind the scenes’, A MAN’S STORY is released. The inspirational, thought provoking film charts the ups and downs of Ozwald Boateng’s life from 1998 to 2010 taking you on a journey with him as he tries to manage and deal with the pressures of balancing work and family life.
2012 – VANITY FAIR HALL OF FAME
Ozwald Boateng is inducted in to the Vanity Fair ‘Best Dressed” Hall of Fame.
2012 – THE AFRICA 50 FUND
Ozwald Boateng’s Made in Africa Foundation along with the African Development bank launches The Africa 50 fund at the Nasdaq .
2013 – HONORARY DOCTORATE FROM UAL LONDON
Ozwald Boateng is given an honorary doctorate from the University of Arts London In recognition for his achievements and contribution to the fashion industry.
2014 – VERITAS AWARD FROM HARVARD
Ozwald Boateng receives the prestigious Harvard University Veritas Award for his pioneering career achievements in the fashion industry and for being an outstanding catalyst for global socio-economic development, particularly throughout the continent of Africa.
