34 ELLECANADA.COM
STYLE
THE SONOROUS sounds of a bustling city
reverberate in the background when I reach
Kenneth Ize by phone at his studio in Lagos,
which seems appropriate given what a lively
year the 29-year-old Nigerian designer has had.
First, he became a finalist for the LVMH Prize
recognizing emerging talent. (It’s the first time
that two African designers have made it to this
stage; the other is Johannesburg-based Thebe
Magugu.) Shortly after that, he presented his
debut womenswear collection at Arise Fashion
Week i n L a gos — w it h Naom i Ca mpb el l wa l k-
ing the runway, no less. And now Ize’s designs
are available in Canada through SSENSE
and will be stocked at Simons in 2020. Since
starting his eponymous label in 2016 after
graduating from school in Vienna, Ize has
come into the spotlight for fusing traditional
Nigerian crafts—namely a brightly patterned
handcrafted fabric called aso oke, or top cloth,
made by local weavers in the country—with
contemporary design aesthetics. We spoke
with Ize about where he finds inspiration and
what he sees for the future of African fashion.
On reinterpreting tradition
“My mom [wore] them [pieces made of aso
oke] and I’d had this specific fabric in my
mind for the past 19 years. Because I grew
up in Austria, I wasn’t very connected to my
own culture. Aso oke is very intricate, and what
we’ve done to t h i s fabr ic a nd to t h i s tech n ique
is modernize it—with the kind of loom we use
to weave it [and with] the colours and the identity of what we want
the fabric to look like. We experiment a lot with the yarn.”
On how living and working in different countries has influenced him
“Because I’ve travelled a lot, I’m more open to receiving knowledge.
It hasn’t just improved my work; it has also improved the way I think.
The mixture of cultures and my personal experiences inspires the
brand and the collection.”
On what being an LVMH Prize finalist means
“For me, it’s more for the youth in Africa. I strongly believe in what they’re
doing right now and how they are so expressive. It’s showing them that
there’s an opportunity out there and that you can also think outside the box.”
On raising the profile of African fashion
“It’s time for African brands to have more visibility. There are a lot of
great labels out there, and we need to exchange this culture. Fashion
has really upped the continent [profile] because it’s something that [the
culture] is obsessed with. It’s actually been a major time [for the industry],
but we just haven’t been paying attention.”
Watch Him Work
Kenneth Ize puts his own spin on tradition.
Supermodels Liya Kebede
(left) and Naomi Campbell
(above right) in Kenneth
Ize at Arise Fashion Week
in Lagos; Ize reinterprets
traditional Nigerian craft
for evening (right)T
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